How to get massage oil out of sheets

Are you tired of throwing away your sheets because they are terribly stained by massage oil? Have your massage sheets ever smoked after you took them out of the dryer? I know how you feel because I’ve been there! Over the years, if I add up all the massage sheet sets I’ve thrown away, there would be enough to supply a mid-sized hotel. Not to mention dryer fires! Not kidding, one day driving home in my car, I started coughing from the smoke coming out of the back seat of my car. Holy cow, my sheets were on fire! At first I blamed this on the high temperature dryers in the laundromat, but now I know better. If you’re sick and tired of going through massage sheets because they’re ruined by oil stains or dryer burn marks, here’s what I suggest:

If you’re busy enough and can cover the overhead, I recommend using a linen service. This is especially nice because you don’t have to spend your time at a laundromat or have high utility bills from the extra use of household appliances. Also, if the sheets get stained or torn, it’s not your problem. The main drawback of this is that you need to have an actual office location. Linen services will not deliver to a home, they want pick up and drop off at a business location. The other bummer is that you have to commit to a weekly delivery fee. This means you have to pay for new sheets every week, regardless of whether you ran out of your previous supply. I suggest that if you still want to go down this route, partner with someone who already has an account with a linen service and then you can help split the costs.

So I tried the sheet service through a friend who has an acupuncture clinic and it was fine. I wanted to go back to washing my own sheets so I wouldn’t have to bother my friend every time she ran out of sheets. This time, I did some research to figure out how to get the massage oil off the sheets and stop ruining them, so I had to throw them out. There didn’t seem to be much information on the internet on this topic, so between trial and error and talking to friends, this is what I came up with.

1. Start with fresh, new sheets. I know it feels wasteful to throw away sheets, but if they look bad, it makes a bad impression on our customers. If you can’t bear to throw them away, then donate them somewhere. I buy recommended industrial grade blades. Those used by hotels and hospitals and linen services are usually T-180 sheets. I like to buy the ones that would be as close to the dimensions of the twin sheets as possible. They may seem stiff, but they soften faster than you think.

2. Before using the sheets for the first time, wash them in hot water and dry them completely. They’ll be nice and soft when they come out of the dryer. After using your sheets for the first time, that’s when it’s crucial to follow the instructions below.

3. Wash all your sheets in hot water.

4. Wash only a maximum of 3 sets of sheets together at a time. You want your sheets to be clean, so avoid overcrowding your machine.

5. Add a towel in the wash with your sheets. I always set aside my light colored bath towels and hand towels to throw away with my sheets. They do a good job of scrubbing oil off sheets.

6. If they seem a bit oily, add 1 regular size box of baking soda. When I add baking soda, I usually like to add a little box of peroxide. Baking soda and peroxide make a great paste for cleaning and polishing.

7. Localized stains on sheets and let them sit for a while before washing. They can always go on the next load.

8. Alternate your laundry detergents. Like shampoo buildup, I think laundry soap should be rotated as well. Sometimes I use laundry soap and sometimes I use a dish soap with a degreaser.

9. Avoid letting your sheets sit in oil for too long. I have noticed that if I let my sheets sit for too long before washing them, it is harder to get the oil out because it has hardened. Also, be careful not to expose dirty sheets to direct sunlight. If your sheets are in direct sunlight, the sun will burn off the oil and it will set on your sheets. It smells rancid and you will never be able to get it out.

10. Hang your sheets to dry. This will probably be unpopular with many people, but it’s what has saved me from throwing out more sheets. You never want to put your massage sheets in the dryer because if you didn’t get the oil out the first time, you will set the oil in the sheets and can cause future dryer fires. One day I was driving home and found my car filling with smoke. It turned out that my sheets were on fire in the back seat of my car. I hope this never happens to you! If you have a sheet that has dried out but doesn’t look as clean as you’d like, toss it in the next load of sheets with a cup of stain remover.

Again, this approach isn’t for everyone, but if you prefer to wash your own sheets, here’s how you can keep them looking great for a long time. I hope this helps you on your quest to get massage oil out of your sheets.