Please help--Grease removing laundry detergent?

[sarahperdue]

Hi Y'all,

In a house with two preteen boys, myself and my husband, my dear husband is the only one who consistently manages to avoid wearing his food. The rest of us end up with little round oil stains on our clothes after washing and drying.

Laundry (gasp) is low on my priority list. I want it easy and clean with as little fuss as possible. And I know someone here knows the way or a detergent to get these stains out without pre-treating or scrubbing.

I'm using a Speed Queen TL Model: AWN412SP111TW01, Serial: 1004002047. We've used Arm & Hammer Free powder for years. I've recently tried Tide Free liquid, and it doesn't seem to do a satisfactory job either.

I'm washing on warm or hot. A lot of my "girl clothes" are labeled warm or cold only, but honestly, I'd risk the temperature increase to get them clean on the first try. I've had Whirlpool washers and dryers for years, but upgraded to Speed Queens several years ago when the last Whirlmore died.

I'd like a single detergent solution or a combination detergent and booster (2 products if necessary) that could be added together at the beginning of the cycle.

Please help.

Thank you,
Sarah

 

[maytagbear]

What I do..........

is to keep a bottle of Dawn Ultra (or store brand Dawn) at my washer, and dribble it onto the grease stains. I know it is an extra step, but it works well for me....dribble on some Dawn, wait a long minute, and throw it into the machine then. If I am doing it really correctly, I will fold the item together and rub it a little. Oh, and step up your detergent--Wisk is (at least here in my part of Ohio) cheaper than Tide, and is very good.....

This is my laundry testimony, and I'm holding to it.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[kenmore71]

I hate to plug "boutique" products here, but for over 40 years my mother has kept a supply of Stanley products "Degreaser" in her arsenal and swears by it. I can attest that it worked miracles on dress clothes of our entire family back in the 1990s. I have not studied its chemical properties, but greasy stains that should not have come out DID!

 

[dustin92]

I have had good luck with Tide Ultra Stain release (Liquid detergent), and Zout (pretreater spray) The Zout is the only thing I found that will remove all traces of kitchen grease and odor from clothes. I was head cook at a summer camp this year (and will be going back next year, loved it!) and pretty much trashed all my shorts and T shirts before I found something to remove the greasy food/stains/smell. Even after stains had been washed and dried, Zout removed them. I can't say I like the way it comes out of the bottle (almost a foam, but runny) but it flat out works. I have been using the Tide Ultra Stain release lately because I got it on sale and with a coupon I only paid about $3 for 32 loads. Seems to work excellent on normal everyday cooking stains (I'm back home now, using it in our Whirlpool Duet front loader, HE version of course) The Zout is only about $3 at Walmart, not sure where else it can be had.

 

[ptcruiser51]

Lestoil

I know you don't want extra steps, but sometimes it's necessary.

Dab some Lestoil on the stains and let it sit overnight (or all day, depending on your laundry schedule). Run thru a short wash on the hottest setting you have.

Then wash as normal with your detergent on a long cycle. Should work for you.

Zout is also an extra-good spot treater, as Dustin 92 said. Hard to find where I live, though.

My BIL is a roofer=filthy dirty clothes. My sister does the Lestoil thing in her Maytag, then fills it with hot water before she goes to bed. Lets it sit all night, then spins it out and does a regular (hot) cycle in the morning before she goes to work. Pins everything out on the line. No spots.

Good luck.

 

[nmassman44]

What I use is Shout in the can that says Grease removing. It works every time. Spray it on the grease stains and use the warmest water the fabric can stand. I also use Tide Powder, Borax and Clorox2 liquid, and a Tide Boost pac. I know some people dont use color safe bleaches but I use it for whites and colors. I never use chlorine bleach since it eats fibers and weakens fabrics.
A friend of mine swears by Lestoil, which by the way here is getting hard to find. But try the Shout in the aerosol can and it will get those stains out for you.

 

[sarahperdue]

...but it's a long extra step...

Thank you all for your input. I use Dawn and Zout regularly, and they both work very well. It just takes forever to find all of the spots and pre-treat them. It doesn't help that I wear mostly solids...

Sigh. One step solution, anybody?

Sarah

 

[maytagbear]

(Not entirely) joking----

grit your teeth and take everything to the dry cleaner!

L/Mb

 

[danemodsandy]

Another Helper:

This is neither the one-step solution you seek, nor a solution for petroleum-based stains at all.

But if the stains are organic, I suggest a trip back to the late '60s for BIZ enzyme booster. It was great then, it's great now. Walmart carries it, as do most grocery stores.

It has to be used with warm water, to activate the enzymes. But those little suckers can munch their way through food stains, blood stains, skid marks, and what I will discreetly refer to as Those Stains, a name bestowed upon them by the woman friend who told me about the miracles BIZ can perform with ladies' wonderwear, as well as eliminating bacon stripes on her hubby's dainties. She said it made doing laundry a lot more bearable, and I have found that to be true. No matter how hygienic a stained garment may be in fact, handling funky-looking underwear is repulsive.

Also great for removing the little blood spots left by guys who shave daily, on pillowcases and towels.

 

[appnut]

Biz works very well for me, since November 2001.  It has probably let me down 5 times.  Even when I still had the Lady Shredmore, I never once looked at individual pieces of clothing before I put it in the machine once I used Biz.  And as a friend of mine told me, Biz is a lady's best friend.  Before Biz, I'd spend the time while the washer was running going through all the entire next load. 

 

[alr2903]

Sarah,  crank the cold tap down a little and make your warm water a tad warmer.  Or start your fill on hot then switch to warm.  Your warm may not be warm enough.  I also use Maytagbear's  "Dawn" method on obvious grease stains especially on  shirt fronts.  

 

They use "Dawn" to  remove crude oil from wildlife after a mishap.  That's effective and safe enough for me.  I wish you the best.

 

 

 

[mrboilwash]

Soak

You`re looking for a simple, no fuss solution ?
Have you ever tried to stop the washer after a few minutes into the cycle ? I think 30 min up to one hour of soaking time might work miracles. This should be safe for whites and colorfast items. Not recommendet for items that bleed.

I`d also suggest a good enzyme containing detergent like Tide, Wisk or Purex with Oxi and most imporantly use enough ! I`d start with one and a half x of the recommended dose on challenging loads and see if I could get away with it without oversudsing the washer. This way you also keep the risk of soil redeposition while soaking as low as possible.

 

[frigilux]

It means ordering online...and from Amway, but their classic stain remover never fails to remove greasy stains. I use it on dress shirts, as I don't want to wash those on a long cycle with hot water.

I order 3 or 4 cans once a year.

 

[thomasortega]

Hummmmmmmmmm

Here I use dishwashing detergent. (not the dishwasher one, the silly one used for manual dishwashing) simply aplly it straight on the stains and rub with the finger to spread it. let it there for a few minutes before putting in the washer.
You don't need to rinse it before putting in the washer.

it's cheap and it works!

 

[lamont]

Try a pre-treat with GOOP or D-L brand hand cleaner. They have a high lanolin content and they do a wonderful job of removing grease and oil.

 

[tennblondie78]

Sarah,

I don't think you are going to get a one step solution to remove all of your stains. A small amount of effort on your part is going to be needed to get the results you want. I agree with the others; Wisk with a dash of STPP (not TSP), Shout and hot water have always produced good results for me. Rubbing a bar of Fels-Naptha soap over the dampened greasy spots also works well. I don't think there is a magic detergent that will do it all without a pretreatment of some sort.

 

[danemodsandy]

Stephanie:

For organic stains, BIZ is as close to a one-step solution as it gets. The enzymes in it will eat organic material of many kinds - food grease, blood, grass stains and bodily secretions of all sorts.

The trick is to use it regularly, and to pre-soak with it if stains are serious. In my Maytag 806 washer, I fill the machine, putting in detergent and BIZ. I use the Soak setting on the timer knob. Once the machine is halfway through the Soak cycle, I turn the machine off and let things sit. Usually it's one hour, but two to four hours have been used on tough stuff.

Once things have soaked, I start the machine back up and let it finish its Soak and Wash cycles. No pre-treating, no scrubbing, no real work at all.

BIZ has not yet failed me.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

I also use a little Goop hand cleaner on grease spots.  It even removes grease spots that have been baked in by the dryer.

 

Ken D.

 

[brib68]

My 2 cents

I've used Dawn for years if I know where a greasy spot is. I LOVE Biz, but it's gotten very hard to find in this area. Stop & Shop and Walmart here don't carry it and Target is hit or miss (mostly miss).

The other solution: Resolve/Spray N Wash Stain Stick. If we have a dinner party, I can put it on all the wine spots, grease spots and gravy spots on the tablecloth, and let it sit in the laundry room until I feel like washing, and it comes out like new. Just train your messy eaters to put some on their spots before they throw them in the hamper (or whatever system you use), and the extra step isn't YOURS (except for your own spots).