How to remove oil and grease stains from clothes

Lift sauce or food with the edge of a spoon, working from the outside towards the centre. Press a clean white cloth onto the oil without dragging it across the fabric. Move to a fresh part of the cloth as it absorbs grease. Rubbing shawarma sauce into a shirt spreads both the fat and its coloured ingredients; a machboos spill can also leave a separate spice mark after the oil lifts.

Do not put the garment in a hot parked car or leave it on a sunny balcony while you decide what to do. Heat and delayed treatment can make removal harder. Karak is not simply an oil stain: milk, tea and sugar may need a cool rinse before detergent treatment. If the label permits washing, rinse a milky spill from the back with water around 20°C.

Test liquid laundry detergent on an inside seam, rinse the test patch and check for colour change. For washable cotton or polyester, apply enough detergent to cover the mark lightly. Use your fingertips to spread it without scrubbing, then allow five to ten minutes if the product instructions permit. Do not let the patch dry out. A laundry prewash product labelled for grease is another option; its directions take priority.

Wash the garment separately or with compatible colours at 30°C or 40°C only when its care label permits that temperature. More heat is not automatically safer. Use the detergent dose for the load, not an extra cup to chase one stain. Examine the wet fabric under good light after rinsing. Air dry in shade before deciding whether a faint dark patch is still present.

An older grease patch may need a second carefully controlled treatment, but repeating the same method indefinitely risks the fabric. Start with the same hidden-seam test and detergent pretreatment. If one repeat produces no improvement, stop. A shiny patch can be fibre damage rather than oil, and cleaning cannot restore a melted or scorched surface.

For everyday washable clothes, wash and fold is an available service, but identify the stain and tell the cleaner whether the garment has already been washed, ironed or tumble dried. Routine washing is not a promise that an old grease mark will disappear. Keep the stained item separate rather than hiding it in a tightly packed bag.

A silk blouse, wool jacket, lined garment or dry-clean-only piece should not receive this cotton-shirt treatment. Blot gently and leave further work to a cleaner. Avoid petrol, paint thinner and kitchen degreasers: they are not clothing-care products. Washing-up liquid can foam heavily in a machine; liquid laundry detergent is the simpler choice for the steps above. Never combine a stain remover with bleach or another cleaner.

Check collars, seams and the reverse of the stain once the fabric is dry. Oil can collect at a stitched edge even when the centre looks clear. If a coloured food mark remains after the greasy feel has gone, do not increase heat or improvise a second chemical treatment. Record what you used and ask for advice. Avoid ironing the patch to make the shirt wearable: that can make a remaining stain harder to treat.