Grease all over Pearl Izumi windbreaker - any hope?

[TrekJeni]

Two weekends ago, my rear derailer and my windbreaker got in a fight. I'd say it was a draw. Derailer hanger snapped off and windbreaker is "bloody" with an enormous amount of chain grease. I've soaked in in Dawn, nothing, I've scrubbed it with a sponge, nothing. The tag says 100% Polyester. It's wind and rain proof. Any ideas? She cost me a lot of dough and I'd hate to give up on her!

Jeni

[Bikingmomof3]

Jeni,
I would call your LBS, talk with a mechanic and see what they use to get grease out. I hope you can save the jacket.

[GLC1968]

When all else fails...have you tried rubbing it with a Magic Eraser? I swear those things get out the weirdest stuff. It actually got dog snot off my leather seats! They clean up the grease off my white bike super easy...maybe they'll work on the jacket as well?

[light_sabe_r]

Orange Oil.

Works wonders!

You can usually pick it up from your local auto accessory shop. It's cheap and you can use it to scrub or soak.

I even throw it in with loads of bike gear laundry of mine and BF's

[TrekJeni]

Jeni,
I would call your LBS, talk with a mechanic and see what they use to get grease out. I hope you can save the jacket.

My mechanic is at InterBike in Vegas. Won't be home until tomorrow. I miss him but he's useless when it comes to laundry! He didn't know what to do but robbed the derailer hanger from a new bike on the floor so we could ride togther the next day.

Was hoping some "chicks" might be able to help me out. Funny thing is, i work in a scientific laundry lab and none of us could figure anything out!

[mimitabby]

when all else fails, wear the windbreaker with pride... and stains!

[xeney]

Try Simple Green. It's safe for most fabrics and it does a great job cutting grease.

[divingbiker]

The only thing that would get grease out of one of my polyester jerseys was Goof Off, the nasty petroleum-based kind, not the environmentally friendly kind. I hated using it, but I hated tossing the jersey more.

[KnottedYet]

I have grease on my PI, which I haven't tried to clean off yet. Might have to one of these days.

[mimitabby]

So, tell us, HOW did your derailleur and your windbreaker get into a fight?
Sounds like there is a good story in there somewhere!

[funkymonkey]

I know this will sound really weird, but put some WD-40 on the grease. It really works! I think it works best if you get the fabric wet first, put the WD-40 on, and then rinse it out. I did this with some pants I have and it came out great and didn't hurt the fabric.

[chickwhorips]

hair spray. i swear by this. i use it for all stains!

a little trick we learned in beauty school to get permanent hair color out of clothes. just spray a bit on, let it sit for a little bit, throw it in the washer and BAM!

[love2bike]

According to the "Queen of Clean" in her book "Talking Dirty Laundry" - she recommends Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover sprayed on, and launder in the hotest water you can use for the fabric, using a long wash cycle and adding1/2 of "washing soda" (whatever that is???) to the detergent.

Funkymonkey was right...Another solution The Queen gives is spray the area with WD-40 and wait 10 minutes, then work in undiluted dishwashing liquid and then launder as usual.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I would use the same stuff you would use to dissolve grease off your bike chain.

[DebW]

My mom used to use Spray'n'Wash on my clothes when I was a mechanic. She even made me pay for it. I don't know why she cared so much about my cutoffs and T-shirts. I use it sometimes now and it doesn't always get everything out.