Cooking with olive oil is a great alternative to some of the higher cholesterol oils that are available today. Olive oil also adds a nice taste to many foods and leaves behind a wonderful aroma. But when you accidentally spill some olive oil on your clothes it creates a nasty stain that can be a hassle to get rid of you if you do not properly treat it.

As with any other oil stain, you do not want to dry the affected garment in the clothes dryer until the stain has been removed. If you do you will help to ‘set in’ that stain for good and once that happens there is little you can do. Here is how you can effectively remove those pesky olive oil stains from your clothes:

•    Baking soda: Before you get the garment wet take a pinch or two of baking soda and sprinkle it over the olive oil stain. This will help absorb some of the oil and leave you with less to treat. Let the garment sit for a few minutes and then use warm water to rinse out the excess baking soda.
•    Pre-treat the garment: You can spend a good amount of money on some fancy stain removers but many that are on the market simply don’t work that well. A better solution is to use Dawn dishwashing detergent. The reason is because Dawn is meant to take out grease when you are washing your dishes. Olive oil is in fact a form of grease and the same agents in Dawn that help clean your dishes will also help you clean your oil stained clothes. Simply put a few drops right in the middle of the stain and rub together for about five minutes or so.
•    Soak the garment: Mix together warm water and some more Dawn and let the garment soak in the solution for a few hours or even overnight.
•    Wash the garment: After the garment has soaked you can take it out of the soapy solution and wring it as dry as you are able. Then simply wash the garment in a regular load and use the hottest water possible going by the washing instructions of the garment. When the load is done do not put your garment in the clothes dryer.
•    Dry the garment: Remember, if you use your clothes dryer to dry the garment and the stain is not completely gone then you will be setting in the stain and your garment could get permanently ruined. Instead let the garment air dry and be sure that the stain is completely gone.
•    Repeat if necessary: You may need to repeat the process if the stain is very bad. Olive oil is sometimes fickle and some stains require more than one treatment. There is no set number but if you keep at it, the stain will eventually go away.

Once the stain is totally gone you can once again treat your garment as normal and wash and dry it with the rest of your clothes as you normally would.