Question
How do I remove massage oil from sheets and towels?
Answer
Oily stains benefit from more concentrated cleaning solutions. Larger items like sheets and towels that have the stains spread over them can be presoaked for more complete stain removal. To do this, use Clorox 2® For Colors Powder. Add one scoopful to 2 gallons of hot water and stir to dissolve. Fully submerge the sheets and towels (remember to sort whites and colors, and soak them separately) and soak for 30 minutes for colored items or 8 hours for white items. When the presoak time is complete, drain the soaking solution and then wash the items as follows depending on the color:
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- For white sheets and towels, use detergent and ⅓ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach, and be sure to select hot water.
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- For colored sheets and towels, use detergent and Clorox 2® For Colors Stain Remover and Laundry Additive, and be sure to select hot water.
Air dry the items and check for success—it may be that if you prefer using warm or cold water temperatures, you won’t achieve complete stain removal, but you can rewash the items in hot water and get much better results as long as residual oil has not been heat-set in a hot dryer. Or if you went with a shorter presoak time, you could try soaking for the full 8 hours. Something else to consider is your detergent choice–powdered detergents generally clean better than liquids so that can help, and you want to be sure to use the recommended amount. Using too little detergent also can hurt cleaning performance. I also want to mention the importance of using hot water again—sheets and towels generally can (and should) be washed with hot water for maximum cleaning. When you consider the amount of body soil these items pick up, it’s really critical to get them as clean as possible.
Since you didn’t say how large the stained area is, I also want to address what to do if the massage oil is localized—that is you have a small spill in one area. You can definitely pretreat the stain directly with a little Clorox 2® For Colors Stain Remover and Laundry Additive or liquid laundry detergent. Apply a little product directly to the stain and rub in, wait 5-10 minutes (but don’t let the product dry out on the fabric), and then wash the towels as described above.
Finally, I have one last suggestion. If your sheets and towels are colored, check to see if you can safely bleach them with Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach. To do this, add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a small drop to a hidden part of the item. Wait one minute then rinse and blot dry—no color change means the item can be safely bleached. In that case, you would either presoak or pretreat the sheets/towels as described above, and then wash with detergent and ⅓ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach.
