How to clean used motor oil off a pair of acid green superga trainers

[Gattopardo]

Have a pair of cloth superga trainers in acid green,


Managed to get used motor oil on the shoes, and I would like to clean it off, with out damaging the trainer material.  Tried wiping the white areas with a wet wipe and the marks and oil are still there.

[T42]

They're not expensive, so get a new pair and keep the (s)oiled ones for doing mucky work.

[Jurek]

^
This

[telstarbox]

Washing machine on the delicate setting. Put them inside a pillowcase to stop it being too noisy.

[ElyDave]

last time I put trainers into a washing machine as a PSO, they came out in pieces.

Admittedly they were rather worn as they were actual training shoes rather than just casual use.

[telstarbox]

I know they say not to do this, but I put my Adidas suede ones in the wash several times and they come out fine. They take a few days to dry though

[hellymedic]

White spirit on a cotton wool ball INSIDE the shoe to soak stain.
Dry cotton wool outside the shoe to wipe & blot.

[Keef66]

All my experience of used motor oil suggests you're wasting your time trying to clean it off just about anything

[Gattopardo]

They're not expensive, so get a new pair and keep the (s)oiled ones for doing mucky work.

They are for a pair of what were cheap canvas shoes...also don't think they do this green anymore.

^
This

No longer available in my size and the colour

Washing machine on the delicate setting. Put them inside a pillowcase to stop it being too noisy.

Don't fancy putting something motor oil like in the washing machine

last time I put trainers into a washing machine as a PSO, they came out in pieces.

Admittedly they were rather worn as they were actual training shoes rather than just casual use.

Some trainers are designed to be washed and some washing machines have a sport shoe setting.

I know they say not to do this, but I put my Adidas suede ones in the wash several times and they come out fine. They take a few days to dry though

The trick is to stuff the shoes loosly full of newspaper to absord some of the moisture

White spirit on a cotton wool ball INSIDE the shoe to soak stain.
Dry cotton wool outside the shoe to wipe & blot.

Hope the oil in just on the outside, as the material of the shoe has an outer and an inner.  I think.

All my experience of used motor oil suggests you're wasting your time trying to clean it off just about anything

Was thinking about brake cleaner. Or a biological/non biological powder water paste.

[Gattopardo]

In case anyone cared, cherry blossom trainer wipes didn't do anything, 1001 carpet cleaner mouse and an orange cleaner degresser also had little effect.

[Diver300]

Rub the stain with Swarfega, leave an hour or more, then wash.

Good luck.

[Robh]

Rub the stain with Swarfega, leave an hour or more, then wash.

Good luck.

I was going to suggest Swarfega. It's great for dirty oily stains.

[Gattopardo]

Modern swarfega isn't as good as it was.

[Robh]

The stuff that I have under the sink is at least 10 years old. I don't mess with oily stuff as much as I used to. You're welcome to a splash sufficient for your needs by post if you'd like?

[Gattopardo]

The stuff that I have under the sink is at least 10 years old. I don't mess with oily stuff as much as I used to. You're welcome to a splash sufficient for your needs by post if you'd like?

Thank you, it is ok.

Yeah my last two massive pots were from halfords as they stop selling the 5kg pots.  At least 6 years ago, and old design of pots that still came with bits in.  Suspect those bits ar great environmentally.

[Kim]

IIRC the bits in Swarfega Orange^[1] are corn husk, which seems reasonably environmentally sensible.

IME the efficacy of Swarfega diminished markedly as soon as there's water present (which makes sense, when you consider how it works), so it's usually best to go straight to Swarfega rather than mucking about with soap and water first.


_{[1] Which isn't a patch on the proper green stuff for fresh oily crap, but does come in handy for scrubbing chainring tattoos off in the shower.}

[gibbo]

How did the brake cleaner work out? That would have been my suggestion after using a spray cleaner from Metaflux. A few Metaflux cans were "gifted" to me by a previous company and is about £10 a go. It's brilliant for removing oil etc and is also flammable. Brake cleaner is probably the closest equivalent I've found.

[barakta]

Another thought is to sew/stick something over the stain and make it look like a deliberate custom decoration which is very on-trend these days!

[jsabine]

Fully immerse them in the used motor oil and embrace your new black trainers?

[aidan.f]

I cleaned an oily dog* with cornstarch, idea was it would sop up the oil preferentially, IIRC it worked .

The dog, Leo ran through a tray of used engine oil, wuz not mine (the oil not the dog).

[Delidroid]

I had a cat that went to sleep inn a warm frying pan of oil. Back to the original post. I would just wear them as they are.

[Kim]

I had a cat that went to sleep inn a warm frying pan of oil.

Did you get to it before the licking-itself-clean stage?   Our cat once discovered a tin of beef fat that was congealing on the windowsill before being disposed of responsibly in the bin, rather than poured down the drain. 

[DaveReading]

IIRC the bits in Swarfega Orange^[1] are corn husk, which seems reasonably environmentally sensible.

IME the efficacy of Swarfega diminished markedly as soon as there's water present (which makes sense, when you consider how it works), so it's usually best to go straight to Swarfega rather than mucking about with soap and water first.


_{[1] Which isn't a patch on the proper green stuff for fresh oily crap, but does come in handy for scrubbing chainring tattoos off in the shower.}

Poor man's Swarfega - washing-up liquid and coffee grounds.  Surprisingly effective.

[jsabine]

Poor man's Swarfega - washing-up liquid and coffee grounds.  Surprisingly effective.

I thought I'd invented that a couple of years ago when, having finished my tub of Swarfega, I couldn't find the unopened tub of Aldidl substitute. Yes, remarkably good, on hands at least.

[Blodwyn Pig]

IIRC the bits in Swarfega Orange^[1] are corn husk, which seems reasonably environmentally sensible.

IME the efficacy of Swarfega diminished markedly as soon as there's water present (which makes sense, when you consider how it works), so it's usually best to go straight to Swarfega rather than mucking about with soap and water first.


_{[1] Which isn't a patch on the proper green stuff for fresh oily crap, but does come in handy for scrubbing chainring tattoos off in the shower.}

Poor man's Swarfega - washing-up liquid and coffee grounds.  Surprisingly effective.

Or sugar, less messy colour wise.