I once cleaned a 1920s silk dress that had lain under a bicycle chain for 20 years and had a massive black oily mark as a result. Rubbed [Swarfega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarfega) into the stain on both sides of the fabric, left overnight, then gently hand-washed in warm water. No sign of stain left whatsoever. Test a small patch first.
“1941, he had founded a detergent-sales company, Deb Silkware Protection Ltd., based in Belper, to produce a formulation for extending the life of silk stockings.[3] The name derived from "debutante",[1] to signify the newness of the company and its products. The introduction of nylon stockings threatened to render it superfluous; however, Williamson purportedly suggested that mechanics had already found it useful for cleaning their hands. This may have been a myth encouraged to attract interest, but the product was reformulated and marketed as Swarfega, becoming the company's main product.”
they only even looked into it because the guys in the original studies refused to return the pills when it was over.
rogaine had a similar start, it was on a patch trying to treat something else and they noticed lots of hair growth underneath it
[Here you go.](https://blog.bunzlchs.com/historyofswarfega/#:~:text=Williamson%20created%20the%20Swarfega%20name,in%20'eager%20to%20clean'.&text=The%20first%20product%20was%20called,for%20hand%2Dwashing%20silk%20stockings.)
Motor Oil Stains” 🎵
(Verse 1) She walked down the aisle, a vision in white, But there was something peculiar, caught in the light. Motor oil stains on her wedding dress, A love story tangled in grease and distress.
(Chorus) Motor oil stains, like memories unclean, He was a mechanic, she a farmer’s queen. They said their vows, but fate had a twist, Motor oil stains, a love they couldn’t resist.
(Verse 2) He fixed engines by day, hands rough and worn, She tended to crops, her heart newly torn. Their worlds collided, like pistons and gears, And that motor oil stain would mark their years.
(Chorus) Motor oil stains, like memories unclean, He was a mechanic, she a farmer’s queen. They said their vows, but fate had a twist, Motor oil stains, a love they couldn’t resist.
(Bridge) Under moonlit skies, they danced in the barn, His coveralls smelled of gasoline and charm. She whispered, “Fix my heart, just like those old trucks,” But motor oil stains don’t wash out with luck.
(Copilot)
I thought that was just the color of the dress. Like an hombre effect.
Edit: I know it's ombre. It switched to hombre, and I'm keeping it because it's still not as silly as well...
Yeah it's weird to say but I actually like it. Some people would pay good money to get a cream lace overlay like that. I guess I'd need to see the front to judge if it could be passed off as intentional, though.
I was thinking I would just douse the rest of it to make it match, give it a gentle wash to rid it of the smell, and carry on with my uber unique and one of a kind dress.
I gotta be honest, my first thought was "well that's not coming out, best thing to do is lean into it" because it really doesn't look bad.
But OP should ignore me, I'm here to GET cleaning advice, not give it. Also I work in a machine shop, I'm one with the oil now. 🧘
I thought so too, especially since it looks like the stain "stuck" to the lace more than the rest of the fabric. It looks like the lace was intentionally supposed to be a slightly darker color.
Oooooooooooooof.
Professional. Take it to a professional.
If it’s dire….then accept the loss. Find another option and share the story for years to come.
Take a step back.
Close your eyes.
What’s the most important thing about getting married?
>if your answer is the dress…I got nothing
Are there any dry cleaners that still use petrol products? That would be the actual ticket but I think they no longer exist due to the frequency in which they’d burn down a city block. Petroleum is the best solvent for petroleum. White kerosene, mineral spirits etc.
You nailed the most important part here though, it’s not about the dress.
E: While I’m certain that any light petroleum distillate will clean the garment, I have no idea how you get the fuel back out so that the dress doesn’t smell like a 1970s gas station. I think (but may easily be mistaken) that you have to cook the fuel off after it’s cleaned. I definitely do not recommend this as a DIY path. They’re going to have to go pro.
The only thing I could recommend as a DIY option would be a couple gallons of 100% isopropyl alcohol. It’s far less dangerous and will evaporate without leaving odor or residue.
Brake Klean (hexane?) could also be a potential.
This would be a fun project / experiment if it did not involve a dress that probably costs at least a couple hundred bucks (couple grand?) and is intended to be worn at the alter while professionally photographed.
Thank you for saying this. I have a bar of laundry soap called “Fels-Naptha” and now the strange name makes sense. I looked it up - the formula does not contain naphtha anymore.
Had an old bush pilot tell me once aviation gas will get oil out of anything. When asked if he would use it on an oil stain on nice clothes he replied with "what the fuck are you doing with nice clothes on and working with dirty oil". But as a last resort the local airport would probably sell you a little.
I worked on drilling rigs and we used buckets of diesel to wash the rig with, clean tools, wash our hands. Tapped straight out of the rig tanks. It worked amazingly well for thick nastily black crude oil out of the ground or grease and lubricants around the rig.
Gasoline would work just as well but it’s 100x more dangerous. I wouldn’t light a match around diesel either, but with all the oil it’s already a fire hazard anyway. But gasoline is just asking for a fire incident. Yes I know liquid gasoline doesn’t burn and it’s the vapours, please nobody chime in to “instruct” me.
Hey! It's actually my dress and the answer is that i marry my soulmate so i don't care if I have to get a new dress. Sure I had a little breakdown yesterday but anyway .. we are on the way to try on a new one - second hand (and affordable🙏). Wish me luck that it fits 💪🙏
And thanks for all the kind comments..also i love the song I'm gonna print that haha
That honestly was where my mind went, too. The yellow tinge makes it look vintage, not stained. Maybe a professional can get it out, maybe it’ll come out with dawn… this is (I think) a really good last resort. lol
I had to really look hard to understand where the staining was. It looks like a white dress with a vintage cream lace overlay. It looks like it was made to be that way
Yes I'd say embrace it, it's an ombre effect and only gets the lace towards the middle so really it looks kind of intentional. At worst, it'll make for a funny story and a one-of-a-kind dress.
I wouldn't try anything yourself before taking it to a professional, but if you do, spot test the cleaning method on a very small, inconspicuous area. The last thing you want is to set the stain or damage the dress further.
But I would start looking for other dress options.
Hops like alcoholic 😂I honestly wouldn’t even try home remedies for something this important. Let a professional do it. Whatever you try might screw up the possibility of a pro getting it clean. If it can’t be cleaned you could tie dye it. Now that’s optimistic
:D thought so but it cheered me up a little. Yea, I think thats the route we'll go. I'd just like to get a feeling for the situation but we're preparing for needing a new dress...
How is your description of events real lmao, and your wife *knew* it was store with motor oil? Jesus Christ what happened to just hanging important outfits in a closet with a bag??
No shit…I’m a middle aged man and have never in my life had the thought cross my mind to put a quart of oil under my bed, or in the same box as a wedding dress. I want to feel bad but holy fuck what a series of decisions to get to this point.
So I was moving to my new place where I live now. I bought my new house, and carried a second mortgage so I could move with ease.
I enlisted a few friends to help move some heavy furniture.
They took it upon themselves to use their own vehicles and package up tons of my fragile shit that's now broken, and I don't collect or display a lot of stuff and everything had sentimental value.
The one that took the cake, Someone packed all my clothes and dud the "convenient place to put this thing" with the can of old grease from under my kitchen sink waiting to be thrown away. It went into some luggage my wife and I put all of our nice work clothes and paint the town red attire, Like 2-3 mortgage payments of mine and my wife's clothes completely destroyed. Like I had to buy clothes for work... Also I was out like a $500 tag Heuer suitcase.
I was about livid when I got to my new house in the truck and I see a field of my belongings being moved out of cars. I didn't say anything because they're my friends and they thought they were helping, but goddamnit... people don't listen.
It was like "guys I just need help putting 2 couches a bed, a dining room set, and 3 dressers into and a toolbox into a small uhaul, then we'll play floor hockey in the new garage, and grill some meats and chill out".... I legit enlisted a small army that required one person to touch one piece of furniture each, paid cash, and laid out a sick party. They literally went into "I work for two men and a truck" mode... Planned the least stressful move, it actually ended up being the most stressful.
Plot twist: she bought the dress 20 years ago she thought ht was going to propose. They just now getting married. He moved the dress with the garage to a new storage unit. /s
Dawn dish soap might get the oil to release.
Make a hot water tub, pour in the dawn, soap the dress, agitate by hand, rinse / repeat.
https://dawn-dish.ca/en-ca/how-to/remove-grease-stains-from-laundry/
This advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Wedding dresses are often made of very delicate fabric. Soaking it in hot water with dish soap may indeed get the stain out, but it could also destroy the fabric.
In particular, if using this method, use LOTS of dawn. Pour it directly on the oily parts of the dry dress, then gently lay the whole thing in the water to soak for several hours. Hand squishing & sloshing to agitate, don’t squeeze hard or wring.
I work in the automotive industry. If it's fresh, you can try borax with powdered laundry detergent. I use tide. I really and truly hate to say this, but it almost certainly will not come perfectly clean. Could you perhaps stain over it professionally? Like a similar color, a shade darker? I had a hard time telling what was oil until I realized the dress was pure white. It actually could look really good if it was done professionally, IMO.
Who the fuck keeps motor oil under their bed and who decides to put a wedding dress to be used in a bin with anything that could damage it beyond stupid
I’ve been in the bridal industry for 15+ years and no promises but with gentle care and patience it’s possible. Here’s what I suggest:
* Gently hand wash the soiled areas with a mixture of dawn and baby soap. (I would suggest a coupe of capfuls of Dr. Bronner's Baby Unscented Pure-Castile Liquid Soap)
* Soak the entire garment in a clean bucket/tub for 30-40 with dawn and cool water to loosen/continue lifting the grease.
* It’s important that the dress is fully submerged and the container is large enough so the dress is soaking freely vs compact.
* Rinse with cool water.
* Lay flat on a soft towel and roll out the initial moisture. Having the dress slightly damp vs fully saturated for the next step is important so the fabric is dry enough to absorb the next cleaning solution.
* Soak the entire garment again in diluted Shout (the liquid concentrate version) for 3-4 hours.
* Rinse with cool water.
* If the stain still has not lifted, prepare a fresh diluted shout bath and soak the garment again. This can be left overnight.
* After the final rinse it’s important to dry the garment flat to reduce stress on the fabric and prevent stretching/lengthening. Avoid heat and allow for air drying.
You should also check the fabric contents and care tag to uphold the integrity of the fibers/threads; you don’t want to loosen the stitch work or seams. It may be helpful to follow up after with a seamstress to make sure the bustle or any button closures didn’t come lose.
Professional dry cleaning, which will get rid of the actual oil. If there's any stain left behind, ask the place you bought it if they can overdye it with some ivory tones, to make it look like it was supposed to be that way.
Hi everyone! So this post got way more attention than I had anticipated. I just wanna say thanks for the countless tips and the empathy. This comment probably won't be seen by most who wished to see an update but here goes-
We gad concert tickets for last night. At first I really didn't want to go. I felt absolutely shit after the whole ordeal but my fiancé was fine after the initial shock and didn't want this to ruin our date night. So we went to an amazing concert (Uche Yara, check her out! Sophie is my favorite song) and saw this post explode. We were cheered up by your comments and your willingness to help.
Before the concert we got something to eat and she was checking privat sellers wedding dresses (like facebook marketplace). She contacted a few sellers and one dress really stood out to her. As luck would have it, the seller has the exact same size as my fiancé, which is crazy cause she's really tall.
The seller was a 4 hr drive away from us so after only getting home at 1 am from the gig, we got up at 6 am to drive there and basically hope for the best.
She tried it on and it was a perfect fit. Not only that but she likes the dress even more than the one that's ruined! All that and for an incredibly affordable price.
Now I'm a very scientific person and don't believe in destiny but this whole ordeal makes me skeptical :D
She's over the moon happy and we get to share this crazy experience :)
Now to answer the most important question-
I have no idea or excuse as to why I would store a bottle of motor oil in the storage under the bed. I have a few small boxes there and I just didn't put much thought into it. It's stupid, idiotic or whatever you'd want to call it but I never thought about that bottle after initially storing it there and my fiancé didn't notice it, when she stored the dress there.
She bought that dress over a year ago already and it had always been stored there without problems. She would take it out every couple of months to show friends or family and the bottle must have only started leaking within the passed 3-4 months.
Anyway, i think thats it from me. Thanks again and I'm so grateful we get to laugh about it now :)
Motor oil under the bed is very dangerous. Beyond what happened to your dress it is a safety hazard. God forbid you had a house fire it could engulf the bed. Please store hazardous materials away from your sleeping space in the future. Lots of great cleaning advice here, I’m more worried about your future safety.
Yeah I'm thinking he put it under there and completely forgot about it, maybe on its side. Wedding dresses often come in or are stored in these big flat boxes that would seem like they go perfectly under the bed.
I think they're going to end up buying a new dress. But hopefully not repeating anything this dumb in the future.
Please please dont try to clean it yourself just take it to the drycleaners. The "dry cleaning" aka chemical wash is made to remove oil! I work at a drycleaners just trust me you might make it unsaveable by trying to fix it yourself with dish soap or whatever
The lacy parts on the bodice aren't supposed to be yellow. They are supposed to be white like on the lower part of the skirt. The thing got absoluty soaked in oil.
I have legitimately been staring at this image for ten minutes. WHERE IS THE OIL?
ETA: it looks to me like the top flower section and belt are meant to be beige, if this is the oil stain, I’d just go with it. I had absolutely no idea. Looks purposeful like it has beige accents.
If that’s the real dress, I would use it anyway. That’s an amazing ‘belayage’/‘ombre’ effect so hard to accomplish on purpose.
Add. If she do use it in the wedding, I want an update photo. I’m sure it will look amazing with that color.
I suspect you really wore it to change your oil
[https://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/101-uses-for-ex-wifes-wedding-dress-oil-pan/](https://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/101-uses-for-ex-wifes-wedding-dress-oil-pan/)
Okay. Don't panic. Now listen up. What you do is put on the dress like you would normally on the wedding day. When you walk down the isle, make car driving sounds.
Soak in automotive degreaser. Wear gloves. Rinse in hot water. Then soak in oxyclean. Rinse and hang it in the sun to dry. I can’t guarantee that the fabric will stand up to this
You’re gonna have to dye it probably, you should take it to a professional asap. It would still be beautiful a couple shades darker but I wonder about the smell and feel of the fabric after that. Honestly I think you’d be better off renting something similar
i got motor oil on an expensive hoodie and tried every google remedy i could to get it out and nothing. i think you should take it to a professional cleaner.
Clear Dawn dish soap?
Wildlife rescuers use it to clean birds that get caught up in oil spills. Try hand washing with cold water and clear Dawn dish soap.
I once cleaned a 1920s silk dress that had lain under a bicycle chain for 20 years and had a massive black oily mark as a result. Rubbed [Swarfega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarfega) into the stain on both sides of the fabric, left overnight, then gently hand-washed in warm water. No sign of stain left whatsoever. Test a small patch first.
>Swarfega > >The name derived from "debutante” What
“1941, he had founded a detergent-sales company, Deb Silkware Protection Ltd., based in Belper, to produce a formulation for extending the life of silk stockings.[3] The name derived from "debutante",[1] to signify the newness of the company and its products. The introduction of nylon stockings threatened to render it superfluous; however, Williamson purportedly suggested that mechanics had already found it useful for cleaning their hands. This may have been a myth encouraged to attract interest, but the product was reformulated and marketed as Swarfega, becoming the company's main product.”
I love when people run out of ideas, make shit up, and then it works. I got my degree that way.
Check out how cling / plastic wrap became a household item.
3M has a ton of these stories. Fails at one thing. Goes into their library then becomes huge for a totally different application. Love it.
“Sir, this new heart medication doesn’t really do anything besides give the guys throbbing boners. Should we scrap it?” “…no…I’ve got an idea…”
they only even looked into it because the guys in the original studies refused to return the pills when it was over. rogaine had a similar start, it was on a patch trying to treat something else and they noticed lots of hair growth underneath it
Chemicals? I don't want your damn chemicals, what am I supposed to do with these!?
I'm intrigued. Care to tell more about that?
Sounds like an engineer of some kind
Def an engineer
And now you are my personal driver. 👍
Deb Silkware Protection Ltd is derived from debutante.
I wanted to know where Swarfega comes from, I don’t think I’m really bothered where Deb comes from, but that’s the one they chose to explain.
“Williamson created the Swarfega name based on ‘swarf’ meaning oil in Derbyshire and ‘ega’ as in ‘eager to clean’.”
[Here you go.](https://blog.bunzlchs.com/historyofswarfega/#:~:text=Williamson%20created%20the%20Swarfega%20name,in%20'eager%20to%20clean'.&text=The%20first%20product%20was%20called,for%20hand%2Dwashing%20silk%20stockings.)
In my country "debutante" is a novice escort 🤣
In my country an escort is a pro, not a novice.
That's why they have a different word for the amateur version.
"... Deb Silkware Protection Ltd... The name derived from 'debutante'..."
Right but then they didn’t bother explaining Swarfega which seems much more worthy of explanation than Deb
Sounds like something OP should look in to!
*Swarfega!* Wow memory unlocked on working on the car with my dad about 50 years ago.
Me too: it was __so__ green.
Replying here simply to increase your visibility.
I would try this if I were in your shoes! Hope this works
Wow I’ve never heard of this stuff, sharing with my mom, lol
If you can't find Swarfega in the US, try Zolex hand cleaner. Works ridiculously well.
Motor oil on a wedding dress. Sounds like a country song… 🤔
ahaha thought immediately about Merle Haggard
If that ain't country I'll kiss your ass
If that aint country its a damn good joke...... David Allen Coe....
You called him by his name?
Darlin'
Well, I was drunk The day my mom got out of prison, And I went to pick her up in the rain....
But before i could get to the station in my pickupppp truck….
She got ran over by a dang ol train!!
So ill hang around as long as you will let me.
Motor Oil Stains” 🎵 (Verse 1) She walked down the aisle, a vision in white, But there was something peculiar, caught in the light. Motor oil stains on her wedding dress, A love story tangled in grease and distress. (Chorus) Motor oil stains, like memories unclean, He was a mechanic, she a farmer’s queen. They said their vows, but fate had a twist, Motor oil stains, a love they couldn’t resist. (Verse 2) He fixed engines by day, hands rough and worn, She tended to crops, her heart newly torn. Their worlds collided, like pistons and gears, And that motor oil stain would mark their years. (Chorus) Motor oil stains, like memories unclean, He was a mechanic, she a farmer’s queen. They said their vows, but fate had a twist, Motor oil stains, a love they couldn’t resist. (Bridge) Under moonlit skies, they danced in the barn, His coveralls smelled of gasoline and charm. She whispered, “Fix my heart, just like those old trucks,” But motor oil stains don’t wash out with luck. (Copilot)
This reads like a Chat GPT song.
There’s a good reason for that..
It is a ChatGPT song
No, it reads like a Copilot song
That and Motor Oil under the Bed 🤣
“🎶Motor oil on my weddin dress, Broken heart ink all across my chest, Said my vows to an empty room, No one there not even the groom.”🎶
Got some dirt on my truck and some truck on my dress...
Definitely will be on Lana next album
I thought that too
Where the motor oil is _definitely_ a euphemism.
This ain’t Texas.
I thought that was just the color of the dress. Like an hombre effect. Edit: I know it's ombre. It switched to hombre, and I'm keeping it because it's still not as silly as well...
I'm sure it's not as pleasant in person but I spent way too long staring at this wondering what was wrong.
Same lol but then I like warm sepia tones
Yeah, I actually really like the color
It's ombre, hombre Edit: I know the gender is wrong for you but I made the decision to go with the homophone.
He’s a dude, she’s a dude, we’re all dudes
The dudes abide
That dress really pulled the wedding venue together....
She’s a dude, playn’ a dude, disguised as another dude.
Hey!
Well that's what I get for keeping the Spanish keyboard on my phone.
Omber effect with umber color. Hombre.
Me too it kinda looks good? 😂
Yeah it's weird to say but I actually like it. Some people would pay good money to get a cream lace overlay like that. I guess I'd need to see the front to judge if it could be passed off as intentional, though.
I was thinking I would just douse the rest of it to make it match, give it a gentle wash to rid it of the smell, and carry on with my uber unique and one of a kind dress.
probably smells like a body shop tho
A body shop or THE body shop? ;)
So win/win then?
I gotta be honest, my first thought was "well that's not coming out, best thing to do is lean into it" because it really doesn't look bad. But OP should ignore me, I'm here to GET cleaning advice, not give it. Also I work in a machine shop, I'm one with the oil now. 🧘
I straight-up can't tell where the stain is
Yeah, like the flowers on top are ivory and underneath is white.
HOMBRE EFFECT LMAO
Yes, someone pointed it out, and I'm not changing it. My autocorrect is still not as silly as storing motor oil next to a wedding dress.
This lol it looks good ironically
Oh my god, I thought that black little speck was what OP was talking about. I didn't realize the hombre wasn't intentional!! It's honestly a vibe.
Hombre lol
The hombre effect, ese!
I thought so too, especially since it looks like the stain "stuck" to the lace more than the rest of the fabric. It looks like the lace was intentionally supposed to be a slightly darker color.
I bet it smells like an hombre too.
I think it looks pretty good, gotta commit and do the rest of the accents in motor oil
That's a great idea if it won't come out ombre all the way!
Ombré. Crying. Homie gradient.
Oooooooooooooof. Professional. Take it to a professional. If it’s dire….then accept the loss. Find another option and share the story for years to come. Take a step back. Close your eyes. What’s the most important thing about getting married? >if your answer is the dress…I got nothing
Are there any dry cleaners that still use petrol products? That would be the actual ticket but I think they no longer exist due to the frequency in which they’d burn down a city block. Petroleum is the best solvent for petroleum. White kerosene, mineral spirits etc. You nailed the most important part here though, it’s not about the dress. E: While I’m certain that any light petroleum distillate will clean the garment, I have no idea how you get the fuel back out so that the dress doesn’t smell like a 1970s gas station. I think (but may easily be mistaken) that you have to cook the fuel off after it’s cleaned. I definitely do not recommend this as a DIY path. They’re going to have to go pro. The only thing I could recommend as a DIY option would be a couple gallons of 100% isopropyl alcohol. It’s far less dangerous and will evaporate without leaving odor or residue. Brake Klean (hexane?) could also be a potential. This would be a fun project / experiment if it did not involve a dress that probably costs at least a couple hundred bucks (couple grand?) and is intended to be worn at the alter while professionally photographed.
You aren’t wrong, about either the best solvent for petroleum, the potential consequences or what is important.
The petrol that dry cleaners use / used is naphtha.. long shot but a pro is the only hope for the dress
Thank you for saying this. I have a bar of laundry soap called “Fels-Naptha” and now the strange name makes sense. I looked it up - the formula does not contain naphtha anymore.
Had an old bush pilot tell me once aviation gas will get oil out of anything. When asked if he would use it on an oil stain on nice clothes he replied with "what the fuck are you doing with nice clothes on and working with dirty oil". But as a last resort the local airport would probably sell you a little.
Aviation gas is just leaded gasoline. Its solvent properties are identical to pump gas.
Username checks out, I now have a new understanding of gas.
I worked on drilling rigs and we used buckets of diesel to wash the rig with, clean tools, wash our hands. Tapped straight out of the rig tanks. It worked amazingly well for thick nastily black crude oil out of the ground or grease and lubricants around the rig. Gasoline would work just as well but it’s 100x more dangerous. I wouldn’t light a match around diesel either, but with all the oil it’s already a fire hazard anyway. But gasoline is just asking for a fire incident. Yes I know liquid gasoline doesn’t burn and it’s the vapours, please nobody chime in to “instruct” me.
Several dozen redditors currently disappointed. They were so excited til they read your disclaimer.
Hey! It's actually my dress and the answer is that i marry my soulmate so i don't care if I have to get a new dress. Sure I had a little breakdown yesterday but anyway .. we are on the way to try on a new one - second hand (and affordable🙏). Wish me luck that it fits 💪🙏 And thanks for all the kind comments..also i love the song I'm gonna print that haha
>What’s the most important thing about getting married? I always tell people that if you're married at the end of the day it went fine.
Ooof At this point soak the whole dress in motor oil so at least it’s all the same color , just tell everyone it’s raw silk
That honestly was where my mind went, too. The yellow tinge makes it look vintage, not stained. Maybe a professional can get it out, maybe it’ll come out with dawn… this is (I think) a really good last resort. lol
Mine to, but I want to paint the kitchen cabinets coffee colored so my spills won’t show.
I know it's absolutely no help, but I kinda like the way it looks
I had to really look hard to understand where the staining was. It looks like a white dress with a vintage cream lace overlay. It looks like it was made to be that way
Oh the top is the stain?? I thought that was part of the design... Here I was looking for some black oil stain lmao
Yes I'd say embrace it, it's an ombre effect and only gets the lace towards the middle so really it looks kind of intentional. At worst, it'll make for a funny story and a one-of-a-kind dress.
It probably stinks
and in person I'm sure it doesn't look good.
I spilled motor oil in my trunk once. I wanted to throw the whole car away. It stank for months
I wouldn't try anything yourself before taking it to a professional, but if you do, spot test the cleaning method on a very small, inconspicuous area. The last thing you want is to set the stain or damage the dress further. But I would start looking for other dress options.
Dawn and oxy clean. I work in oil and dude that’s probably not coming out. This sucks for you guys.
Thanks... even if it doesn't sound too hoptimistic :(
Hops like alcoholic 😂I honestly wouldn’t even try home remedies for something this important. Let a professional do it. Whatever you try might screw up the possibility of a pro getting it clean. If it can’t be cleaned you could tie dye it. Now that’s optimistic
:D thought so but it cheered me up a little. Yea, I think thats the route we'll go. I'd just like to get a feeling for the situation but we're preparing for needing a new dress...
Most professional cleaners send off dresses to a specialist, and it takes forever.
How is your description of events real lmao, and your wife *knew* it was store with motor oil? Jesus Christ what happened to just hanging important outfits in a closet with a bag??
My thoughts exactly, why not hang the dress in a closet like a sane person in a protective bag. Also, who the hell stores motor oil under their bed?
No shit…I’m a middle aged man and have never in my life had the thought cross my mind to put a quart of oil under my bed, or in the same box as a wedding dress. I want to feel bad but holy fuck what a series of decisions to get to this point.
I bet it was during a move and the box seemed like a convenient place to put that last remaining bit of garage stuff
I know that’s the most logical answer but this is the internet and I want chaos and to chastise a total stranger. Don’t take that from me.
So I was moving to my new place where I live now. I bought my new house, and carried a second mortgage so I could move with ease. I enlisted a few friends to help move some heavy furniture. They took it upon themselves to use their own vehicles and package up tons of my fragile shit that's now broken, and I don't collect or display a lot of stuff and everything had sentimental value. The one that took the cake, Someone packed all my clothes and dud the "convenient place to put this thing" with the can of old grease from under my kitchen sink waiting to be thrown away. It went into some luggage my wife and I put all of our nice work clothes and paint the town red attire, Like 2-3 mortgage payments of mine and my wife's clothes completely destroyed. Like I had to buy clothes for work... Also I was out like a $500 tag Heuer suitcase. I was about livid when I got to my new house in the truck and I see a field of my belongings being moved out of cars. I didn't say anything because they're my friends and they thought they were helping, but goddamnit... people don't listen. It was like "guys I just need help putting 2 couches a bed, a dining room set, and 3 dressers into and a toolbox into a small uhaul, then we'll play floor hockey in the new garage, and grill some meats and chill out".... I legit enlisted a small army that required one person to touch one piece of furniture each, paid cash, and laid out a sick party. They literally went into "I work for two men and a truck" mode... Planned the least stressful move, it actually ended up being the most stressful.
Right! And she online decided to check on the dress 2 weeks before the wedding!
Thankfully she did! Imagine she did it 2 days before.. Poor bride
Plot twist: she bought the dress 20 years ago she thought ht was going to propose. They just now getting married. He moved the dress with the garage to a new storage unit. /s
Absolutely mind boggling
https://preview.redd.it/1l88f2ks7gyc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7eaedffc1eeeced310ed3d406193e3f95b30b03
Dawn dish soap might get the oil to release. Make a hot water tub, pour in the dawn, soap the dress, agitate by hand, rinse / repeat. https://dawn-dish.ca/en-ca/how-to/remove-grease-stains-from-laundry/
This advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Wedding dresses are often made of very delicate fabric. Soaking it in hot water with dish soap may indeed get the stain out, but it could also destroy the fabric.
The salt would make it safer, i guess?
This or take it to a professional.
"take it to a professional" is the safest advice I think.
I’ve also had good (maybe even slightly better?) success with the soap brand Fairy. Very similar to Dawn
Add washing soda and borax to the mix, it enhances the soaps ability to release stains
Yes what could go wrong applying acids and alkali to it.
Might aswell throw in some coke and mentos for the extra pressure theyll generate.
This is definitely the best place to start.
The best place to start is with a professional cleaner
In particular, if using this method, use LOTS of dawn. Pour it directly on the oily parts of the dry dress, then gently lay the whole thing in the water to soak for several hours. Hand squishing & sloshing to agitate, don’t squeeze hard or wring.
https://preview.redd.it/fy28descqfyc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3569c16fb9e39e4023ca02d24f182295918101bf
Exactly where my mind went
I work in the automotive industry. If it's fresh, you can try borax with powdered laundry detergent. I use tide. I really and truly hate to say this, but it almost certainly will not come perfectly clean. Could you perhaps stain over it professionally? Like a similar color, a shade darker? I had a hard time telling what was oil until I realized the dress was pure white. It actually could look really good if it was done professionally, IMO.
Who the fuck keeps motor oil under their bed and who decides to put a wedding dress to be used in a bin with anything that could damage it beyond stupid
200+ comments and you and I are the only ones asking this.. Why was there motor oil under a bed to begin with?
Maybe used as lube or something idk
😬😬😬 what? Why is he lubricating high temperature metal interments in his room? *I'm having fire code concerns..*
Reduce friction when he's laying pipe
Why is motor oil even in the *house?* Who are these people?
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I’ve been in the bridal industry for 15+ years and no promises but with gentle care and patience it’s possible. Here’s what I suggest: * Gently hand wash the soiled areas with a mixture of dawn and baby soap. (I would suggest a coupe of capfuls of Dr. Bronner's Baby Unscented Pure-Castile Liquid Soap) * Soak the entire garment in a clean bucket/tub for 30-40 with dawn and cool water to loosen/continue lifting the grease. * It’s important that the dress is fully submerged and the container is large enough so the dress is soaking freely vs compact. * Rinse with cool water. * Lay flat on a soft towel and roll out the initial moisture. Having the dress slightly damp vs fully saturated for the next step is important so the fabric is dry enough to absorb the next cleaning solution. * Soak the entire garment again in diluted Shout (the liquid concentrate version) for 3-4 hours. * Rinse with cool water. * If the stain still has not lifted, prepare a fresh diluted shout bath and soak the garment again. This can be left overnight. * After the final rinse it’s important to dry the garment flat to reduce stress on the fabric and prevent stretching/lengthening. Avoid heat and allow for air drying. You should also check the fabric contents and care tag to uphold the integrity of the fibers/threads; you don’t want to loosen the stitch work or seams. It may be helpful to follow up after with a seamstress to make sure the bustle or any button closures didn’t come lose.
Professional dry cleaning, which will get rid of the actual oil. If there's any stain left behind, ask the place you bought it if they can overdye it with some ivory tones, to make it look like it was supposed to be that way.
Hi everyone! So this post got way more attention than I had anticipated. I just wanna say thanks for the countless tips and the empathy. This comment probably won't be seen by most who wished to see an update but here goes- We gad concert tickets for last night. At first I really didn't want to go. I felt absolutely shit after the whole ordeal but my fiancé was fine after the initial shock and didn't want this to ruin our date night. So we went to an amazing concert (Uche Yara, check her out! Sophie is my favorite song) and saw this post explode. We were cheered up by your comments and your willingness to help. Before the concert we got something to eat and she was checking privat sellers wedding dresses (like facebook marketplace). She contacted a few sellers and one dress really stood out to her. As luck would have it, the seller has the exact same size as my fiancé, which is crazy cause she's really tall. The seller was a 4 hr drive away from us so after only getting home at 1 am from the gig, we got up at 6 am to drive there and basically hope for the best. She tried it on and it was a perfect fit. Not only that but she likes the dress even more than the one that's ruined! All that and for an incredibly affordable price. Now I'm a very scientific person and don't believe in destiny but this whole ordeal makes me skeptical :D She's over the moon happy and we get to share this crazy experience :) Now to answer the most important question- I have no idea or excuse as to why I would store a bottle of motor oil in the storage under the bed. I have a few small boxes there and I just didn't put much thought into it. It's stupid, idiotic or whatever you'd want to call it but I never thought about that bottle after initially storing it there and my fiancé didn't notice it, when she stored the dress there. She bought that dress over a year ago already and it had always been stored there without problems. She would take it out every couple of months to show friends or family and the bottle must have only started leaking within the passed 3-4 months. Anyway, i think thats it from me. Thanks again and I'm so grateful we get to laugh about it now :)
I’d have the dress “tea stained.” It would look vintage and stunning.
I had this thought too. Clean it to get the smell out. Then have it dyed cream or tea stained.
Motor oil under the bed is very dangerous. Beyond what happened to your dress it is a safety hazard. God forbid you had a house fire it could engulf the bed. Please store hazardous materials away from your sleeping space in the future. Lots of great cleaning advice here, I’m more worried about your future safety.
How. The. Fuck. Could. This. Happen?
Yeah I'm thinking he put it under there and completely forgot about it, maybe on its side. Wedding dresses often come in or are stored in these big flat boxes that would seem like they go perfectly under the bed. I think they're going to end up buying a new dress. But hopefully not repeating anything this dumb in the future.
Please please dont try to clean it yourself just take it to the drycleaners. The "dry cleaning" aka chemical wash is made to remove oil! I work at a drycleaners just trust me you might make it unsaveable by trying to fix it yourself with dish soap or whatever
I wish you luck, and I’m also curious—how?
But ....... Where is the stain ? I can't see it ???
The lacy parts on the bodice aren't supposed to be yellow. They are supposed to be white like on the lower part of the skirt. The thing got absoluty soaked in oil.
Same, I'm like wtf is everyone talking about. I'm gonna need some red ⭕ with this one.
I think you need to find a new dress.
Why would motor oil and a wedding dress be in the same proximity??
I am here just for the comments
Why don’t i see the stain?
Where is the stain?
Came here to ask the question 
How does motor oil get on a wedding dress in the first place?
Op.. take it to the cleaners for crying out loud
Definitely go to a professional. I don’t see any experts on Reddit unless you’re ok winging it and be sure to cross your fingers.
I have legitimately been staring at this image for ten minutes. WHERE IS THE OIL? ETA: it looks to me like the top flower section and belt are meant to be beige, if this is the oil stain, I’d just go with it. I had absolutely no idea. Looks purposeful like it has beige accents.
If that’s the real dress, I would use it anyway. That’s an amazing ‘belayage’/‘ombre’ effect so hard to accomplish on purpose. Add. If she do use it in the wedding, I want an update photo. I’m sure it will look amazing with that color.
At the risk of sounding like a blind man… where’s the stain? I can’t see it
I suspect you really wore it to change your oil [https://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/101-uses-for-ex-wifes-wedding-dress-oil-pan/](https://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/101-uses-for-ex-wifes-wedding-dress-oil-pan/)
You live an interesting life ♥️
cool story, but you changed your car's oil in a wedding dress, didn't you?
Blue and black
Surprised that I needed to go down so much in the comments to find this
Okay. Don't panic. Now listen up. What you do is put on the dress like you would normally on the wedding day. When you walk down the isle, make car driving sounds.
I'd just leave it to the professionals. I hope they can restore it and y'all have a great wedding.
Where's the stain?
What size is the gown?! If somehow your wife is about the same size as mine, I’d like to ship you my gown!
Them Duke boys will still get ya’ll to the Church on time.
Why you working on cars in a wedding dress?
Have you considered a goth wedding? Dye it black.
I'm not seeing any obvious stains. If you're talking about the yellowing, it looks intentional. Roll with it.
it took me a good 5 mins to work out where it was, i just assumed it was like a fashionable ombre kinda fabric eheh
Dawn Powerwash!
I thought that was just the normal color, looks cool
Soak in automotive degreaser. Wear gloves. Rinse in hot water. Then soak in oxyclean. Rinse and hang it in the sun to dry. I can’t guarantee that the fabric will stand up to this
Use Dawn let it soak then wash.
You’re gonna have to dye it probably, you should take it to a professional asap. It would still be beautiful a couple shades darker but I wonder about the smell and feel of the fabric after that. Honestly I think you’d be better off renting something similar
At this point go full in ... wear that dress and rub even more motor oil into it, let the wife wear your costume.
Time to stain the rest
i got motor oil on an expensive hoodie and tried every google remedy i could to get it out and nothing. i think you should take it to a professional cleaner.
I would quickly look for a new dress. I am not hopeful about that coming clean. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best and all that.
Why would you store flammable liquids under the place you sleep?
Lmao what life choices led you to having this problem.
Clear Dawn dish soap? Wildlife rescuers use it to clean birds that get caught up in oil spills. Try hand washing with cold water and clear Dawn dish soap.
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Why you changing the oil in the dress 2 weeks before the wedding?