The Best Way To Get Vaseline Out Of Clothes

No matter how careful you are with your pieces of clothing, once you wear them, they surely end up getting dirty. But it's better to have them stained with stuff that can easily wash off (sweat stains and dust) than things that do not, like blood, permanent marker, tomato sauce, and Vaseline (per Home Fresh).

These stains can be quite stubborn, and regular washing techniques are not enough to get them off. Special procedures are required to get your clothes clean and wearable again. For instance, if you get rust stains on your clothes, you would need vinegar, and not just regular detergent, to get the stains off.

Vaseline — petroleum jelly, a household product used as a skin moisturizer, may not be as tough to get off clothes as rust, but it remains one of the least desirable things to have on your clothes (via The Spruce). You just can't toss a piece of Vaseline-stained cloth in the laundry machine and expect pristine results.

Vaseline is a type of greasy stain (per The Spruce) that sticks to almost all types of fabrics. The good news? It can be best treated by using the hot iron technique.

Scrape off the Vaseline as well as you can, using the blunt side of a knife (spoons would work just fine too), per Hunker. Then fold a piece of paper towel over the stained area and carefully iron. Be sure to use a low setting, so as not to scorch your cloth. The heat will cause the grease to transfer from the piece of clothing to the paper towel. Keep changing paper towels as they absorb the petroleum jelly until you are satisfied that the grease is all gone from the cloth. Complete this process by throwing the affected piece of cloth in the laundry to wash as normal.

Using an iron works fine, but it is not the only way to get rid of Vaseline stains. You can use corn starch to achieve this purpose, per How To Clean Stuff. After scooping off as much Vaseline as you can from the cloth, apply corn starch to the affected surface and let it sit for about an hour. It'll soak up the grease residue from the cloth.

Dish soaps are also great for Vaseline stain removal, per Nosh Healthy Kitchen. After all, dish soaps are formulated to get rid of greasy stains on cooking utensils and cutlery. They can get the job done on clothes as well. Remove as much of the petroleum jelly as possible, then apply the dishwashing soap to the stained area. Wash it off with warm water slowly until you get all the greasy stain out.

Isopropyl alcohol is also dependable for the treatment of Vaseline stains on clothes. All you have to do is soak the stained part of the cloth with isopropyl alcohol for 10 minutes, then proceed to scrub with a wet clean towel until the desired cleanliness is achieved, per Hunker.