Wondering how to remove grease stains? What about how to remove grease stains from cotton specifically? Once the grease hits your clothing, you may be tempted to consider it a lost cause, but it's not! There is a way to get rid of grease stains (you can even try it if they're already set, but it's best if they're fresh).
Why Does Grease Cling to Clothing and Refuse to Come Out?
Because grease is a lipid and insoluble in water, it's more difficult to get out than most other stains. An average laundry cycle won't do the trick because grease
grabs onto the fibers of the fabric. The answer - concentrated attention in the form of a pre-treatment (don't worry, it's not complicated or expensive)!
In this case, the baking soda draws the stain out and away from the fabric and the liquid dish soap breaks up what remains. Surfactants in the dish soap are the key when you need to remove grease stains. These affect the hydrogen bonds in the water in a way that allows it to cut through the grease stains and wash them right out.
BLOG SPECIAL: Use promo code BLOG for 15% OFF your first order!!
1 | What You’ll Need
- Baking soda
- A toothbrush
- Dish soap
- A piece of cardboard or dark towel you don't mind transferring the stain to
2 | What to Do
- Lay the article of clothing flat.
- Place the cardboard or old towel underneath the stain.
- If the stain is fresh and hasn't been through the washer and dryer yet, sprinkle baking soda on top of the grease. If it has set, pour enough dish soap onto the stain to cover it well. Leave the baking soda or dish soap on the clothing for about 5-10 minutes.
- Use a toothbrush to scrub the baking soda or dish soap into the stain, really working it in (be careful not to damage the fabric, though).
- If your stain is fresh, you'll notice the baking soda changing color. Scrape the first round of baking soda away and apply more.
- Repeat the process until the baking soda no longer turns brown.
- If your stain is fresh, now is the time to add dish detergent (if the stain is still there). If your stain is old, sprinkle enough baking soda onto the dish detergent to cover the stained area.
- Scrub again with the toothbrush.
- Let the mixture set for 10-15 minutes.
- Wash the clothing as you normally would, using the hottest water the fabric will allow. Some cotton clothing is prone to shrinking in hot water, so use your best judgment depending on the type of clothing that's stained. Mama's Laundry Talk has tips for selecting the best water temperature.
- Check to make sure the stain is gone before drying the garment.
3 | Expert Tips
Wear a protective apron when you're working with grease. This will protect your clothing and prevent more stains on your clothes!
Try to remove the grease stain as soon as you notice it. Letting it set will make it more difficult to remove the grease stains from the clothes.
Housecleaning Central suggests trying aloe vera on grease stains. Always try a stain removal method on a small section of the clothing first. Though baking soda and dishwashing liquid should be safe on cotton, it's always best to be sure.
If you have a huge mess on your hands and grease is on more than your clothes, Reader's Digest has some tips for removing grease stains from all sorts of surfaces.
4 | That was Easy
There's no longer any need to worry about how to remove grease stains--not even how to remove grease stains from cotton! Sure, it takes a little time, but the items you need are likely already in your home. Removing grease stains may have seemed hopeless before, but now you know it's possible to get that cotton garment looking brand new again!
BLOG SPECIAL: Use promo code BLOG for 15% OFF your first order!!
- Tags: Cleaning Tips, featured
← Older Post Newer Post →
Best Sellers
SaveComments We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing. It doesn’t matter if you’re a dainty diner, or an enthusiastic eater: Grease will eventually find its way onto a piece of your clothing. Be it by bacon or a delicious vinaigrette, it will find a way, and attempt to claim your clothing for the dark side of the closet.
Because it can be so hard to lift a grease stain — and everyone seems to have a recipe for what works best — I decided to put five popular methods to the test. The good news is that one method really stood out, and a very, very close combo platter took second place. Let’s take a look. Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani; Design: The Kitchn I tested five similarly sizable splatters of bacon grease on a 100% cotton dress shirt. I waited 15 minutes for each stain to set (I used that time to eat the bacon!) and then got to cleaning. The ratings: Each method received a rating of one to five, with five being the best method overall and one being the least favorite method. Along with the rating you’ll find notes on how easy or difficult the method was, how much elbow grease it took (pun
intended), and how much time it took to remove. Credit: Ghazalle BadiozamaniHow I Tested the Different Methods
Grease Cleaning Method: Hairspray
The method: Lay the soiled clothing on a paper towel and saturate the stain with hairspray. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then launder in hot water. If you can still see the grease stain, spray again and let sit for another 30 minutes. Do not dry the item until the stain has been lifted.
How it went: I saturated the stain with TRESemme non-aerosol hairspray and let it sit for about 30 minutes. According to my research, I should have started to see the stain lift at that point. Because the area was saturated, though, it was difficult to tell if what I was seeing was grease or hairspray — so I went ahead and laundered it in hot water. After removing it from the washing machine, it looked as if the stain was completely gone, but the fabric was wet (clearly), so it was actually hard to tell. I went ahead and tossed it in the dryer. Mistake! I was bummed to learn that the stain hadn’t lifted much at all and I had set it into the fabric deeper. Out of all the methods tested, this was the least effective.
I could see how you might use this method if you’re out and about and need something to intercept the stain until you can launder your clothing, but I wouldn’t recommend hairspray being your only line of defense. Definitely use dish soap, or a stain-fighting agent to spot treat your garment before laundering at home. (More on this below.)
Credit: Ghazalle Badiozamani
Grease Cleaning Method: Chalk
- Total time: 15 to 20 minutes (active time: a few seconds)
- Rating: 2 / 5
The method:Rub chalk over a grease spot and let it absorb the oil, then brush the chalk off and launder. If stain persists, continue rubbing chalk on the fabric until the stain lifts. The idea is that the chalk will absorb the oils that hold dirt in.
How it went: I definitely saw the chalk absorb the grease (it turned brownish and got gross pretty quickly), but I also noticed that rubbing the chalk seemed to move the stain around and make it bigger. Once the shirt came out of the washing machine, it looked like the stain had disappeared, but once it was dry, the stain was clearly visible.
I might use this method as a Band-Aid of sorts, to absorb the grease stain until I could take the clothing item home and properly treat it with a stain-fighting agent, but would not recommend chalk on its own to fight grease stains.
Credit: Ghazalle Badiozamani
Grease Cleaning Method: Dish Soap
- Total time: 10 to 30 minutes (active time: seconds to squirt)
- Rating: 3 / 5
The method:Squeeze a dab of dish soap onto the stain and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. Place the stained garment in the washing machine and once the cycle is finished, check to be sure the stain has disappeared. If you don’t see it you can transfer the item to the dryer; if the stain persists, repeat with more dish soap.
How it went: I dabbed the dish soap right over the stain and let it sit for about 30 minutes before popping it into the washing machine on hot. (More time is better than less time, right?) Once the cycle was finished, I held up the wet cloth and couldn’t see the stain anymore, so into the dryer it went! I pulled it out of the dryer with high hopes (dishwashing detergent is a degreaser, after all!) and was disappointed to find that the stain hadn’t completely disappeared. It did work at removing quite a bit of it, but I think it’s necessary to first soak up the grease with baking soda (see below), then treat it with dish soap. (I used Dawn by the way!)
Credit: Ghazalle Badiozamani
Grease Cleaning Method: Baking Soda
- Total time: 6 to 12 minutes (active time: 1 to 2 minutes)
- Rating: 4 / 5
The method: Sprinkle baking soda on a fresh stain and let it absorb the grease for 5 to 10 minutes. Next, use a brush (a toothbrush or a clean kitchen brush would be great) and scrub the baking soda into the stain. Once the powder changes to a brown color, scrape it off and repeat until the soda no longer changes color and the stain is lifted.
How it went: I sprinkled the baking soda on the stain in a nice little mound and let it sit, undisturbed, for about 10 minutes. I shook the excess soda into the sink, grabbed my cleaning toothbrush, and started scrubbing. I definitely saw the baking soda turn a dingy brown color, so I scraped it all off, poured more soda on the stain and let it sit for 15 more minutes. After the second pass there was so much baking soda pressed into the fabric that I really couldn’t see much of the stain at all, so I went ahead and popped it into the washing machine on hot.
When the shirt came out of the wash I couldn’t see any of the stain at all, so I happily chucked it into the dryer, feeling victorious. Once out of the dryer it looked like the stain was completely gone — until I took a photo of it with my phone, then I could see the faintest ghost of the stain. I was still really happy with this method, but think it could be perfected if used in combination with Dawn dish soap, after the baking soda step. It’s definitely the best/least harsh method!
Credit: Ghazalle Badiozamani
Grease Cleaning Method: Salt + Stain Remover
- Total time: 1 to 5 minutes (active time: a few seconds)
- Rating: 5 / 5
The method:Immediately sprinkle salt on the grease stain (it works like baking soda to absorb the grease). After the salt absorbs the grease for a few minutes (or once you make it back home) use Shout Advanced Grease-Busting Foam as a spot treatment before laundering the garment in hot water. As always, make sure the stain is gone before drying the garment.
How it went: In almost every sort of light, the stain looked like it’s completely gone. Even when photographed there’s just the slightest, faintest ghost shape of the stain. This method worked just a bit better than the baking soda method, although I’m not sure how effective the salt really was.
I liked this method so much, I also tried it on a yellow dinner napkin. I noticed that, once again, the grease came out, but it emerged from the dryer looking a bit worn, which tells me that this treatment is pretty harsh. I’m giving this the highest rating because it did the job and I would 100% use it again. But only on an all-white garment. I would not recommend using it on black, or anything colorful.
Also, if you hesitate to use extra chemicals or products in your household, go with the Dawn and baking soda combo.
Do you have a method for lifting grease stains out of clothing? Tell us about it in the comments below.