Cleaning subtleties, or how and with what you can remove vegetable oil stains

Grease stains from vegetable oils are a common household problem. You can cope with it using folk recipes and special means.

In this case, it is necessary to take into account all the features of removing vegetable fats from various surfaces.

We will tell you in this article how and how to remove vegetable oil stains from clothes, upholstered furniture and carpets, tables or floors.

What to do first?

If the stain is just placed on the fabric, it will be easier to remove it than over time. To do this you need:

1. Collect fat that has not yet been absorbed. This can be done using sorbents that are on hand. This could be chalk, soda, salt, etc.
2. It is advisable to wet the perimeter of the greasy mark with water. This will stop the fat from spreading over an even larger area.
3. After a few minutes, the powder is shaken off the material.

If grease got on the fabric just minutes ago, dusting the stain will be very effective. But after several hours have passed, more aggressive solvents will have to be used.

How to remove using improvised means?

In a situation where a thing is stained with vegetable fat, it is possible to use improvised means.

Dishwashing gel

Dishwashing liquid found in the kitchen can be used to remove grease stains. For this purpose the gel can be applied directly from the bottle and gently spread over the mark with light circular movements.

Since such products contain fat-soluble components, this method is also suitable for treating stains. After a few minutes of exposure, the item can be washed in the usual way - in a machine or by hand, using a detergent suitable for the specific fabric.

Refined gasoline

To remove stains, turpentine or highly purified gasoline are considered quite aggressive solvents. Their use is justified for advanced cases and fabrics with persistent coloring that is not in danger of being washed off.

Even after washing with washing powder a specific solvent odor may remain on textiles.

Ammonia

For old vegetable oil stains, ammonia can be used. It is diluted half and half with water. Apply napkins soaked in the solution to the fabric on both sides and iron the dirty area. The iron should be set to the maximum temperature allowed for the fabric.

Alcohol, water and salt

You can make your own remedy for grease stains. To create it you will need:

• medical alcohol - 1 tbsp. l.;
• water – 3 tbsp. l.;
• salt - ? Art. l.

All ingredients are mixed in a small container. The stain must be rubbed with the resulting solution and left for a quarter of an hour. After this, the item is washed.

Glycerin with ammonia

Removing stains from delicate materials imposes limitations on the methods used. For these purposes you can take a mixture of ammonia (10 ml) and glycerin (20 ml). The solution is applied to the stain with a sponge, left until completely dry, after which the item is washed in non-hot water.

How to remove with special preparations?

Fatty stains are often very difficult to remove from fabrics. Regular washing does not eliminate stains completely. In order to wash the item efficiently, it is advisable to use special products that are used to remove complex greasy stains.

Dr.Beckmann for fat and sauces

A large number of narrow-spectrum stain removers are produced under the Dr. Beckmann TM. Among them there is a special product that is designed to remove fat.

The drug is available in a small bottle in liquid form. Suitable for treating undiluted stains from vegetable and animal fats.

Old stains may require re-treatment. Price - about 200 rubles for a 50 ml container.

Frosh

Stain pre-treatment agent with enzymes is suitable for removing stains of various origins, including those from fatty foods. Suitable for white and colored fabrics.

Before washing, the drug is applied to the stain and left for a short time on the affected area. After 10 minutes, the item is washed as usual. Contains:

• lemon acid,
• NSAS,
• APAV.

Price - about 150 rubles per bottle.

Luxus Professional

The spray is intended for pre-treatment of contaminated areas of light-colored fabrics. It even copes with old stains not only from grease, but also from:

• sauces,
• coffee,
• blood,
• herbs, etc.

The product works on the “spray and wash” principle.Price – around 200 rubles.

Features of removal from various surfaces

Depending on what surface the oil got on, the procedure for removing it depends.

Hard - table, floor

The easiest way to collect grease is from a hard, non-porous surface - a table or floor. In this case it is enough:

• collect the oily mass with a cloth;
• wash the stained area with a degreaser;
• wipe dry.

Upholstered furniture, carpet

It will be more difficult to remove greasy stains from upholstered furniture and carpets. The porous surface of the material easily absorbs substances falling on it.

To process such complex surfaces, it is necessary to try not to absorb the fat deeply into the fibers.

To this end napkins are used, and the surface itself is covered with soda, talcum powder or chalk. And only after the main fat has been absorbed do they proceed to the main cleaning process.

You can use alcohol, grease stain removers, soap solution, and carpet shampoos as a finishing treatment. In a critical situation, when you couldn’t remove the stain yourself, or the item is expensive and very demanding on care products, you can turn to dry cleaning services.

If you do not begin to remove it immediately after a stain appears on the carpet, the oil will penetrate deep into the pile, making it difficult to remove.

Cloth

Items of clothing very often suffer from vegetable fats. The peculiarity of processing things is mainly related to the material of manufacture:

1. For wool, it is better to use a soap or saline solution.
2. For delicate materials - glycerin with ammonia.
3. For jeans, almost any recipe will work.
4. It is advisable to process items made from dark knitwear from the inside out.
5. For light-colored items, you can use ammonia, alcohol, and gasoline.

It is recommended to first test a product that is used for the first time, especially on bright or delicate materials, on an inconspicuous area. You can find out how to remove a grease stain on clothes here.

Differences in removing traces of different oils

Vegetable oils (sunflower, olive, etc.) differ in origin, consistency and other factors. To remove them, products that break down fats are suitable.

To remove complex, colored or old greasy stains, it is better to use special stain removers. Or focus on an integrated approach when using folk recipes.

6 prohibitions

In an effort to quickly deal with a greasy stain, it is easy to make mistakes. The most common include:

1. Standard wash without stain pre-treatment. Even very high-quality powder cannot cope with contamination without pre-treatment.
2. Intense friction of the affected area. With targeted action using brushes or napkins, the fat will be absorbed even deeper into the fibers, and the fabric itself will become dilapidated.
3. Leave the soiled item for a long time without treatment. In this case, the greasy trace can cover an even larger area and be absorbed deeper. The longer the product sits waiting for processing, the more difficult it will be to deal with contamination later.
4. Using bleach. Even on a snow-white item, you should not use bleach without first treating the stain. This product is not intended to break down fats, and can give the opposite result - the fat will attach even more strongly to the material.
5. Using household chemicals for cleaning pipes, washing bathtubs, etc. Aggressive chemicals for cleaning plumbing most often include caustic, which successfully breaks down fats. But you should not use such products to care for clothes - this can lead to discoloration of the colors and damage to the fibers themselves.
6. Using hot water for washing. In this case, contamination can spread over an even larger area and even take hold. The maximum that can be obtained from hot water is lightening the stain, but not removing it.

Recommendations to help

Expert advice will help To remove grease stains as effectively as possible:

1. The use of brushes for rubbing grease stains is recommended only to a limited extent, and mainly for dense materials, such as jeans.
2. When choosing a stain remover, you need to pay attention to the stains of what origin it is intended, since not all products cope with grease.
3. When applied to delicate or worn fabrics, intensive exposure is not permissible.

If you are interested in how to remove vegetable and machine oil stains from various surfaces, take a look at this chapter.

Conclusion

It is possible to remove vegetable oil stains using commercially available special stain removers, or using folk recipes. In this case, you should take into account the type of surface and the degree of oldness of the greasy blot.In some cases, the processing will have to be repeated.