How To Get Rid Of Oil Stains In Your Kitchen

You'll see some kitchen trends everywhere in 2021 — as well as kitchen trends we should leave behind — but one of those trends should never be oil stains. Fret not, though, as there are surefire ways to remove even the toughest oil stains from your kitchen.

Slowly but surely, color is taking over kitchens. In fact, color is replacing all-white kitchens in remarkable ways, and because of this, everyone can worry about spills and stains less because they won't be as noticeable on non-white surfaces. Still, oil stains are pesky ones. They can de-color your surfaces, stink up your kitchen, and make your surfaces sticky. They can make you not want to spend time in your kitchen, and that's the last thing we want.

Oil makes food taste better, and the good news is that many household ingredients can remove oil stains, meaning you don't have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on speciality stain removers to make your kitchen sparkle again.

Oil stains aren't pleasing to the eyes, the nose, or to our touch, but they're easier to remove than you might think. According to Get Set Clean, vinegar, dish soap, baking soda, soda water, and lemon are all excellent oil stain removers. To use lemons, for example, you slice them and then scrub the oil stains with them before wiping them clean with a soda water-soaked towel. Similarly, Taste of Home recommends spraying lemon juice onto oil stains and letting the juice sit on them for a few minutes before wiping them clean. These methods work because of lemon juice's high acid level.

Vinegar, dish soap, and baking soda should all be mixed with water before applied to the oil stains, per Get Set Clean. They recommend a 1:2 ratio of vinegar to water, a 1:1 ratio of baking soda to water, and a few tablespoons of dish soap in plenty of water. These mixtures can then be used to treat oil stains on most, if not all, kitchen surfaces.

An even easier way also happens to be very environmentally friendly. According to Gearbest, sticky rice water (like, the water that boils over the pot while making rice) pulls up oil stains with ease. You simply paint it onto your surface — it works especially well with stovetops — and let it dry before pulling it up. It should bring the oil stains with it. Of course, if your stain is fresh, hot water will do the trick.