Oil stains can be made worse if washed straight away, so they need to be treated first (Image: Getty)
Keeping your clothes in the best condition possible can make a world of difference to how you feel day to day, and there’s nothing worse than when they’ve been ruined by an accidental spill or stain. Stains can not only ruin the appearance of clothes, but also affect the fabric if the stains contain oil, which can seep into the material.
If you don’t wash your clothes that have been marked by oil stains properly, you can ruin them indefinitely. Oil-based stains are tricky to get out when using the washing machine, as they repel water when washed and cling to porous fabric fibres. To help combat annoying and tough oil stains, chef Charles Kim, widely known as Chef Fatty on social media, recently revealed his go-to homemade cleaning method.
You can make your own washing soda and DIY paste for stains (Image: Getty)
In the video, Chef Fatty said: “If you spill grease on your shirt and you just wash it and dry it, you’re going to stain it for good.”
How to remove grease stains from clothes
Instead of jumping the gun and putting the stained garments straight into the washing machine, you need to give the stains a pre-wash treatment. Chef Fatty uses a creation he dubs “super paste” to get out tough oil-based stains.
He said: “This is super paste and it works by breaking down grease while pulling all the yellow out.”
Chef Fatty’s paste contains washing soda, hydrogen peroxide and washing up liquid. Add one part washing soda to one part hydrogen peroxide, along with a few drops of washing-up liquid. Make sure to give the “super paste” a good mix
If you don’t have washing soda to hand, you can make homemade washing soda by baking baking soda on the tray at 180℃ for 30 minutes to make washing soda. Once the baking soda has baked, place it into a jug or container.
Heating the baking soda triggers a chemical reaction that removes water and produces carbon dioxide gas. The pH rises during heating, making it much more effective at cutting grease, softening hard water, and lifting stains.
For white clothes, all you need to do is apply the paste directly to the stains, rubbing it in slightly. Allow the paste to sit for 15 minutes.
Follow by washing the stained clothes on a high temperature and watch the stain disappear. The process is slightly different for coloured clothing.
When making the paste, skip the hydrogen peroxide and add one part water in its place. Chef Fatty said: “For coloured clothes we skip the peroxide because that can draw out the colours.”
The paste works the same way. Simply apply the paste to the stain and leave it for 15 minutes before washing on high again.
This technique will help remove tough stains like oil as washing soda acts as an absorbent, as it’s made from baking soda. This means that when it’s applied to oil stains, it soaks up the oil and draws it out of the fabric.
Baking soda can enhance the effectiveness of detergents, helping to brighten dull whites, and can be used to rid garments of unwanted odours. Hydrogen peroxide is a natural bleaching agent, meaning it will help brighten discoloured and dull white clothes. It will also help to disinfect any clothes that are hiding any nasties.
By adding washing-up liquid to the solution, you can help target oil-based stains on the clothes and lift them from the fibres. By adding washing up liquid and baking soda together, you get both the benefits of absorbing the grease and cutting through it. Washing up liquid helps to break down tough oil stains, loosening it before washing.
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