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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

I wouldn't be all that surprised to find out I throw out 75lbs of clothes a year. Just shirts. Everything else lasts a long time, but dammit I have an uncanny ability to get grease spots on the front of my cotton shirts. I finally just started buying them cheap in bulk. I also don't really throw them away directly, I recycle them into rags first, but the end result is the same. I sometimes only get to wear a shirt two or three times before it's ruined.

Maybe I need to wear a full-time bib.

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Modern detergents are amazing but plain old Dawn hand dishwashing detergent is better than any of them for greasy spots. I put some in a travel-size squirt bottle and keep it next to the Shout gel that I use on most other stains. It's a miracle. Shout out to my sister for telling me about it.

Yeah Dawn is pretty amazing at cutting grease. In the laundry I usually use Lestoil, it is also very strong but also it foams less than a dishwashing detergent.

Just have to remember to put it on before washing. Ha!

I have the same problem. I don't care about fashion but I like to look decent. I started shopping in Marshall's recently and it's been amazing. John Varvatos t-shirts for $15, Calvin Klein t-shirts for $8. Sure enough, 2 of my white t-shirts immediately got stained but I didn't care since in the past, I'd have paid $30 for the same t-shirt.

Grease spots from food? I can usually get those out in the wash. I apply detergent directly to the spot and rub it in a bit. Then I let it sit for a while (a few hours, overnight, whatever) before putting it into the wash like normal.

Modern detergents are amazing. I once spilled cooking oil directly onto some cotton shorts and they came out fine.

For a long time, I have taken the approach of getting up from the table and going to the sink and applying soap vigorously to an oil spot as soon as I notice I've gotten it on my clothes. It seems to me that the sooner the soap or detergent manages to get in contact with the oils, the less time they have to set, and the better the chance that a subsequent wash will remove all trace of my overenthusiastic eating.

Do you wash them at 60°C? Cotton shirts can take that despite label 30°C wash instructions. Skin grease goes won't go under 60°C (not every wash need to be hot though).

We used to have them, they were called waistcoats

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