Everyone likes to have their clothes nicely cleaned and ironed.
When clothes get dirty and stained, in most cases, using the washing machine and steam ironing at home will do the trick and make clothes spark with cleanliness again.
However, some stains can be persistent and won’t go easily away.
A paraffin oil stain is such an example.
Just using the washing machine won’t remove a paraffin oil stain
Modern washing machines, even low-cost ones, well deserve to be described as state-of-the-art appliances.
Combine those advanced technology pieces of equipment with the super-effective detergent products that are available on the markets, and anyone can have peace of mind, when it comes to tackling even the most persistent stain.
However, this is not the case with all types of stains, as I found out.
When I tried to get rid of a paraffin oil stain that had covered an area the size of a tennis ball on a pair of trousers, using the detergent and additional stain remover that I normally use didn’t work.
The stain was still there, when I took the trousers out of the washing machine.
Although I had soaked the stained spot of the trousers in a cap of all-purpose stain remover before the wash, the stain didn’t go away.
Ironing it with a newspaper won’t remove a paraffin oil stain
Another tip of advice that I found on the Internet was that ironing a paraffin oil stain with a newspaper on top of it would help to remove the stain.
So, I did exactly that, but to no avail.
Although it was claimed that the newspaper would somehow absorb the stain, it had a negligible effect on the stain.
Actually, I could still see the stain very clearly on the trouser leg.
Using baking soda and washing up liquid will remove a paraffin oil stain
After the above ways failed to get the desired result, I decided to follow another tip of advice that I found online, which said to soak the paraffin oil stain a bit in water, apply baking soda to it, and rub it with a toothbrush.
That was what I did, and I also used some vinegar on top of the baking soda, because that I thought that this would multiply the cleaning effect of the baking soda.
I rubbed the bubbling mix of baking soda and vinegar over the stain.
Then, I added some washing up liquid and gave the stain some more rubbing.
In the end, I put the pair of trousers in the washing machine for the final wash.
Further reading:
How do I remove this oil stain from my pants? They've been washed and it didn't go away
How to get oil & grease out of clothes