Removing Car Grease From Clothes

How many times has this happened to you? You're driving home and you end up having some kind of mechanical failure. It could be a dead battery, a blown tire, or something else. You pull over to repair the problem, and when you get finished you find yourself covered somehow in car grease. For many people, about the only readily available solution would be to either throw the clothes away or use them as the future do-it-yourself wardrobe.

For most people, however, it may not be the most reasonable solution to relegate a complete set of clothes to only be worn maybe once a month, if your lucky, let alone throwing them away each and every time you work on a car. Save those clothes, and quite a bit of money, by using some of these ideas.

• GoJo. GoJo is a product made by the same company that makes Purell hand sanitizer. This product is a hand cleaner that is specially formulated to be gentle on your skin while also removing automotive grease. Use an old toothbrush and rub a little of the cleaner into the stain and wash as normal on the warmest setting possible for the clothing type.
• Simple Green. Simple Green is an environmentally safe all-purpose cleaner that can also be used as a laundry pretreatment solution. Spray enough of the cleaner onto the stain and agitate lightly using an old toothbrush. Wash the clothes as normal on the warmest possible setting for the type of clothing you are washing.
• Dishwashing detergent. Degreasing dishwashing detergents, such as those similar to Dawn, are a fantastic way of removing car grease stains from your clothing. Begin by placing some of the detergent directly onto the stain and then allowing it to soak into the fabric for a few minutes prior to washing. This soaking period should take at least ten minutes. After allowing the detergent to soak into the garment properly, wash your clothes as normal, and just make sure that everything is properly clean prior to drying. If the stain is not completely removed by this point, repeat the whole process until it is.
• WD-40. To remove an old car grease stain that has set into your clothes, try using a little WD-40. Spray the lubricating solution onto the stained area of your clothing, and let it set for no less than thirty minutes and no more than forty-five (you don't want the stain to dry out again). After applying the lubricating fluid in such a manner, treat the old grease stain just as if it was new.