Unexplained stains...help!!

I use clear detergent too and put stain remover on my clothes too. However, you mentioned grease and that sounds like a hard one.

We use All Free & Clear as well, and have used it for years and have never had a problem with stains like that, so I don't think it's the detergent itself that's causing problems. Whenever we do have stains (like food or dirt...happens a lot; I have an 8 month old and a 3 year old, both messy eaters), I use Spray & Wash directly on the stain and I also add Oxi Clean for Babies into the wash. For particularly stubborn poop stains on my baby's clothes, I will soak the clothes in Oxi Clean for Babies and then wash. That works for us pretty well.

Try the Stain Busters in the little yellow containers at Kroger, there is one specifically for oil and grease! And for other stains too. They work wonders!! I also believe in Tide and Oxyclean spray!

We use Greased Lightning for our laundry stains. You can find it at Walmart. It takes out practically everything after the first time you wash the garment.

Try rubbing a small of liquid dish soap on the stain and rewash. Just use a drop or two, add a bit of water and rub it in. Make sure it get all the way through the fabric. It may take a couple of washings but I have found that it works very well even if the stains have been through several washings. Don't spray with Spray and Wash and let it sit.

I use the PreSpot by Melaleuca, and it seems to get out most stains. Anything that is oily, sprinkle with baby poweder and let it absorb all of the oil. Wipe of the absorbed oil and repeat. You may have to do this several times before laundering the item. Do not put the item into the dryer until you are sure all of the oil is gone. I usually let it hang dry and make sure the stain is gone. This has worked on olive oil on khakis. It sometimes has worked for me after the item was dried, but did not get the stain out completely. Good luck!

I'm not sure what kind of washer/dryer you have, but we ran into a problem with our old dryer. The grease off of the ball bearings in the dryer was coming into the dryer and getting on our clothes. The stains were impossible to get out!! Just a thought in case you have an older dryer, but when it happened to us it was on all different colors of clothes, not just dark clothes.

I don't know what the name of the product, but you get it in the auto department. It is the stuff that you get grease off of your hands with. You take a little bit and rub it on the stain and was as usual and the grease is lifted. The lady at the Laundry where I go told me about this hope that it helps.

Hi A.,

Wow, I love some of the suggestions from the other posters! Cant wait to try them!

Ive used OXY liquid on the stains and then let them soak in cold water and some OXY for a few hours before putting the article of clothing in the washer. This is usually very helpful for the stains my daughter comes home with (and I dont notice until after pulling them out of the dryer!) - food, dirt, paint, and once blood.

I hope this helps!! Good luck!

One of my teachers in college said that dryer sheets can do that to clothes because of the oils in the sheets. You didnt mention that you used them

Tracy T "beat me to the punch", as I also help moms enroll with Melaleuca, but I would say on the grass stains that have dried to use the MelaMagic or full-strenth Sol-U-Mel. I've had to use it a couple of times on my "little guy's" shirts.

We started using Melaleuca when my son was little bitty, because he was having breathing issues caused by the "outgassing" of all our other cleaning products, which I LOVED!(Yes, it was hard for me to give them up, because I'd been using them since I was a teenager!) My son's health is much more important to me than how much I 'love' a product.

Tracy and I do work with different teams, so if you'd like to check both out, my website is www.healthykidshappymoms.biz, a sister link is www.livetotalwellness.com/J., and my email is ____@____.com. (But if you check out my websites, please do Tracy the honor of looking at hers, too, since she answered you first.)

It could be fabric softener. That is very tough to get out. If you use fabric softener in the future dilute it before it goes in the wash. Your washing machine or those Downy balls can get the fabric softner on your clothes before they are submerged in water. I have started to pour the fabric softener in the wash after it has completely filled up so it's not going on the clothes it's going in the water first. And if you put liquid detergent (some, not all do this)directly on your clothes for stain removal be sure not to leave it on too long or it could lighten that spot.

Hi A.!! I use and represent Melaleuca and will say that these are not only the BEST products I've ever used, but I LOVE the fact that they are all natural. They are safer and better for myself and my family. They work great, get the job done (better than old products I used to use)!! Plus they can help with alot of different issues...ex: asthma, excema, allergies, Autism and forms of ADD (just to mention a few).

If you have any questions or need help - you can contact me!

Good luck!!
T.
____@____.com

I have to say that the very BEST stain removers I have ever used are:

1. Shout WIPES (not the spray, that has actually discolored some of my clothes).
2. Dreft Nursery Stain Remover Spray-it has gotten grease and blood out of my clothes.

Both of these only work if you get it before you wash and dry-I hope someone will respond with a miracle cure for removing set grease stains, I could use some ideas with that too!

I would also suggest periodically cleaning out your washing machine-check for soap/fab softner build up, lint in the lint trap, etc. Run an empty cycle of HOT water and a cup of vinegar. There might be something stuck in there messing up your clothes. Hope that helps.

Hi A.,

I posted something similar to this not too long ago. Several ladies told me that using Dawn Liquid Detergent, the stuff you use for your dishes, right before I wash them & let them set for a day before washing them would help & boy did it ever. Even after I had washed & dried some I used that to get the stains out & it really helped. It didn't take the ones that had been dried multiple times completely out but it did get them almost unnoticable. I hope this helps & good luck getting them out.

A.-
are you using liquid fabric softener? That is usually the cause of those "unexplained" spots on dark clothes. The very best IS the liquid Dawn dish soap. Even after clothes have been dried, it will still get it out. To prevent those spots, add a couple scoops of OXY to your load...not sure why, but it helps prevent the liquid fab softener from latching on in spots.

Try washing them again with Coca Cola. I use to do laundry for a bunch of guys that worked for my dad during the harvest season and they were always getting into grease and I found that Coca Cola would normally work.

Dish detergent that cuts grease, works great for me even on grease stains that are old and have been
washed already. I usually just pour a little on the stain if it's a bigger stain I give it a little scrub with like an old toothbrush or something then I let the detergent sit until I'm ready to do laundry again.
Hope this helps!
C.

A., try Goo Gone. It's available in the cleaner aisle at most grocery stores, including Walmart. As a professional caterer and chef, I've had my share of oil-stained clothes, including one particularly nasty apron that was doused in oil when my sous chef decided to crank the temperature on my fry pot way too high causing the tempura veggies I dropped in soon after to splatter oil all over me. Spray it on the stain until it soaks it through, wait a few minutes, then just drop it into a load of wash. It will come right out.

i had the same prob with all f+c. i started putting the soap in before the clothes and have not had a prob since.

Prespot and Solumel from Melaleuca should do the trick! They have gotten some CRAZY stains out of my boys' clothes. :)

Original De-Solv-It is a general use citrus based solvent that is safe, 100% organic, biodegradable and contains no harsh chemicals. I use this on our clothes all the time. As a matter of fact, I need to get some more. It has taken out butter and oil stains after I have washed and dried our clothes. The last time I purchased it, I found it at Wal-Mart, but I've been having a hard time finding it. I think you can also find it at Albertson's, hardware stores, etc. I just haven't had a chance to look for it.

Try oxyclean in your wash everytime.

Dish soap especially the kind with degreasers work for me. Just dab a little on the grease sopt.

My detergent and fabric softner do this if they get directly on the clothes. I just rewash and most times it cimes out. Sometimes though, the item is just trash because it won't come out.

Have you tried Dawn dishwashing soap? It worked wonders on my grease stains.

try apple cider vinegar. let the stain part soak for an hour or over night if really big. Scrub it a little. then put it in the washing machine (with the vinegar) and wash as usual. Hang it up to dry and check to see if any change before drying. Using a cup of white vinegar in every rinse water makes the whites look cleaner too. Scrubbing with a little sea salt and baking soda is good too if stain is fresh.

If a real grease stain - use a powerful dish detergent - the one that says "cuts grease". put it right on the stain and rub it in and let it "set" for a few minutes then wash again. Goo gone might work but test it to make sure it doesn't remove the color.