Salad dressing

[snapper]

Gentlemen,

I have a pair of bespoke light coloured trousers made in Minnis fresco and have recently spilled salad dressing on them. I am told from the restaurant it was a mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar and diced shallots. Do you have any recommendations please for how this could be removed? I am hesitant to just use a dry cleaners unless anybody can suggest a particularly good one (in the UK) or a specialist. I know the subject was discussed here in June 2014 and I have downloaded and kept David's list of recommended products but don't want to use the wrong one or to 'set' the stain in.

Your help will be much appreciated, thank you.

Regards,
Snapper

[Luca]

Ouch! I've been using, as a dry cleaner, Top Hat cleaners in W4. They show awareness of the fact that not all suits are cheap plastic things from M&S.

[J.S. Groot]

I use commercial n-heptane to remove the occasional grease spot from my tailored clothing at home. Works like a charm and it isn't overly harsh on the fibers. However, if there's a reddish residue from the vinegar, it probably won't be enough.

[couch]

Snapper, were the trousers made by a UK tailor? If so, I'd consider consulting him first for recommendations on a specialist cleaner to treat that particular combination; or he may be able to arrange it for you. I hesitate to recommend solvents/cleaning agents, since it's possible (maybe even likely) that more than one will be needed and the order and conditions of application may be of the essence.

[hectorm]

Dear Snapper,
For the last 30 years or so I have been dealing with food stains just with a soft sponge and carbonated water... and lots of patience. It almost never fails. Many times it has taken up to 20 or 30 very gentle rounds with the cloth. Sponge, then hair-dryer, then after realizing the stain was still there, sponge again, etc.
So, patience is the key. In some cases the stain became bigger in surface but much, much weaker and it could be dealt with a simple good dry professional cleaning afterwards.
Good luck.

[snapper]

Dear Luca,

Thank you for your reply and the lead to Top Hat cleaners in W4. I have now read their impressive web site and subsequently telephoned them, and believe they could be of help. So if in the end I have to go down the dry cleaning route they certainly will be my chosen company.

Dear J.S.Groot,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Previously I have kept a small bottle of colourless and odourless meths to hand for home spot cleaning. But now as you have recommended n-Heptane I have sourced a supplier and purchased some. I will give it a go on any future mishaps.

Dear Couch,

Thank you for replying to me. The trousers were made by Graham Browne in The City and I have subsequently spoken to them as you advised. They said normal 'sponge and press' services use odourless wet wipes and then press the trousers. I have bought a packet and keep dabbing with them. The grease seems to be diminishing but, as yet, has not completely gone. I will keep trying but ultimately may have to resort to Top Hat cleaners.

Dear hectorm,

I appreciate your input thank you. I had already started the wet wipe process before reading your advise but I am certainly finding that patiently keep trying is giving results. Normally I would have just used the wet wipe once and thought it is not doing the trick but repeated applications is giving better results.

[Scot]

For years I have been using something called Janies dry spot remover. This is like a stick of chalk that is rubbed into the stain and then brushed off. It is incredibly effective, although I suppose it depends on the size of the stain. Johnson's baby powder can be used in the same way.

[couch]

Scot is on to something here. Very fine absorbent particles make a poultice that will adsorb mobile oils and greases that come in contact with them. Many spray spot removers (e.g., Goddard's in the U.S.) combine an organic solvent with an inert powder for exactly this reason—the solvent dissolves and mobilizes the oils and the powder preferentially attracts and adsorbs the liquid so they don't cling to the wool fibers. So patient repeated application of fine powders (fuller's earth is especially effective) may work well and carry low risk (if fully brushed and vacuumed clear after each application). Allowing the powder to remain in contact with the stain for some time during each application may improve results.

The only cautions with the other advice given are that different components in the spill may have different solubility parameters that are in conflict, so must be treated carefully. The water-soluble pigments in red wine will be mobilized by different treatments than the oil; while the acid pH of vinegar (and wine) may cause them to act as mordants and thus require specific treatments to fully release them from their bond to the wool, if one has formed. Heat may also strengthen this bond ("set" the stain) so hair dryers should be used with caution and preferably without heat, and pressing is best avoided until the stain is completely removed.

Though I am familiar with the general principles of stain solubility and removal in certain other media, I don't know enough about these particular staining agents and their interactions with wool to recommend the best sequence of applications for a compound staining agent such as this dressing. If the wet wipe process seems to be working and is not changing the underlying color of the wool, that's great. I'd caution that the application of any liquid (wet wipes, water with detergent added, organic solvents, etc.) should be tested first on an inconspicuous area (inlay inside the trouser leg, etc.) first and allowed to dry to ensure that it doesn't move, remove, or alter any color in the cloth.

[JCH]

This is all fine advice. But I wonder what it says about me that my first thought was why the dressing didn't have some mustard or garlic or both.

[hectorm]

Scot is on to something here. Very fine absorbent particles make a poultice that will adsorb mobile oils and greases that come in contact with them.

Of course Scot is on to something. An old popular advice for removing greasy stains at the table is to use the salt shaker and cover the whole blot with the absorbent grains. Let it dry and brush it off. The stain will be diminished significantly.
I still rather go afterwards with the rounds of sponge and seltzer, though.

[couch]

Table salt grains are great in a sloppy emergency, but too coarse and chemically unsuited for very complete removal. Fuller's earth, baking soda, talc, etc. have much greater surface area to contact the stained material and the tiny particles will preferentially adsorb mobile colorants as compared to many substrates (such as wool fiber surfaces), so they can actually help pull stains from the cloth—in some cases even without adding water or solvents. As an example from another field, conservators use repeated applications of thick poultices of water and/or solvents mixed with baking soda to pull stains out of marble, for instance. As the poultices dry, any dissolved colorants are adsorbed onto the soda particles.

For oleaginous stains on wool cloths, I've always had excellent luck with the Goddard's Dry Clean spot remover, but it was discontinued due to EPA objections to some of the solvents it used. K2R spot remover had similar performance; it has been reformulated and is still available, but I have seen reports of the new version leaving "tide lines" and moving dyes due to more polar solvents and insufficient quantities of powder in the formula (advertised as "no mess," which kind of defeats the purpose).

If you have luck with water or carbonic acid using a sponge or pad to absorb the dissolved colorants in the liquid, that's great. More than one way to skin this cat. Hard to completely remove oil that way, but if one can get the bulk of it out before it hardens, wool's natural capacity to tolerate oils may allow the rest to diffuse enough that it is not visible if the cloth is not too pale.

[snapper]

Gentlemen,

May I please give you an update on the cleaning process : the wet wipes did reduce the stains to some extent but sadly left a very visible 'tide mark' around each area. I took the trousers to Top Hat cleaners and gave them the 'recipe' of the salad dressing. A week later I collected the trousers and they were perfect! Not only had they removed all evidence of the stains but their pressing was perfectly aligned with the original creases and there were no 'tram lines' as so often happens with commercial cleaners' pressing.

I also had a potential moth problem with a lovely cashmere overcoat and they examine all areas in depth and gave very sound advise. I appreciated their time and genuine approach.

Based upon this, my first encounter with Top Hat, I would recommend them most highly.

Regards,
Snapper

[couch]

Congratulations! This is excellent news. And I'm glad to have the recommendation for a good cleaner if I need one when in London.