Aha! Grease stains gone!

By mudlark • July 30th, 2007

Cornmeal. It’s one of my favorite things in the kitchen. Being married to a Moldovan, we eat mamaliga (polenta-esque) pretty frequently (though I have to admit – I just can’t get it right!). And I use it on my pizza pan to keep the crust from sticking as it bakes.

But it has a great cleaning use too! It absorbs grease. If you’ve got a grease stain on upholstered furniture, carpet, or a seat cushion, put a teaspoon or so of cornmeal on it (more for a bigger stain), let it sit for 15-20 minutes, and vacuum up. The cornmeal will absorb the grease and leave your upholstery grease-free.

For clothes I wouldn’t recommend cornmeal though. It’s easier to launder correctly. Apply some liquid laundry detergent (or your favorite multi-purpose stain remover), let it sit for a few minutes, then wash it in the hottest water the fabric will tolerate. Knowing that a few years ago would have saved me oodles of shirts. But, 20/20 hindsight, right? At least I can rescue your laundry!

Comments(3) Cleaning tips, Kitchen

Comments

By Lisa on July 30th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

I will have to say Grease Stains are my Number One Laundry Annoyance. It would help if I wore an apron. But that takes time, you see. And I’d much rather spend that time in the laundry room scrubbing out grease, yessirree.

I use Dawn dish soap on my clothing grease stains now. Seems to work.

Thanks for the cornmeal tip!

By carrie on August 7th, 2007 at 9:06 am

I couldn’t help but notice your mention of being married to a Moldovan. One of our close friends travels there (and Romania) twice a year–in fact, he’s leaving for there today! His family is hosting an 18 year-old from Moldova for a couple years–she has a handicap from an electrical accident and will hopefully be getting surgery in the U.S. soon.

Thanks for all your wonderful natural cleaning tips!

By Carpet Cleaning NY on April 6th, 2009 at 12:26 pm

This is the second blog posting that I read that has the use of cornmeal. Now I’m looking forward to my next grease spill so I can try this trick.