When spooning some samn over harees or frying luqaimat for an indulgent meal, a drop of oil or samn may sneakily land on your clothes. By the time you discover it, the stain may sink into the fabric and spread. You put the garment in for a normal wash, but somehow the stain hasn’t lifted. This is because cooking fats behave differently from most stains, so they need a different approach.
Let’s understand how to remove cooking oil stains from clothes, whether the mark is fresh or several days old.
Key Highlights
Just dab at the spill. Never rub it, as that would push the fat deeper into the fabric.
Before pre-treatment, place a folded towel under the stain to keep it from seeping onto the other side.
Warm washing with a detergent would loosen the fat. However, dry heat sets it, so keep the garment out of the sun until the mark has gone.
In case of older stains, instead of aggressively scrubbing, soak the stained garment for longer.
Removing Samn and Cooking Oil Stain, Step-by-Step
Apply Ariel Platinum Clean Gel directly to the stain: Pour Ariel Platinum Clean Gel directly onto the mark until it is completely covered.
Gently spread the gel: Don’t scrub; just use your fingertips to spread the gel. Vigorous rubbing can damage some materials or push the stain deeper.
Let it pre-treat: For a fresh stain, leave the gel to work for about 10 minutes. A stain that has already been washed and dried would need to be pre-treated for longer.
Skip rinsing and put the garment in the washing machine: Don’t rinse the gel; just load it in the machine. If the stain is large, consider washing the garment separately to prevent any loosened residue from transferring to other clothes.
Add the detergent according to the recommended dosage: Follow the dosage instructions for your specific Ariel product. Alternatively, place one Ariel Ultra PODS directly into the empty drum before adding the clothes. For larger family loads, Ariel Platinum Clean Powder can be used as recommended on the pack.
Choose the right wash temperature: Read the care label and wash at the warmest temperature permitted.
Check the stain before drying: Before drying, check the stain area. If you can still see a faint shadow of the stain, repeat the pre-treatment and washing process before drying.
What to Do in the First Few Minutes
Samn and ghee first just settle on the surface. Lift the soft layer away using the edge of a spoon rather than a cloth. For liquid cooking oil, dab and press a dry paper towel onto the mark and work from the outside inwards. This will keep the stain from widening.
Then, slide a folded towel under the stained layer so the mark does not get absorbed on the other side of the garment.
Don’t rinse it with hot water before pre-treating it.
Why Cooking Fats Stain Differently
Both samn and ghee are dairy fats that solidify as they cool. On warmer days, however, they remain soft long enough to sink into cotton, leaving behind a smell. Since cooking oil is comparatively thinner, it travels along the weave and spreads wider than the original drop, almost drying invisibly.
The problem for both of these is the same. Neither would dissolve in the water, and so a plain wash would leave the fat in the fibres where it would gradually collect dust and turn yellow.
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