How to Get Oil Smell Out of Clothes

Anyone who has spilled oil on his or her clothes knows that this smell very hard to get rid of. The dank aroma lingers and is resistant to normal washing methods. Even though you have thoroughly laundered your clothes, they don’t look or smell clean. You may even be tempted to dig a hole and burn the clothes rather than try to remove this particularly gnarly stink. That is simply not a good way to deal with the problem when better solution can be found. This guide will provide some practical solutions to help you get oil smell out of clothes.


 

The issue of oily-smelly clothing is an occupational hazard for people who work around cars and heavy machinery. they are constantly at risk of bringing their work home with them, through no fault of their own. If your goal is to remove the oily smell from your clothing, you will want to find a way to break down the grease in the fabric. Your regular laundry soap may not be able to handle this type of specialized cleaning job. Until you remove the source of the stank, your clothing won’t be fresh smelling. Speaking of working on cars, you may be surprised to find that some of our solutions to dealing with clothes that reek like oil can be found in the automotive oil of a retail store. Products with good degreasing properties can be used to get the oil out of the fabric and get the funk out of your clothes so that people won’t be offended by your presence.
 

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How to Get Oil Smell Out of Clothes

1 Coca-Cola Soak

Take the smelly clothes and place them in a pail. Fill with enough original Coca-Cola to cover them completely. Soak overnight and wash them as you normally would. The oily smell should be lifted out. As a variation to this solution, empty a can of Coke into your washing machine along with your detergent to get the oily smell out.

 

2 Pine-Sol It Out

Try soaking your clothing in Pine-Sol to get the smell of oil out of your clothes. If you decide to try this solution, you will want to use this household cleaner at full strength. Soak the clothing for an hour or two before washing.

 

3 Baking Soda Soak and Wash

Fill your washing machine with water. Dissolve one cup of baking soda in hot water and add it to the water. Add the stanky clothing and let them soak for at least 30 minutes. You can leave them in the machine overnight if you wish before adding detergent and running your regular wash cycle.

 

4 Dawn Dish Soap and Hot Water Method

Dawn dish soap will remove the heavy oily smell from clothing. You need to be careful when adding this product to your washing machine. A little of it will go a long way. Use hot water in the washing machine. You may want to add vinegar to the rinse cycle to cut through the soap and leave the clothing ready to wear.

 

5 Super Clean Foaming Cleaner Degreaser

Another effective way to banish the oil smell from your clothes is to give them a bath in Super Clean Foaming Cleaner Degreaser. This product is available in the automotive section at Wal-Mart, as well as online. You will probably want to invest in the gallon size if you are going to be using it for your laundry. Soak the clothes in this product for about an hour before washing them, or add the Super Clean to the load and wash as usual.

 

6 Eucalyptus Oil in your Wash

Try adding two capfuls of eucalyptus oil to your wash when you have to deal with greasy clothing along with your detergent. You can buy this product in health stores, some drug stores and online. You can also presoak the items with the eucalyptus oil in your washing machine before washing them.

 

7 Simple Green All-purpose Cleaner and Degreaser

Simple Green is another line of products you can find in the automotive aisle at  a number of retail stores. To tackle the problem of smelly clothing, grab some of the all purpose cleaner and either spray the spots on the clothes or soak the items before washing them. This company also manufactures laundry soap, but it doesn’t have the grease-cutting properties you will need in this instance.

 
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Published by

Joe Fresh

Joe is an odor combatant, chemistry extraordinaire and all around good guy. He has an over-productive olfactory system with absolutely zero tolerance for unpleasant aromas.

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