How to Get Diesel Fuel Smell Off Your Clothes & Hands

• Pretreat your garments by soaking them in household cleaners like cold water and dish soap, rubbing alcohol, or diluted ammonia before washing.
• Try adding baking soda and vinegar or eucalyptus oil directly to your washing machine to eliminate diesel smells during the wash cycle.
• If the diesel smell is on your hands, scrub them with detergent and salt, lemon juice, or a mechanic’s degreasing hand wash like Fast Orange.

Pretreating Diesel Smell on Clothes

Soak your garment in cold water and dish soap for 12 to 24 hours. Fill a tub or bucket with cold or cool water, then add a few generous pumps of a degreasing dish soap like Dawn. Swish the water until the soap is mixed in, then add your diesel-smelling clothes. Let it sit for at least 12 hours (up to 24). Afterward, run your garment through the washing machine like normal. Wash it by itself in case there’s a lingering smell (you don’t want that on your other clothes!). The chemicals in degreasing dish soap will loosen smelly oil or grease particles that are clinging to the fabric of your clothes.

Let your clothes sit in rubbing alcohol for 20 minutes. Pour ½ cup (118 mL) of rubbing alcohol into a bucket, then add your garment and toss it in the alcohol until it’s thoroughly covered. Leave the clothes to sit for 20 minutes, then run them through the washing machine (by themselves) as normal. If there’s a diesel stain along with the smell, sprinkle baking soda over the stain, then pour rubbing alcohol on it. Rub the resulting paste into the stain with a soft brush before washing. Avoid putting rubbing alcohol on delicate or synthetic fabrics like acetate, rayon, silk, or wool. Rubbing alcohol breaks down diesel particles and then evaporates away without leaving a scent.

Soak the stinky piece of clothing in mouthwash for 15-30 minutes. Dump a generous amount of mouthwash onto the affected areas of your garment. Let the item sit and soak for at least 15 minutes, then throw it in the laundry like normal. If the smell is extra stubborn, add 1 cup (237 mL) of mouthwash to your washing machine along with your regular detergent. Avoid using alcohol-free mouthwash, since the alcohol is part of what neutralizes the diesel smell. Mouthwash (even colored mouthwash) won’t stain your clothes as long as you wash the garment before the mouthwash dries up. If you’re concerned about possible stains, save the mouthwash treatment for darker fabrics.

Leave the clothing item in a bucket of diluted ammonia for 25 minutes. Grab a bucket and fill it nearly full with warm water, then pour about ¼ cup (59 mL) of ammonia into it. Stir the mixture with a large spoon or mixing stick (not your hands—ammonia can burn!) to evenly distribute the ammonia. Let your diesel-smelling clothes sit in the bucket for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the garment from the ammonia bucket and run it through the wash like normal.

Soak the clothing in cola and baking soda overnight. First, fill up your machine with water for a soak cycle and let the smelly clothing sit for a few hours. Then, drain the water and begin filling the washing machine again. As the water rises, pour a 2-liter bottle of cola (yes, even a dark soda like Coke!) and a 14 oz (397 g) box of baking soda into the machine. Let the garment soak in the solution overnight or for up to 24 hours. Finally, drain the cola mixture and wash the clothing like normal. If you don’t want to add cola to your machine, soak the garment in a separate bucket before machine washing. The cola won’t stain your clothes as long as you wash them right away (the cola will lift right out of the fabric in the wash). If you’re concerned about your delicate whites and lights, save this method for dark clothing. Cola is a natural degreaser that also contains some citric and phosphoric acid, making it an underappreciated household cleaning product.

Apply a solvent-based detergent to diesel stains before washing. If you’ve got a stain that’s causing the smell, use a soft brush to scrub a solvent-based detergent like Shout or OxiClean onto the stain. Let the clothes sit for 15-20 minutes, then wash them in the hottest water they can handle (check the tag for washing instructions). Use your regular detergent for the wash cycle, or use more of the solvent-based detergent if the stain or smell is stubborn.

Laundry Additives for Diesel Smell

Add equal parts baking soda and vinegar directly to your laundry. Add your diesel-smelling items to the laundry and begin the wash cycle. When the washing machine is nearly full of water, add white vinegar and baking soda. Use the same amount of both ingredients as detergent (for example, if you used 1 cup (237 mL) of detergent, add 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar). Continue running the wash cycle like normal. Baking soda and vinegar are both natural deodorizers that also break down diesel oils and greases.

Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to the machine before the cycle starts. Put the smelly clothes in the washer by themselves, then begin a normal wash cycle with warm water. When the washer is full, add several drops of eucalyptus essential oil to the water. Close the lid and let the cycle finish as usual.

Add a spoonful of a mechanic’s degreasing hand wash to the machine. If there’s a visible diesel stain, rub a dab of heavy-duty hand cleaner, like Fast Orange, directly onto it. If there’s no stain (just the smell), add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of Fast Orange to the water in your washing machine and wash your smelly garments with a regular cycle. If the smell persists, run the item through the wash again, but add ½ cup (60 g) of baking soda to the water. If you’re using the Fast Orange brand laundry detergent, follow the instructions on the bottle.

Getting Diesel Smell Off Your Hands

Scrub your hands with detergent and salt. Pour 2 tablespoons (34 g) of salt into a container, then rub plain hand soap, dish soap, or a degreasing detergent onto your hands for a minute. Pour the salt into your hands and massage it (along with the detergent) all over your palms and fingers. Rinse the mixture away with plain water (no soap needed). If you don’t have salt on hand, try swapping in sugar instead. The salt turns the detergent into a scrub that exfoliates your hands and removes stubborn, smelly diesel particles from your skin.

Rub white, distilled vinegar all over your hands. Pour a generous amount of vinegar into your hands and rub them thoroughly. Afterward, rinse your hands off with plain water. If a slight vinegar smell lingers, don’t worry—it’ll fade after a few minutes or so.

Soak your hands in fresh lemon juice. Squeeze all the juice out of a lemon, then rub the juice all over your hands. Let the juice sit on your hands for about 5 minutes, then rinse them clean with warm water. Make sure you don’t have any cuts or scrapes on your hands before you add lemon juice—it’ll sting if you do!

Coat your hands in toothpaste. Grab a tube of plain, white toothpaste (preferably with baking soda) and squeeze a generous amount into your palms. Rub the toothpaste all over so your hands are coated, then wash the toothpaste away with soap and water. Surprisingly, toothpaste can break down the diesel grease that’s making your hands stink. It can also neutralize odor-causing bacteria.

Wash your hands with diluted vanilla extract. Mix ½ cup (120 mL) of water with just a few drops of vanilla extract, then pour it all over your hands and rub them together for 1-2 minutes. Wash your hands clean with soap and water and pat dry. There’s no strict amount of vanilla you should add, but going overboard will make it hard to tell if the original diesel scent is actually gone. Use vanilla to eliminate other chemical odors like gasoline or bleach, too.

Try a mechanic’s hand cleaner in place of regular hand soap. Grab a bottle of Fast Orange hand cleaner or any other brand for mechanics (the differences between brands are not that big). Use the product as instructed in place of ordinary hand or antibacterial soap. Mechanic’s cleaners are excellent degreasers that remove diesel, gasoline, and other chemical smells easily. If you’re looking for a product that only uses natural ingredients, try Grip Clean soap.