This is like the fifth shirt I've ruined for my job with grease stains. I've lost a really beautiful sweater-blouse I used in the winter months due to this, as well as like three of my favorite casual t-shirts, but now it's one of the few hot-weather-applicable work shirts I have. I've tried washing it as soon as the grease ends up on the cloth, pre-treating with laundry soap and water and then washing a few hours later, and (most recently) washing it by hand with hand-soap and towels. Does dish-washing soap work? Or should I take both work-shirts to the dry-cleaners (the other three are just t-shirts, and I can just deal with them being kind of scummy and gross)? Or do I just bite the bullet, get rid of them and look into two new work shirts and never using olive oil in cooking again?
I'd try some petroleum-based dish soap/detergent first. That's pretty much the only thing that's worked at getting grease stains out of shirts for me. Rub it on the grease spot and let it sit for a bit, then wash it in the washing machine according to the care instructions.
I would try neat washing up liquid or dish soap, since it's designed to encapsulate oil particles. You could also try treating the stains with a paste of baking soda and water, but this might roughen or damage the fibres of the clothing. If it's a fresh stain, then sprinkling it with baby powder or talc should absorb quite a lot of the oil, leaving less to wash out. I would then try hand washing in hot water then a cycle in the machine for optimal targeted removal. Good luck!
I've also heard that pouring salt on a fresh grease stain can help. I don't think it will help with an old one though.
The petroleum-based dish soap technique has worked wonders for me. Don't wet the cloth first; rub it in while the cloth is dry. I've seen it recommended that the soap be rubbed in from the back side of the stain, but idk how necessary that is.
I'm currently drying the load of wash the shirt was in, after pre-treating with some Dawn dish-soap on the stains. The shirt's air-drying however (I'm quite fat, and it's a tight shirt so I prefer air-drying it. I know I can un-shrink a shirt somewhat with baby-shampoo or conditioner and stretching it slowly, but if I don't have to do it I'd rather avoid it), so I won't know how well the stain is out until about the late morning into midday tomorrow. From what I could see though, it looks like the stain is out. Sadly, I did not have baby powder or talcum powder available at the time of the stain. It happened at work, and I only tried asking after I had a failed attempt at washing it out with hand-soap and paper-towels in the sink, but I am going to look into getting a little bottle of baby powder for my purse (as well as a Tide pen, since I remember those being good for less greasy stains, like pens or spilled tomatoes). Once again, thank you all for your help, and if this works I might be able to save the nice sweater-blouse as well.
