Heating oil spilt on your clothing results in a greasy mess with a heavy, heating oil odour. Remove heating oil-stained clothing as quickly as possible as the oil can also irritate your skin. Remove heating oil from your clothing, successfully, using products from home and steps that will ensure you remove both the heating oil and the lingering odour. If the heating oil spill has gone far beyond your clothing and is affecting your home, call the fire brigade as they are equipped to start with the oil absorbing process until a utility or other company arrives to assist with the clean up.

Lay a clean towel on your work surface to protect it from the heating oil.

Saturate the heating oil stain on your clothing with baking soda. The baking soda will both absorb the stain and work to neutralise the heating oil odour. As the baking soda absorbs the heating oil, brush it off into the garbage and replace it with a new application of baking soda.

  • Heating oil spilt on your clothing results in a greasy mess with a heavy, heating oil odour.
  • As the baking soda absorbs the heating oil, brush it off into the garbage and replace it with a new application of baking soda.

Continue to refresh the baking soda on your clothing until there's no further transfer of heating oil to the baking soda. Brush off the last application of baking soda and discard.

Fill a bucket with straight white vinegar and place your heating oil-stained clothing in the bucket, ensuring the oily parts are submerged under the vinegar. Vinegar is a natural degreaser and deodoriser. Allow the clothing to soak in the straight vinegar for a few hours.

  • Continue to refresh the baking soda on your clothing until there's no further transfer of heating oil to the baking soda.
  • Fill a bucket with straight white vinegar and place your heating oil-stained clothing in the bucket, ensuring the oily parts are submerged under the vinegar.

Start a wash cycle on your washing machine, filling the washer with the hottest water allowed for your clothing. Add heavy duty washing powder and 2 tbsp of pure vanilla extract to the wash water, followed by your clothing. The vanilla extract will tackle any lingering odour from the heating oil.

Run your clothing through two full rinse cycles to fully remove the detergent and vanilla extract. Check to make sure the heating oil stain has been fully removed before placing your clothing in the dryer. You may need to repeat these steps once or twice more for heavily saturated heating oil stains on your clothing.

TIP

Substitute cornstarch, talcum powder or salt for the baking soda, if needed.

WARNING

Wash heating oil-stained clothing by itself, even after stain removal, so you don't risk transferring any lingering stains or odours to unaffected clothing.