A lost cause or worth a shot?
I went a bit mad last weekend and changed the oil in my lawnmower. Unfortunately, I didn't realise just how far hot oil could splash and managed to spatter my craghopper trousers with old oil. Conventional washing hasn't shifted the oily marks.
Any suggestions or should I just bin them? I haven't tried drycleaning (yet) as I'm concerned I could be just wasting my time (& money).
Tim
Jizer may help (I've had a mixture of oil and jizer on my jeans before, and it washes out fairly easily). IME oil alone it's a very hard stain to shift, so I make sure I always wear old gear when I'm going anywhere near oil.
Why would you bin them? Surely you would wear them next time you do something oily/dirty?
"Tim Downie" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Eh? How far was it flowing from sump to container?
Rule number 1. You will get grubby. Never wear clothes you give a toss about when working on anything mechanical.
Rub a bit of Swarfega or similar into the stains, then wash as normal. It's worked fine for me on a VERY ingrained grease stain on a pair of good jeans - I wasn't looking, and walked straight into an uncovered towball - the bruise on my shin was almost as vivid as the grease mark on the leg. Washed the trousers several times, without any change in the mark. Swarfega, wash - as new.
I suspect there are two components -- the oil itself, which should wash out with detergent (although probably not with an eco one), and the particles held in the old oil, which will cause colour staining. I'm not sure exactly what the solids are, but I'm going to guess it's mainly metalic particles and soot. Metalic particles will probably come out with agitation and washing through once the oil is removed. Soot is a different story. It's sticky, it's so fine it will have gone into the material fibres, it's not acted on by detergents, and thus is a pretty indelible dye. So I suspect the success or otherwise will be down to how much soot was in the used oil.
ISTR adding a tb of paraffin to the wash, but that was years ago so cant be 100%
NT
I always keep a can of the old Ronsonol lighter fuel in the cupboard for just that purpose. It is a good way to shift grease etc although I always do it before the clothes are washed, I don't know whether having washed them will reduce the efficiency.
As others if you can't get 'em clean keep 'em for the next time you are doing summat messy. More evidence of rampant consumerism. Blew up the paper shredder this morning spraying DFL into it when running the butane propellant ignited and blew open the plastic case. SWMBO'd was all for binning it. Why? Take the cover off bit of glue good as new. Me? Lesson learnt about flammable propellants. B-)
As for the trousers as they have been washed the stain may now have been fixed, at what temperature and with what detergent/powder where they washed? How to treat stains or "difficult" marks has obviously not been passed on from parents to child...
Direct local application of a detergent or prewash treatment like "Vanish" may loosen the stain enough for it to wash out. Application of neat biological washing stuff will also work but may work to well, removing/reducing the colour at the place of application.
When I was a truck driver and came home sometimes covered in shitty grease, I used a chemical called "Green Saver Oil Dispersion Lotion" made by a company called Stag Chem, Monarch Works, South gyle Ind Est, Edinburgh (0131 334 8147)
It worked exceptionally well on my oily overalls when stripping my motorbike. The bumf on the label reads "will quickly emulsify and disperse accidental oil spills on grass including hydraulic oil" (my brother obtained this for me when he was a greenkeeper)
I can swear by it.
McKevvy
soak in petrol, then detergent.
Stardrops works well, as does rubbing swarfega into the stains. I don't know how effective it will be now you've already washed them though..
As an aside, I've found Johnson&Johnson's facial scrub is the *best* thing for getting oil and crud off my hands, much to my wife's disappointment..
Mike P
Sounds fun.
Reminds me, yesterday I was in an electrical wholesalers and noticed that someone had removed the top part of their shredder, the part that does the shredding and mounted it in an aperture cut out in the lid of a household size plastic dustbin. No more emptying the shredder every 5 minutes.
If they've already been washed in the conventional manner then the stain left behind will be pretty much permanent (the oil itself will mostly have gone). You should always treat the stain before washing the item. My usual remedy is to rub a mildly abrasive hand-cleaner like Comma Manista into the fresh stain using an old toothbrush, or between finger and thumb on both sides of the fabric. In most cases the stain was hardly visible after that and a wash.
And as another poster said, don't bin them - just wear them for other DIY work or lawnmower servicing if they are no longer good enough for 'normal' wear.
Well, I put my overalls in the cleaners and they come back without oil stains and not smelling of diesel any more. Worth a fiver, no?
But in the case of your trousers I'd tell them about the oil, it's obvious in the case of overalls, but not so much in your case.
Steve
TLC at Coulsdon?
Peter
Why? Does she like dirty hand prints on her bra and knickers that much? ;-)
Dave
Thats the one... do you work there?
I agree and brake cleaner is good for driving the stain through the cloth,
AJH
No, just a customer.
Peter
And buying a paper shredder when you live somewhere you can have an open fire or a bonfire...?
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