Wednesday, August 17, 2011

How to Treat Oil Stains

Oil is one of the most difficult household spills. Countless cherished articles of clothing have been ruined by a few stray drops of salad-dressing or cooking oil. Unless you act fast and know what you’re doing, oil of all sorts can get the best of you. Here are a few ways to get the upper hand:

First, move quickly. Don’t let it spread or sit. Blot up as much of the excess as you can with rags or paper towels. Don’t wring it out and keep blotting; change to a new towel as soon as the old one is soaked. Press down as hard as you can to get every available drop.

If the stain is small, baking soda is your first line of defense. Sprinkle it on the blotted stain and let it sit for a few minutes to absorb as much as it can and deodorize the carpet.

Next, try a little rubbing alcohol – but on a test spot first! It can fade your carpet color. Don’t pour it directly on the stain; instead, put it on an absorbent rag and then use that to blot, working inward from the outside edge of the stain.

Amyl acetate, better known as nail polish remover, is also effective, especially on machine oil. Use it with a white cloth made of organic material; it’ll melt things like nylon and cause their color to bleed into the carpet.

For cooking oil, try a grease-cutting dishwashing soap first – just don’t use too much or you’ll spend more time rinsing than you did on the stain. Make a mild solution using warm water, then apply with a spray bottle, blotting up the excess until the oil is gone. White vinegar is also effective.

An ammonia solution (one tablespoon per cup of water) works best on automotive oil. Use the blotting method, and don’t forget to try it out on a small area to make sure it won’t affect the color of your carpet.

Most of these methods are interchangeable. We advise trying the mildest first. If all else fails, call us!

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1 comment:

  1. This is what i was looking for. I somehow dropped the oil and got huge stain on the carpet of my room. Now i will use these tips to remove the stains.

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