We’ve all made the same unfortunate discovery: you go to wash your bedding only to realize that the oils in your hair have left tough grease stains on your bed linens. Not to worry! We have just the tips you need to learn how to get hair grease out of pillowcases.
How Do You Get Oil Stains Out of Pillowcases?
There are a few different ways you can rid your pillowcases of hair oil stains. Household cleaning supplies like dish soap, baking soda, vinegar, and even regular laundry detergent can help you get your pillowcases looking like new!
What You’ll Need to Remove Hair Oil from Pillow Cases:
- Pillowcases
- Liquid dish soap
- You’ll need 1/4 cup at first and a few more drops later
- 1 cup baking soda
- Something to scrub with
- A brush or even a laundry board works great for this.
- Hot water
- White vinegar
- Washing machine
- Dryer
- Alternatively, you can air dry the pillowcases
How to Remove Oily Hair Stains from Pillowcases?
Step 1: Create Your Cleaning Solution
To start, you’ll want to create your cleaning solution. It’s often easier to do this directly in your sink if you have the space. Otherwise, any container big enough to hold the cleaning solution and your pillow cases will work.
Start with a container of very hot water. To this, add about 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap, creating a hot soapy water wash. Finally, add about a cup of baking soda and mix the solution until it’s not grainy anymore.
Step 2: Start Cleaning the Pillowcases
Next, you’ll want to start scrubbing the stains out of your pillowcases. You have a few options to do this.
For an old-school but effective approach, you can grab a laundry board. On the other hand, a stiff brush will do the same.
If you aren’t interested in grabbing another tool for the job, you can also scrub the pillowcase against itself. You should only wash a single pillowcase at a time. It’s fine to use the same mix on multiple pillows but oily pillowcases won’t get as clean washed together.
Step 3: Let it Sit and Soak
Once you have all of your pillowcases scrubbed, pour out the cleaning solution you made. Start over by refilling the container with hot water and add a couple more drops of dish soap.
To get the last of the hair oils off of your pillowcases, let them soak for an hour or two at least. For the best results, fully submerge your pillow cases and let them soak overnight.
Step 4: Throw It in the Washing Machine
To finish off, toss the pillowcases in your watching machine. Add your laundry detergent like usual but this time add two cups of white vinegar which will remove any remaining skin and hair oils. Skip any extras like fabric softener beyond this.
When it comes time to dry your pillowcases, you’ll want to either use the tumble dry feature on your machine or let the fabric air dry.
How to Remove Grease from Pillowcases with Just Laundry Detergent
Step 1: Treat the Stain
When stains are fresh, you’ll want to start by pre-treating the stain before putting your bed linens through a wash cycle. You can do this by applying stain remover directly to the stains.
Step 2: Scrub
To start cleaning, scrub your pillowcases the way we described before with either brush or other parts of the pillowcase. Let the linens set for up to around 10 or 15 minutes.
Step 3: Wash and Dry
Use a washing machine for the next step, putting the sheets and pillowcases in on a “hot wash” setting. When they come out, air dry them if they’re clean or start over if the stains are still there.
How to Get Grease out from Pillowcases with Shampoo
Step 1: Apply Shampoo
When you notice body oil stains on your pillowcase, add about a tablespoon of shampoo to the stain. Then, set the pillowcase aside to soak for ten minutes before scrubbing at the stain.
Step 2: Leave It to the Washing Machines
The next step is to run the pillowcases through the wash again to remove any grease stains. Once they’ve been through a hot cycle, set them out to air dry or tumble dry them.
How to Get Rid of Grease from Pillowcases with Bleach
Step 1: Use Stain Remover
Start by adding a stain remover to the area. Remember, this should specifically be a pretreatment product since you’re using it before you wash the pillowcases. Launder it as we described above before treating it with bleach.
Start 2: Use Bleach
This step is only for white pillowcases. If you use chlorine bleach on another color, you’ll cause discoloration.
To apply bleach, soak the area if it’s safe for the fabric. For something less intensive – and less scented – oxygen bleach is an effective shortcut. Once it’s soaked and the stain has lifted, put the pillowcases on a rinse cycle and let them dry.
How Do You Keep Hair Oil Out of Pillows?
There are a few different things you can do to keep your body oils from soaking into your pillowcases. Here are some of the best ways to avoid it:
- Cover your hair before going to bed
- Use fewer hair products at night
- Wait until morning for daily hair products when you can
- Remove hair products before going to bed when possible
- Opt for a satin pillowcase (these stain less from body oils easily)
How Often Should You Wash Your Pillowcases?
Even if you don’t notice any obvious stains on your pillowcases doesn’t mean they aren’t dirty. In fact, keeping your pillowcases clean is another way to keep yellowing grime at bay. Get top-rated hospital beds for sale for your home care patient.
On average, you should try to wash your pillowcases once a week to maintain regular upkeep. If you find bed bugs, then call this company.
Why Do Your Pillowcases Smell After Washing?
Even after you wash pillowcases with laundry detergent, you might still notice a smell emanating from your pillowcases.
There are a few ways to tackle this. In the tutorials above, both the methods for baking soda and white vinegar are useful for ridding the fabric of any unpleasant scents.
Can Silk Pillowcases Go in the Washing Machine?
Yes, you can put silk pillowcases in the washing machine but you’ll want to take a few steps to make sure they come out like new.
To start, turn your silk pillowcase inside out and place it in a laundry bag. When you run your laundry machine, it’s best to rely on a delicate cycle.
Did you like these tutorials? There are a few handy ways to make sure you get rid of the natural oils building up in your pillowcase. Let us know your favorite in the comments below and share these tips with a friend!
