How to get rid of the ingrained smell of diesel fuel on clothes

Many drivers know from their own experience how difficult it is to get rid of diesel stains on clothes. It is even more difficult to remove the persistent unpleasant smell of diesel fuel. Simply washing is not enough to solve the problem. Special household chemicals or special folk methods will help you get rid of the unpleasant aroma. At the same time, it is necessary to remove the contamination as quickly as possible in order to get a good result.

How to get rid of diesel smell on clothes

Soaking clothes in kerosene or gasoline will save your items from the smell of kerosene.
This method may seem strange. Anything saturated with the smell of diesel fuel must be placed in gasoline or kerosene. But these odors are also quite unpleasant, you say. But don't rush to conclusions. The method is based on the fact that gasoline and kerosene evaporate, and in the 40–50 minutes that clothes spend in one of these liquids, they will cope with the smell of diesel fuel.

After the time has passed, all that remains is to wash the gasoline from your clothes. This is easy to do with the help of high-quality washing powder. After washing, rinse the item thoroughly, changing the water several times. Dry the item outdoors.

It is advisable to use extraction gasoline (the kind used in the production of refined oil), and aviation kerosene. True, such types of fuel are quite difficult to find, and their price is high.

Use isopropyl alcohol, which will absorb and remove ingrained odor:

• dilute alcohol with water (cold) in the proportion: 1 part alcohol to 5 parts water;
• Immerse the item that smells of diesel fuel in the solution for one hour;
• wash using washing powder or laundry soap;
• rinse;
• air dry.

Another fairly effective way is to soak the problematic item in Fairy or another high-quality detergent.

• dilute Fairy in water (4 tablespoons of detergent per 7 liters of liquid);
• soak problematic clothing in the resulting solution overnight;
• squeeze;
• rinse;
• wash by adding fabric softener to the appropriate compartment of the washing machine;
• dry and ventilate.

Details

Lemon juice will remove the smell of diesel fuel within 15 minutes. Juice is squeezed out of half a lemon and applied to the stain. After a quarter of an hour, you need to rub the stain with a stiff brush and put the clothes in the washing machine.

Citric acid also gives an excellent result in removing the smell from diesel fuel. The product is soaked for 6 hours in a basin of hot water, to which 50 grams of acidic powder are added. After waiting the allotted time, the clothes are wrung out and washed in a washing machine.

If the clothes are literally saturated with the smell, you need to use ammonia. A solution is prepared consisting of 1 part alcohol and 7 parts water. Clothes are soaked for 30 minutes and then washed. It is better to rinse the item using conditioner. Dry outside.

Attention! If the smell does not disappear after the procedure, repeat it all over again, increasing the soaking time to 12 hours.

By getting rid of diesel fuel stains, clothes also get rid of the smell that accompanies these stains. There is another way to solve the odor problem - a hot iron. The item needs to be prepared for the procedure. It must be washed and dried. A sheet of paper is placed on the stain and ironed. When carrying out such manipulations, greasy spots appear on the paper. Replace the sheets until the staining stops. To ensure that the smell disappears completely, air the clothes in the fresh air.

For everyone who is skeptical about the products from the treasury of folk wisdom, the chemical industry offers stain removers. A huge selection of such drugs is presented on store shelves. The most popular stain removers that destroy both stains and odors are those that contain active oxygen. An example would be such means as “Vanish”, “Parus”, etc. Stain removers are poured into the washing machine compartment intended for powder, and the clothes are washed. It is recommended to dry such clothes outside.

Soda or salt to remove the smell of diesel fuel

Baking soda and salt can only be applied to plain clothes.
Soda ash copes well with persistent odors.

• soak the clothes in a fairly saturated solution, leave for 2–4 hours;
• machine wash with a high-quality detergent, remembering to add conditioner;
• rinse using the additional mode;
• Dry until the “aroma” of diesel fuel completely disappears.

Another option: mix baking soda and salt in equal quantities and dissolve the mixture in warm water. Only plain clothes that smell of diesel fuel can be soaked in this solution.

Remove odor with professional means

You can also use household chemicals to eliminate unpleasant odors from your car and clothes:

1. Soda ash is an ideal solution for removing odors from clothes.

Soda Ash
What the manufacturer promises :

• water softener;
• Cleans and washes well.

Volume: 600 g.

Price: 30 ₽.

How to use to remove odor and stains:

• fill the basin with hot water;
• add 3 tablespoons of soda ash;
• soak clothes for 4 hours;
• then wash with powder as usual;
• dry.

Reviews:

gn-2011:

Soda ash perfectly and very quickly dissolves and removes dirt, cleaning and degreasing the surface. And washing with this soda always turns out better than without it. It is good to use it when washing T-shirts, blouses and shirts made of simple fabrics, underwear and bed linen, towels, tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs, curtains. After washing, the products look cleaner, fresher, and, it seems to me, even bleached, like new.

Source otzovik.com

1. Smell Off Universal - perfect for removing the smell of diesel fuel from a car.

Smell Off Universal
What the manufacturer promises:

• removes even the most persistent odors.

Volume: 500 ml.

Price: 644 ₽.

How to use:

• spray the product onto the surface that has absorbed the unpleasant odor;
• leave until completely dry, about a day;
• ventilate;
• repeat if necessary.

Reviews:

Igor Dmitrievich:

A bag of fish leaked in the trunk of a car, and I didn’t immediately notice the consequences - a smelly trunk and a smell in the cabin. I found several drugs on the Internet and decided to use this remedy. I washed everything, sprayed it as the consultant advised, I was pleased with the result, I would recommend it.

Source otzovik.com

1. Flat - eliminates unpleasant odors. Will help in eliminating odors from the car.

Flat - eliminates unpleasant odors
What the manufacturer promises:

• destroys unpleasant odors;
• quickly and effectively removes harmful odors.

Volume: 480 ml.

Price: 250 ₽.

How to use:

• spray the product onto the surface;
• leave until completely dry.

Reviews:

Svetlana:

I bought it out of pure curiosity, as always. Well, also out of respect for the brand. Indeed, after spraying (one or two sprays), odors INSTANTLY disappear, and indeed the exterminator itself does not smell of anything. The animal didn’t react in any way, and I don’t see any allergies in anyone at home. It is used sparingly, I think it will last for a long time.

Source ozon.ru

Mustard

You can also remove the unpleasant smell of diesel fuel from clothes using mustard:

• dissolve more mustard powder in water;
• completely immerse the item that needs to be removed from the persistent “aroma” into the resulting solution;
• wash your clothes by adding a little more mustard to the washing machine drum;
• rinse thoroughly;
• air dry.

If clothes cannot be machine washed

In all the methods described above for removing the smell of diesel fuel, the final part is washing in an automatic washing machine. However, if the product cannot be washed in a machine, you can use a local method to combat the unpleasant odor.

For example, we recommend treating a smelly stain on a leather jacket with gasoline solvent and then rubbing it with lemon or citric acid. The final phase of any measure to remove the persistent smell of diesel fuel is good ventilation.

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Lemon and oil

No less effective means are lemon juice in combination with vegetable oil.

• Mix lemon juice and oil in a ratio of 1:2;
• rub the mixture into diesel stains;
• wash with laundry soap;
• rinse;
• dry outside for 2-3 days.

Advice. Only refined oil is suitable.

Eliminating old stains

If the stains from diesel fuel are old, and the clothes are completely saturated with this pungent odor, do not rush to throw away the item. It may be possible to save her using the following methods:

• Prepare a mixture of laundry soap, regular soda and dishwashing gel. Mix all the ingredients in equal parts, then add the mixture to a container of warm water and soak the clothes for half an hour. After this, it is enough to wash the items in the machine.
• Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice and the same amount of vegetable oil. Apply the resulting solution to the stains and leave to act for 20-30 minutes. Then wash the fabric items in a machine with conditioner.
• Take pine, menthol or eucalyptus essential oil and mix with citric acid solution. Add a little baking soda and treat the diesel stains with the solution. Leave to act for 10 minutes, then wash clothes thoroughly.

Acetone or bleach

Bleach and white spirit will remove the smell of diesel fuel from clothes made of natural fabric.
For light-colored clothes, in addition to fighting odor, there is also the problem of removing diesel stains. If the item is made from natural fabric, acetone, white spirit and bleach will help. When one of these chemicals has done its job, you need to wash the item and hang it out in the fresh air.

Do not use detergents containing chlorine for washing. This is dangerous, since when they interact with diesel particles, harmful elements evaporate.

other methods

To remove a diesel fuel stain on clothes made of dense or thick fabric, one wash may not be enough. In this case, the washed but still smelling item is additionally ironed with a hot iron. In this case, sheets of white paper are placed on both sides of the contaminated area. When ironing, the stain will gradually transfer to the paper, which must be replaced with clean paper as it becomes dirty.

In winter, it is useful to leave the washed item outside to freeze. At temperatures below -15 degrees, prolonged ventilation will help eliminate the stench of diesel fuel and fill the fabric with the aroma of frosty freshness.

Some housewives recommend using Vanish OxiAction stain remover to get rid of traces of diesel fuel. Oxygen stain removers have a similar effect. They contain active oxygen elements that displace diesel fuel particles from the fabric. With these products, soak clothes overnight if the stains are extensive, or simply treat the stain with it before washing.

Important! When using oxygen bleaches and stain removers, it is recommended to carefully read the instructions. For some products it is different.

To remove stains on things that are difficult to wash or cannot be washed at all, a special paste for motorists is suitable. This product cleanses the skin of hands, clothes and shoes after working on a car from traces of engine oil, flammable substances and other contaminants. The paste is rubbed into traces of diesel fuel, and then wiped off with a rag soaked in water or washed in the usual way. This paste is especially recommended for removing traces of diesel fuel from shoes.

The best helper is severe frost

All of the above methods end with the same advice - hang the item in fresh air so that the remaining diesel fuel vapors disappear completely. Drying items with such contaminants indoors is strictly prohibited.

Frosty air copes especially well with persistent odors. Clothes will have to hang in the cold for no more than a day - and the smell will be gone!

If you can’t remove the smell and you simply don’t want to deal with unpleasant-smelling clothes, you can always turn to a professional dry cleaner for help or try treating your clothes with special aerosols.

What products should not be used

The suggested remedies must be applied correctly. Otherwise, things can simply be ruined. Leather clothing cannot be cleaned of traces of diesel fuel with solvent, purified gasoline or acetone. Such an impact will definitely damage the product.

Strongly aggressive substances should not be used on colored, thin fabrics. To rid them of contamination, it is recommended to use oxygen bleaches and stain removers. Synthetic fabrics cannot be cleaned with acetone or strong solvents. They destroy fibers and ruin things hopelessly.

When cleaning clothes with extraction gasoline, you cannot replace it with regular gasoline purchased at a gas station. It contains many impurities that stain the fabric and cannot be removed.

What not to do

When cleaning contaminated areas, it is recommended to consider the following recommendations:

• When cleaning, it is important to follow safety precautions; diesel fuel is a flammable component, so work should not be performed near open sources of fire.
• It is not recommended to remove the stain using movements from the center to the edges of the item, because oil contamination will damage other areas of clothing.
• To prevent deformation of the fabric, products containing bleaching agents are not used to clean jeans and other dyed materials.
• You should not leave the stain for a long time; fresh stains are easier to remove.
• Before work, be sure to read the information on the item's tag. For washing delicate fabrics, gentle machine wash cycles are used.
• To prevent deformation, it is recommended to test the substance on the fabric from the inside of the garment. The material must retain the structure and richness of the shade.
• It is not recommended to wash the item before removing the stain; first remove the stain, then do a standard machine wash. When washing, it is important to choose the optimal mode and product for the fabric and type of clothing.

Extraction gasoline

How to wash diesel fuel, you need to choose from available materials. If you discover damage to a jacket or other fabric product, you should not resort to radical measures and get rid of the unpleasant-smelling item. Resuscitation actions can be performed using extraction gasoline (dearomatized composition), which is used to produce refined oil.

A purified petroleum product can eliminate the stench of diesel fuel only when used correctly. Difficult to remove stains are treated with the composition and soaked in liquid. Afterwards, wash and rinse the object to be cleaned in warm water (30-40 degrees). It is recommended to dry the item outdoors (can be on a balcony or loggia), providing the necessary fresh air circulation to ventilate the material.

Other methods

You can completely remove the smell from diesel fuel by taking emergency measures. It is quite difficult to get rid of old stains when petroleum products penetrate deep into the fibers of the fabric. Effective methods will help even when other surfaces are oiled. Floor coverings can be washed with water and lemon juice. Furniture surfaces are degreased and then treated with polish.

It is important to comply with certain conditions:

• Through ventilation. Intense air movement in the room will help avoid absorption of the acrid stench. You can also take the items outside for a few days.
• Surfaces that have been in contact with dirty, oily items should be thoroughly treated with detergents or a solution based on vinegar or lemon juice. After eliminating the source of the stench, you can scent the air with special aerosols.
• Table salt acts as an effective absorber of unpleasant odors. It is enough to pour dry mineral onto the contaminated areas and leave for several hours. If necessary, the procedure can be repeated after pre-washing in intensive mode.
• The washing machine should also undergo cleaning measures after items contaminated with diesel fuel. You will need to start the unit at least three times. With each procedure, first adding a glass of soda, then 200 grams. washing powder. The final run is carried out without additives in order to wash out the remaining particles.

Wet cleaning and through ventilation are important conditions for removing corrosive odors of petroleum products.