How to Remove Grease Stains From Fabric or Carpet With Absorbents

An absorbent is a material or substance useful in removing light or freshly made stains and grease stains by absorbing them. Examples of absorbents are cornstarch and corn meal, French chalk, talcum powder and magnesium carbonate.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• stained fabric or access to stain in carpet
• clean cloth
• absorbent (see introduction)
• vacuum cleaner
• brown paper
• warm iron
• cleaning fluid

1. Lay the stained fabric flat on a clean cloth. Spread a layer of absorbent on the stain and work it around gently. When the absorbent becomes caked or gummy, shake or brush it off, or use a vacuum cleaner on rugs. Repeat this procedure until most of the stain is gone. Apply another layer and let it remain overnight or longer. Overnight treatment alone often will remove a light stain.

2. To speed removal of a greasy stain put a layer of cloth or brown paper over the fabric upon which the absorbent has been spread and apply a warm iron for several minutes.

3. Absorbents are more effective on some stains when they are mixed to a paste with cleaning fluid. They are not recommended for dark, unwashable materials because it is difficult to remove them completely.

Tips & Warnings

• Soft cloths, absorbent cotton, paper napkins, and facial tissues are absorbent materials useful for soaking up quickly spilled liquids on rugs, upholstery, and other heavy fabrics that do not absorb them readily. Unless the fluid is greasy, still more of the stain can be removed by wetting and blotting the material.