Miele to the rescue

[sudsmaster]

Two weekends ago I had to work on my old pickup truck. I changed the oil and somehow I got a fair amount of it on an Ocean Pacific dark blue jersey I foolishly wore during the process. I think it was from the new fresh oil, but it still left what looked like a water stain on the fabric. I washed it twice in my Neptune, once with 130F hot water, STPP, etc... but the stain remained.

Today I threw the shirt into a load of whites I was doing in the Miele 1918 out in the garage. Set the temp dial for the usual 160F, and used pretty much the same detergent I'd been using in the Neptune.

Presto! The oil stain is completely gone now... no trace of it. And the shirt hasn't faded any more than it already had from years of wear and wash.

For effective stain removal, I still think there's nothing quite like really hot water and European front loader technology!

 

[foraloysius]

Wonderful! But I think you mean Miele technology! ;-)

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, since it only went to 160F, even a small Bosch probably could have gotten the stains out. As well as an Asko. But lacking such machines, I can only say that Miele technology worked wonders.

I did use Sears Ultra Plus HE, with Color Safe Bleach, boosted to 33% by weight with STPP. I used the same detergent (without the bleach) in the Neptune with no luck.

 

[sudsmaster]

Looks like I spoke too soon!

In brighter light, the shirt still shows darker splotches where the oil hit it.

I'll probably run it through with a few 160F white loads to see if that will help. If necessary I'll break out the automotive solvents (Brakecleen for starters) to see if those can remove the offending splotches. Brakecleen is mainly acetone and evaporates very quickly... so no danger of explosion in a subsequent washing.

Who knows... maybe WD40 will clean it up ;-)

 

[mysteryclock]

Lestoil

You could also try some Lestoil which is 20-30% Stoddard Solvent. They carry it hardware stores and even Kroger grocery stores around here.

Let us know what you end up using and how it turns out.