Got some black dirt/grease off the car, on to my good trousers. The usual trick which solves it, is to work in some Swarfega hand cleaner; and then detergent and warm water washes it away.
My problem is that being in a hurry i did not work the Swarfega in deep enough or well enough, and then went on to wash it.
So its now 'set' into the trousers. Grateful for any further suggestions.
*You could try a professional dry cleaner, but since it's been washed and dried already the stain is now set as you said and extremely difficult to remove.
Paraffin, diesel or heating oil will dissolve car grease and grime, leaving washing powder to deal with the dirt. You can even, if you dont mind voiding any and all warranties, stick a spoonful of diesel into the wash with the powder. This doesnt do the dyes used in jeans any favours.
"john brook" wrote in news:iv6kjf$cj6$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Hand-cleaner may not be the appropriate substance for you: there are commercial stain-removers on the market. "Shout!" is one I've had very good success with, even with car-grease stains that have been through the wash. My wife just bought something called "Resolve", which seems to work just about as well.
The trick is to let the stain soak in copious amounts of the remover, then scrub the cloth between your hands like a 19th-Century washerwoman. It does require lots of scrubbing from different angles and leaving the cloth to soak in the remover in-between scrubs. You're not scubbing particularly hard, mind you; the work is done by the action of agitation in the presence of lots of remover. The remover seems to suspend the dirt in a sort of emulsion, allowing water to wash it away afterwards. When you wash out the stain, you do that by hand as well, using agitation while under the faucet. Fragile cloth may pill using this method, but most articles of clothing I've had to wash this way come out like new.
Not much beyond soap and solvent suggestions of others. You've essentially dyed the cotton in the fabric by precipitating dirt in pores of water opened fiber and polys can be opened by grease to let pigments in. Hopefully stain will fade with continued washing. I keep old clothes around for garage and outside work having learned this lesson years ago.
Buy all your clothes from L. L. Bean. They have a lifetime replacement policy for damages caused by anything. A friend of mine had a dress shirt replaced when an ink pen leaked into the pocket.
Save yourself some agony by taking "good trousers" to a reputable cleaner. Ask them if there's a way to get the **** out. If not, chalk up to experience.
I would try a mixture of Naptha and paint remover and a little Tide mixed toegether and scrubbed into the stain, Scub it into the stain from both the front and the back sides of the cloth. I usually use a clean old toothbrush to do this. Let it set for at least 5 minutes, rescrub and then wash out with warm water, let dry and see if it has improved. If no improvement, your local dry cleaner is your last hope. If some improvement is noted, repeat the process above.
Save yourself some agony by taking "good trousers" to a reputable cleaner. Ask them if there's a way to get the **** out. If not, chalk up to experience.
If not as above poster says then go at it big time with anything you can find as nothing to lose. And then chalk it up to experience.
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