Help Getting Out Stains!

Updated on August 16, 2008
N.M. asks from Oakland, CA
22 answers

This will probably sound really strange, but I need help with removing a Blue Ice stain from my wooden countertop. The ice leaked out all over my butcher block. How do I get the blue off???
Also, any good tips for getting oil stains out of clothing? I dripped salad dressing on my new cotton shirt.
Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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K.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I keep a can of WD40 on the shelf above the laundry. Whenever I have a grease stain I spray WD40 on it then give it a good soaking spray of shout or spray & wash then wash as usual, it gets those shadow stains out even after you've washed and dried them!

3 moms found this helpful
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J.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Sounds like you got a really great piece of information on the butcher block already so I'll bypass that. I REALLY like the stain remover called Ecover. Dreft also works on all stains like I have never seen before.

2 moms found this helpful

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K.G.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi N.,
Butcher block is end-grain, and the blue ice liquid has likely soaked into the wood. Therefore, surface cleaners will not work. You can try lightly sanding the wood (to get to where the stain really is) and then scrub with oxalic (sp?) acid (also known as wood bleach) to bleach it out. You can probably find it at the hardware store labeled as wood bleach.

For your clothes, try covering the stains in Borax (baby powder is a decent back up, but Borax should not be hard to find in the laundry aisle of a decent sized store) for about 10-20 minutes. Then rub with some Dawn dish soap. After that, launder the clothes in the hottest water the clothes can take. A more chemical solution is something called Zout, which appears to remove almost anything. It has three different enzymes (make sure it says triple enzyme somewhere) to remove three different classes of stains, one being oily stains like what you would get from salad dressing. I hope this helps!
K.

3 moms found this helpful
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G.D.

answers from Modesto on

About the clothes... this works great!!!
Baking soda + Peroxide + Soap + hot water... let the clothes sit and soak in it for a day and then wash... and for softening your clothing without any chemicals use white vinagre as fabric softner!!! Cheap and environmentally safe for everyone!!! For the tough ones you can make a paste with the same ingredients and add some lime juice and let it sit in the sun!!!
Love, G.. :0)
http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

1 mom found this helpful
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J.W.

answers from Yuba City on

I am not sure about the wood except to try cutting a lemon in half and rubbing that on it. My fried told me about that one and it worked on a smaller stain.

As for your clothes...I used to work in an auto part store when I was younger. There is a spray called Clear Magic or something like that. A little spray of that on the oil spot and then wash. Gone. The guys at the shop told me about it when I kept getting oil stains on my nice shirts. I am not sure if it is still available but it really worked.

There is another thing that is great for clothes or whatever. It comes in a tub. Pink paste. You used to be able to only get it at fairs and such but now I think you can get it at some stores. I am trying to remember the name of it. Ah, Quik and Brite. That stuff is awesome.

Anyway, hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.W.

answers from San Francisco on

I swear by Dawn for grease stains. It has to be Dawn original (blue liquid). I even keep a bottle by the washing machine. It has removed even old stains I didn't catch the 1st time around :). Good luck!

S.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.S.

answers from Fresno on

if the oil stain is set, this sounds crazy, but put a little oil back into it, and rub in, then use dawn, or really any dish soap and rub in really well, then launder.. you have to re-hydrate the oil if it has been washed already. It works every time!

1 mom found this helpful
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C.G.

answers from San Francisco on

hi N.,
for the oil stain, put dawn dishwashing soap on it, and soak it in cold water. then, wash it in cold water. it'll work! good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi, For the stain on the counter, can you contact the maker of the counter top? If you don't know, maybe look online for manufacturers and contact any of them.
On the shirt, I use the orange hand cleaner that guys use after they have worked on cars. I got tired of messing with things that didn't work for me. I was scared at first, but it worked for me. I've used it several times on clothes. Don't know what color your shirt is, this is only a suggestion. good luck!

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D.B.

answers from Sacramento on

Try making a paste out of baking soda, pu it on the stain and let it dry...wash it off and see how much the baking soda absorbed... you can repeat it.

Try dawn dish washing liquid or regular shampoo for the shirt...let it soak and then wash...don't dry it until you are sure the stain is gone or it will set the stain forever.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.M.

answers from Stockton on

That blue stuff is horrible! It's leaked in my frige, I think I used bleach. But for a wood counter top you may have to sand it down and reseal.
As for oil - dish soap, it's made to cut grease. Put it directly on fabric, should work great.

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S.H.

answers from Stockton on

Looks like you've received some great advice. My only addition would be to try sprinkling a bit of cornstarch onto the oil stain first. Let it soak up as much of the oil as possible, then brush it off before using dishsoap or another stain remover. Good luck!

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E.M.

answers from Bakersfield on

Hi N.-
I don't know about the blue ice, but for clothing and oil spots etc., use either de-solve it or soi-love. These are cleaners my mother used to use and they work on EVERYTHING! The soilove, soak the area of the garment that is stained, let it sit for a few minutes, rub it, then rinse. The de-solve it let sit about 5 minutes or so (look on the back for instructions) but those 2 I absolutely swear by.
Good luck!
-E.
Try some kind of citrus cleaner on the butcher block like the desolve. You could even try a lemon concentrate on the wood.
-E.

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S.M.

answers from Sacramento on

N., I have a great product that gets out stains. It is also nontoxic. If you are interested you could contact me. It is Melaleuca.

SonjaM

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L.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I don't know about the blue ice, but I do know how to get oil stains from clothing. Get that hand cleaner from the car dept. of Wal-Mart or Kragen. You know the goopy kind. Put a little of that on the stain and wash it and it should come out. Its the only thing that ever works for me. My dad told me about it and if you read on there some even state on the package that it can be used for laundry.

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L.G.

answers from San Francisco on

Goo Gone is great on getting oil stains out of anything!

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M.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Zout works well. Don't put your shirt in the dryer until you are satisfied that the oil mark is gone though. This works better than if you dry your shirt and try to get it out afterwards. You can buy Zout at Target. It works on other stains too.

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J.H.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi N.! I am sorry I have no idea for your blue ice stain, but I do for your oil stain! I get grease on myself often! Geez! I do 99% of the cooking and so I tend to get messy! I've always used Shout. I've even used it AFTER I've washed AND dried the garment and then realized I have the stain. Sometimes it takes two washes. Always check to see if the stain is out before you dry it. I usually treat the stain and let it sit, then treat it again a bit later. Then I wash it and let it hang dry (if you can't tell if the stain is out or not) and then if it's out I dry it and if not wash it again. Like I said, it usually only takes 1 washing, but sometimes 2. Good luck!!!

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C.C.

answers from Sacramento on

As far as clothing, I got some of that Shout Advanced spray. This stuff is good... takes off stains that have been there awhile too after already been washed... may take a couple of times but it's good.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

For oil/grease stains go to an art supply store such as Aaron Brothers and buy Kiss Off. It looks like a scrapbooking/children's craft glue stick. It will remove any grease stain even if it is 30 years old and has been dried in. I had a friend who tested that theory, lol.

For the blue ice stain. I would first Google: How do I get a Blue Ice Stain out of a butcher block. next try googling the ingredients for stain removal solutions. Good luck!

T.
Founder
www.theparentpack.org

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

we use murphy's oil soap on oil stains, lots of other folks swear by Dawn dishwashing liquid.

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L.C.

answers from Yuba City on

Straight dish soap for the oil stain rub it into the spot. launder as usual. Try a strong bleach solution wear gloves. it may take off the blue.

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