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How to Get Oil Stains Out (Step by Step)

From pizza-stained shirts to jeans splattered with cooking oil, many of our cherished clothes have met their demise due to oil stains. But with this simple method, you can get rid of oily stains on the first attempt!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 1 clean shirt
Author Jill Nystul
Cost $10

Equipment

  • Clean cloth or paper towel
  • Cardboard
  • Old toothbrush or small scrub brush

Ingredients

  • 3 drops dish soap
  • 2 tbsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp hydrogen peroxide

Instructions

  • Place a piece of cardboard directly behind the stained area to prevent the oil from soaking through, then blot the stain with a clean cloth or paper towel to remove any excess oil or grease.
    It helps to put cardboard behind oil stains before working on them so you don't transfer the oil.
  • Gently pour enough hydrogen peroxide onto the stain to saturate it completely.
    First step to getting out oil stains is to spray the stain with hydrogen peroxide.
  • Add a few drops of dish soap next—two to three drops should be plenty for a small stain!
    After spraying the oil stain with hydrogen peroxide, put a couple of drops of Dawn and some baking soda on the stain.
  • Sprinkle baking soda over the top of the hydrogen peroxide and dish soap.
    oil stains
  • Grab your toothbrush or scrub brush and give the stain a good scrub. (If the mixture is too wet or too dry, add a bit more baking soda or hydrogen peroxide respectively.) After scrubbing, let the item sit for at least 30 minutes.
    Scrub the cleaners into the oil stain.
  • Toss the garment in your washing machine with your usual detergent and wash it using cold water. If the oil still isn’t completely gone, re-apply peroxide, dish soap, and baking soda, scrub with a toothbrush, and launder again.
    After letting the peroxide, soda, and Dawn work for half an hour to an hour, wash the garment as usual.

Video

Notes

Will Hydrogen Peroxide Bleach My Clothes?
I’ve personally used hydrogen peroxide to remove oil stains on fabrics of every color of the rainbow with no issues! However, it’s important to know that hydrogen peroxide can bleach certain types of fabric, but it usually only occurs when the fabric isn’t colorfast.
Colorfastness is the ability of a fabric to maintain its original color without fading or bleeding. To find out if your garment is colorfast, check the label first. Instructions like “wash separately” and “wash with like colors” are often warning signs that the fabric may not be colorfast.
You can also perform a simple colorfastness test by rubbing a damp white cloth on an interior seam or hem. If any color comes off onto the cloth, the fabric is not colorfast. If the item you want to remove oil stains from isn’t colorfast, skip the hydrogen peroxide and treat the stains using just baking soda and dish soap instead.