Removing Oil Stains from Husbands Work Clothes

My husband is a heavy equipment operator. He comes home everyday covered in diesel and asphalt. Every inch of his pants are covered. I add oil eater to the load, but everything stains and still has that asphalt/diesel smell. What should I do?


I would recommend using Orange Glo or Citra Solv (or other orange derivative products). Citra Solv tells you to add a bit to your wash for a cleaning boost, but I would soak the clothing in a mixture of this and water for a while, even overnight. I would also give those oxydol type cleaners a try.

Other suggestions:
Pine-sol. I have used the PineSol on his clothes and it has worked. Maybe a pre-soak would be good as well.

Soilove. If you can find it available in your local grocer, is Soilove. It is made by America’s Finest Products Corporation in Santa Monica, CA. I used to work in a laundry in Las Vegas and we went through a case of this each month on simple things, but at home I would go through a couple of bottles also on things that my family would get into. This product is GREAT! Just a little hard to come by in my new area. If you can find it, put a spray bottle replacement in the top and use it on all kinds of stains. It works!

Carbona. Use Carbona for grease stains then Gain to get rid of the smell - my husband worked on a fish boat for years & the only thing that got rid of smell was Gain Laundry Detergent.

Dawn dishwashing liquid. Something I found that takes out grease, oil and gasoline is Dawn dish detergent. You don’t want to put it in your washing machine, but soak the clothes in a tub of scalding hot water and dish soap until the water cools enough to take the clothes out, wash them with regular detergent and baking soda on hot with a cold rinse……….it should work!!

Vinegar. It really works wonders! My husband works drilling natural gas, and comes home with diesel, acid, and oil on him all the time. I simply wash his coveralls with hot water, soap, and white distilled vinegar. All of his buddies have come to me and asked me what I do to keep them so clean! They all do it now!

Hand goo. My brother was an auto mechanic for years and he used the “hand goo” that Mechanics use to get their hands clean. He just rubbed that into the stains and threw them in the washer! It worked great!

Can of Coke or soda. A can of Coke in the washer to get stains out of my husband and kids clothes. It works great. Not the good stuff the generic stuff works the best.