HELP! Kerosene on quilt!

you could try the dry cleaners? or a woolite wash, gentle cycle and hang dry. amy

You not only have the smell to deal with, kerosene is a petroleum product and has an oily residue and it's technically flammable, don't put it in a dryer until you can't smell any fumes. Take it from one who drove a truck in heavy construction for years........*waterless hand cleaner* is your friend. I had a big can of this stuff on my laundry shelf for years. I used to buy it in 3 lb cans from an auto parts store. Get the kind that isn't colored. I found that the orange colored stuff could stain some light colored or white fabric. I washed a sleeping bag (I feel your pain) that got soaked with kerosene on the return home from a camping trip and the following worked with that as well. My theory is, "well, it's ruined anyway, it can't get ruined-er."

Lay the quilt out flat and shhhhmeered the hand cleaner goop all over the area where the kerosene is, or whole quilt if necessary, use a soft brush and work it in until it becomes "liquidy" and soaks/works well into the quilt. I laid the sleeping bag out the picnic table to work on it. I actually have an old glass washboard of my Grandma's and used to use that when doing a similar procedure on shirts and jeans, jackets, etc. to work the hand cleaner into the fabric. You may have to sqwoosh and work this in with hands-on brute force to get it worked into the quilt, as I did with the sleeping bag because you need to get this stuff deep into all the layers to dissolve the oily base of the offending product. Run it through one hot wash cycle without soap and the second wash with laundry soap, using the hottest water possible. I dumped a heaping full cup of washing soda as well in each wash cycle. Hang it outside to dry if possible. This worked for me. The sleeping bag still had a slight odor of kerosene but the oily stain was completely gone so I laid it out, dumped three big boxes of A&H Baking Soda all over it, rolled it up and sealed it in a heavy trash bag for the week. The next Saturday, I opened it up outside, shook it out (make sure the wind it at your back) and washed it again and hung it out to dry.........I'll be darned if it didn't come out fresh and clean! If you can still smell any fumes at all on the quilt DO NOT put it in the dryer!!

Waterless hand cleaner is one of the best grease/oil splatter removers for clothing. It even got the bacon grease stain out of a white silk blouse!

Good Luck!! Val

"Mauvice in central WI" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

Val....do you mean like..Purell??? amy

Not Purell.....waterless hand cleaner is what mechanics use to remove the grease and oil from their hands. You can find it in auto supply stores like Schuck's or the auto supply departments in large box stores like Home Depot or Wal-Mart, hardware stores too. Ask for 'waterless hand cleaner'......not hand sanitizer. The two brands I used 'NAYY' were "Goop" and "Dirty Bird"

Interestingly, I googled for GoJo which is the brand of waterless hand cleaner that my husband uses, and found that they are also the makers of Purell.

Rita L.

amy wrote:

Thanks ao much Val!!!!!!!!!!! Great Idea Mauvice

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:16:34 -0700, "Val" wrote: DH got oil all over a new shirt. I'm gonna try your goop method. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Wow, thanks, Val. This sounds like a good, inexpensive stain remover.