jhawkdrummer

The front fork was jammed on my bike so I got some white lithium grease (Lucas Oil 10533 White Lithium Grease) and now it works smoothly. I got some on a dri-fit shirt that I love and am not willing to try too much that would harm the fabric. Any suggestions?

Black wallnut 

Top load washing machine on gentle cycle w/ cold water and detergent should take care of the problem.

jhawkdrummer

Thanks for the quick response! I might wait a little while and see if I get more people to weigh in on the idea.

FBinNY 

Front loader would work just as well. Use liquid detergent, and pretreat the stain with some detergent rubbed in before washing.

SquidPuppet

Acetone and steel wool are your only hope.

cyccommute 

Probably not. All detergents available now have had the phosphate removed. That makes them less effective on oils and grease. I've found that cooking oils and bicycle grease just don't come out of fabrics anymore. I would suggest a pretreatment like FB. I've had very good luck with Carbona Stain Devils. Number 5 used to be my choice but they don't appear to have it. Number 7 should work as well.


Right idea. Wrong solvent. Acetone doesn't dissolve grease and oil that well. Mineral spirits mixed with a bit of acetone would do better or mineral spirits by itself.

FBinNY 

I've also had good success pretreating with liquid dish detergent applied straight and rubbed in a bit. But you need to rinse most of it out because if foams like crazy and modern washers don't handle suds well (suds overwork the drain pump).

The real key is not to wash stained clothes hot, because this can set the stain.

SquidPuppet

Um... that was total sarcasm, you know, since the fabric is delicate and all.

Black wallnut 

Ok so i left out the part about pre wetting the stain with liquid detergent. I've done it so many times it is just second nature. cyccommute it still works, I use Kirkland detergent fwiw.

SquidPuppet

I've had this argument with my Mother for decades. The opposite is true. Heat loosens the molecules, freeing them from the fabric.

I can get day old tomato sauce, ink, dye, etc. out of white cotton, but only with HOT water.

Stain solution cheat sheet from Tide.com

02Giant 

Dawn dish washing soap as a pretreat.

HillRider

I've had very good results getting all kinds of stains, including grease and oil, out of clothes using "Shout Gel" as a pretreatment. It comes in a plastic bottle with a built-in brush in the cap and that does a good job of working the detergent into the fabric.

cyccommute 

Just because it's a little sarcastic doesn't mean that it doesn't contain the kernel of a good idea. Steel wool: no. Solvents: not a bad idea. Dri-fit is just a polyester fabric. It's pretty tough.

leob1

When I have a grease stain I really want to get out, and nothing else works, I've had good success pre scrubbing it with waterless hand cleaner, such as GO-JO. Put some on the spot, scrub with a brush, toss in washer.
Next time, don't wear a shirt you like around grease.

onespeedbiker

+1 most dish washing detergent is formulated specifically to remove grease (Dawn is used for birds and mammals covered with crude oils for what it's worth). The easiest way is to pre-soak in Dawn (or similar) and water; 10:1 or so. Check after an hour and if the stain won't rub out you may want to rub some pure undiluted dish soap into the satin and pre-soak another hour; once you see the satin is gone, thoroughly rinse. Nike recommends you use powder clothes detergent (not liquid; I don't know why) and no fabric softeners. Further don't use detergents with brighter or other additives that leave behind a residue. If you have done so in the past, wash in plain water with a cup of white vinegar; it will remove past residue..
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jhawkdrummer

Thanks to all posters for the advice. I haven't had to clean many of my own stains and have never cleaned dri-fit. I used Black wallnut's original suggestion of pretreating with normal clothes detergent and scrubbed it, ran it on cold cycle. I missed a spot so I am going to repeat, letting it hang dry both times. Thanks again

capsicum

Polyester on of the most chemical resistant polymers around to the point it's very hard to dye it at the factory. d-limonene worked in a bit, followed by dawn and just a touch of water, agitate by hand to blend it all then rinse with hot water.

Lorenzo51

I tried one of the suggestions, Dawn dish detergent. I had a lot of grease spots on a winter jacket ("Columbia" brand) and a pair of 100% cotton pants. I used a brush (a little larger and stringer than a toothbrush) and worked the detergent into as many of the stains as I could find. Then I washed them on regular cycle cold water (Maytag top loading machine).

The jacket came out great. I missed a few spots, so I'll go over those again and re-wash. The pants didn't do so well with this treatment. The stains may have been reduced by about 20%, so still highly visible. I may try some other methods, but the pants are just for work, so no great loss if I have to toss them.

drlogik 

Soak for a couple of hours in strong solution of Dawn dish washing liquid in a bowl of water. This has been my go-to for oil, grease and chain tattoo's for years. If that doesn't work go nuclear with Orange degreaser.

AnkleWork

"Washing soda" then detergent.

308jerry

Ether, without upper cylinder lube. No sparks, no open flames and of course no smoking....

DimplePimple

Make a paste of liquid dish soap and baking soda the consistency of toothpaste. Rub in stain with a toothbrush then let soak for 10 mins. Then rinse. Then wash. This will get any stain or smell out I've ever thrown at it.