How To Get Gear Oil Smell Out Of Clothes? We Tried Different Ways -

Oil gear is something really stinky, especially if it’s left to rest on clothes for a long time. We could say that if you leave the gear oil for more than two or three days on your clothes, you may actually throw away those rags because nothing in the world will help you get rid of that bad smell. And it’s not only about the smell, but the greasy stains won’t be making your clothes more appealing.

Today we’ll focus on what you can do to dissolve the gear oil that accidentally got onto your clothes. To make sure you know what to do, just read this article till the end and then don’t lose your time and get into action. One of the main problems is that people often think they have some time. But the gear oil will literally eat into your clothes so the stains will be there forever. So, let’s not waste our time!

Here’s what we are going to talk about today:

What is the bad smell from gear oil?
How to get rid of the bad smell after gear oil stains?
How to clean off the gear oil stains from your clothes?
Why is gear oil so hard to dissolve?
Old gear oil stains – is there any option to clean?

Let’s get started!

Why does the gear oil smell so bad?

One of the components of the gear oil is often Sulfur. This is an element that smells like rotten eggs. This smell can make a person feel sick without any other reason. So if some gear oil (no matter fresh or used) gets onto your clothes, you are likely to decide to throw away the things.

Sulfur smell is something most gear oil types will have. Sulfur, as well as Phosphorus, are the additives that are aimed to reduce wear in gearboxes and other units. Sometimes the concentration of Sulfur may be so high that even opening the bottle with oil is torture.

If you spill some of the oil onto your clothes, here’s what you need to do:

carefully close the bottle with oil immediately and put it away in a safe place;
take the clothes off carefully, not to make another stain with the oil;
wipe off the liquid oil with paper towels or tissues if you can;
put the clothes item into some packet to stop it from smelling;
act as soon as possible and use the tips we give in our article.

One of the main mistakes is to continue wearing this item until you finish your job. Sometimes the rotten-egg smell will be so strong that you will feel sick in a while. Some people may even faint if the amount of oil was too high and the smell is very concentrated.

So what you actually need to do is to stop for a while, take the clothes off, put on something else to protect yourself, and then finish your job. If the clothes are expensive or new, we would recommend forgetting about everything else and trying one of our methods.

What can help you get rid of that smell?

We know some methods you should use. But to make sure nothing else will work better, we usually investigate forums before giving you tips. And we’ve found out that many people say that you should burn or throw away your clothes if you got some stains. But we have some solutions you may try first.

1. Make a personal mixture for washing

We recommend this as the first method to cope with any smells. You will need some vinegar (not scented, of course), water, baking soda, and also a decent detergent. So, apply some baking soda right onto the stain. After that mix your own washing solution using water, white vinegar, and any detergent.

You will need 1 cup of vinegar, 3 cups of water (better use warm water), and 1 tablespoon of your detergent.

Need more water to clean the stain? Just multiply that amount to your needed number and make enough solution for cleaning your clothes. It’s better to use a plastic bowl to apply the mixture you prepared. Put your clothes into the bowl with the prepared solution and keep it there for up to 4 hours but more than 3 hours. After that, you will need to wash your clothes using the simple machine-washing methods you usually use.

The only thing that is left is to dry the things properly and then smell them to see if it worked out. In most cases, you will be able to get rid of that awful smell using this method.

2. Baking soda magic

Another tip we can give is using baking soda paste. It’s very cheap and easy to make and it’s still absolutely helpful when you need to get rid of some stains or smells. Soda works well in most cases and it doesn’t spoil your clothes.

So, you will need half a cup of baking soda. Add 2 or 3 teaspoons of water and mix it properly until you get the kind of paste. Add some more water if the paste is too thick. After that apply the paste to the stain to cover it all with the thick layer of baking soda paste.

You should leave your clothes in a dry and warm place to allow the baking soda to work well with the smell and the stain itself. At least 5 hours are needed. After that, you should wash your clothes and see if it helped. Usually, this method can cope even with old stains. But if you apply too much soda or you leave it for more than 7 hours, the paste may affect the color of the clothes. So instead of an oil stain, you will get another white stain.

3. Phosphoric acid (Coke)

Well, here’s another way you may want to try. Coke is known to have some phosphoric acid in it, and we know well that this acid can clean off stains. You could have seen how numismatists clean their coins with Coke and get wonderful results. So why not try with your clothes?

You should do the following:

Buy 2 liters of Coke. It’s quite important that the Coke is fresh and it wasn’t opened before.
Put your clothes into a plastic bowl or into a bucket and pour 2 liters of Coke inside. Well, you can take a sip or two if you want.
Then, let it be there for at least 20 minutes, but don’t let it work over 40 minutes.
Take your clothes from the bowl and squeeze them to dry them a little.
Please don’t drink the Coke from the bucket – just send it down the drain.
Wash your clothes immediately using your standard detergents.
Dry the clothes and inspect your things to check if the smell is still there.

This method is less efficient than the first two options we offered. But it may help you in case you couldn’t get the smell out of the clothes with the help of the first methods. Sometimes Coke is a magical liquid that can both make you happier and clean your clothes or coins!

When is it recommended to throw away your clothes?

Well, it’s quite hard to clean off some stains while others are easy to deal with. What’s the problem? Firstly, it depends on the clothes type – you know, the type of fabric. And secondly, it depends much on the oil type. Some oils contain more ingredients that can cause bad stains. Some of them you will not be able to clean even with professional chemical stain cleaners.

Here are some signs that should prevent you from cleaning the clothes:

A couple of big stains. Even if you manage to clean them, they will change the color of the fabric, so your clothes will look bad anyway.
Old stains. If you have waited for more than a week before cleaning your clothes, the secret methods won’t help anymore.
Old oil. If the oil was used and it left black stains, these stains aren’t likely to clean off easily. Even if you get rid of the bad smell, the stains will still be there.
Old clothes. If the affected clothes can be just thrown away without worrying much, why should you care about all these methods of cleaning?

Final words

Well, cleaning off oil stains and getting rid of annoying gear oil smell is not a simple task. But in some cases, you can still use our tricks and save your clothes. If you still feel the rotten-egg smell after you tried all our secret methods, then, unfortunately, you should just throw away your clothes – nothing will help it smell better again.

Remember that if you just wash your clothes in a washing machine after having a gear oil stain, it will be harder to fight the smell after that. Simple detergents aren’t efficient for gear oil, so they will only make the stain harder to clean off. Use our methods before using your washing machine.