How to Remove Set-in Butter Stains on Clothing

Removing melted butter or margarine stains from your clothing can be a tricky process. Because butter is an oil, you need to act quickly to prevent a grease stain. But even if the butter stain is set-in, there is still some hope of successfully removing the butter stain from your clothing.

My son was wearing his favorite Beatles shirt while eating chicken Kiev. When he cut his chicken breast open, melted butter splattered all down his shirt and onto his jeans.

I had my son rush his butter stained clothes to the clothes washer thinking that washing his clothes immediately would prevent a permanent butter stain.

Unfortunately, I forgot to check to see if the stain had come out before I put the stained clothing into the clothes dryer.

When I took the clothes out of the dryer there was a 3" x 2" grease stain on his t-shirt, and multiple gray grease stains on his jeans.

I decided that I needed to treat the stain as an oil stain, instead of a typical laundry stain, and came up with the following procedure to remove set-in butter stains:

Step One: Removing set-in butter stains with dishwashing detergent
Liquid dishwashing detergent is formulated to cut grease so it is an excellent product to use on grease stains. I used Palmolive Original liquid dish detergent, but any dish detergent that says it removes grease should work.

Keep in mind that once the clothing gets wet it will be difficult to see the set-in grease stain. Make sure you know exactly where the stain is located before getting started.

Apply the liquid dish detergent to the butter stain. Rub the detergent into the butter stain, covering the complete stain and the surrounding areas.

Rinse the liquid dishwashing detergent out of the clothes with clean water.

Step Two: Removing set-in butter stains with a degreaser
Look for a multipurpose spray that has the word "degreaser" on the label. Read the directions to make sure it is safe to use on laundry stains. I used a product called Greased Lightning which is a multipurpose cleaner and degreaser in a spray bottle.

Spray the multipurpose degreaser onto the stain. Use a soft brush, such as a toothbrush, to gently rub the spray into the stain. Rinse the clothes with clean water.

Step Three: Removing set-in butter stains in the washing machine
Wash the stained piece of clothing in the clothes washer using regular laundry detergent. Do not put the clothes in the dryer.

Step Four: Removing set-in butter stains by hang drying
Let the clothes hang dry. Once they are dry inspect the clothes. If the stain is still visible, repeat the steps above until the grease stain is removed.

I was amazed that all of the set-in melted butter stains successfully came out of my son's t-shirt and his jeans after using the dishwashing liquid and the multipurpose degreaser procedure.