laundry degreaser?

[Food Lady]

Can someone recommend and occasional additive? It's kind of embarrassing--makes me feel like a dirty person--but I have had to throw out 2 bathrobes because of greasy stains that wouldn't come out of the inside bottom of them. It took me a bit to realize it, but they are from the body oil I put on my legs after shower, if that helps.

[WishfulSpirit]

Coke. Empty a can of coca cola directly into the machine when you start it, or dilute with water and use as a presoak. I know of a wife of a trucker who says it gets engine grease out.

[Food Lady]

Will diet work? Or does the sugar do something?

[wolfie]

One that works for me is waterless hand cleaner - get the cheap stuff (no grit), rather than the good stuff (with grit to clean hands more easily). Rub it into the oil stain, and let it sit for a few minutes before doing the laundry.

[Kittish]

I think diet coke should work, if I recall it's the phosphoric acid that does most of the work as a cleaner.

[Buzzard]

Two items to try (separately, not together)
Simple Green - Enzymes make fast work of most oils & stains (even engine oil) Spray/soak and give it time.
Oven cleaner spray - Yup, that smelly foamy stuff. spray it on, rub it in, inspect the next day, repeat as needed. oddly enough, it doesn't seem to eat fabric.

[KuariKaydrith]

I use lemon dish soap - squirt it liberally onto the grease stain and rub it in a little bit with my fingers to start lifting the grease. Then into the wash it goes. Works every time, even with fine fabrics.

[dendawg]

I use lemon dish soap

Or Dawn if that's your preference. I've yet to find a better non-industrial degreaser.

[lvsssycat]

^^^^^^^^^this
I've worked in the restaurant industry for more years than I would like to admit and always had the best looking uniforms. Everyone else would have clean uniforms, but they still had those grease stains...but not me.

Use the plain blue dawn.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have had good luck using Oxiclean pretreatment spray to remove various stains.

[Ashcroft]

As someone who had to sell white goods for a time...
Are the grease marks black? Is there a mildwey/decay odor from your machine? Are you using non-bio detergent?
High uses of body oils and/or using non-biological washing solutions can result in a build up of oils and skin cells that have not been effectively broken down. This results in a dark smear on clothing that comes into contact with the buildup (usually a sludge/stain in the gaskets or under the door).
To handle this, all you need to do is run a sanitation wash. Select a cotton wash cycle (or longest possible) and highest temp (typically about 90 degrees C). Do this once a month at most (you may find use doing it every second week when starting off) and most people find once every 2 or 3 months works for them in general.
The drum must be empty, or have very little in it. Maybe 1 or 2 dishrags or tea towels, but nothing more. No need for cleaning solution, but you can use your standard detergent if you feel like it. What you are doing it sterilising and flushing the machine, so the hot water is usually enough.
Marks caused by this usually leave permanent discolouration, but it will be a very light grey, so not always noticeable unless it's on white clothes.

I have a method I used for chefs whites and wrote out the whole thing, but I realised it was being used on a tough cotton weave, so may not be best advice in a general circumstance.
You may also want to find out if you have hard water, that can impact your water enough to reduce the strength of your detergent.

[Food Lady]

It's not my machine, so all I can do is treat my clothes.