I ask only to find a better method.

I wear old t-shirts and sweat pants when I work on the Jeep. I use long sleeves when the job is really greasy and I have to reach around dirty areas. They also protect me against the mosquitoes in the summer.

When the clothes get so dirty I can't even sit down inside the house without leaving a grease stain on the furniture, I fill a 5 gallon bucket with hot water, lots of detergent (whatever I have on hand) and soak the clothes in there for about an hour. Then I rinse them out a few time and let them dry. I don't throw them in the washing machine cause I don't want auto grease to get in the washing drum.

 

Old thin shop coveralls for the really dirty jobs. Soak similar as mentioned, rinse with pressure washer and hang outside to dry as needed. I can wear them quite awhile before they get bad enough for a wash.


I keep my engine and undercarriage as clean as possible, as well as my garage floor so most jobs don't get me terribly dirty.

 

i saw a video of a guy who washed them in gas then took them to a laundramat to dry them. the building was spread out for a block. he died.

dont use gas!!!

 

Pre soak them in hot water with degreaser and then hose them off on the street or driveway. I do that twice while agitating them, in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I take it to the local laundromat and wash them as usual

Lots of times I will go to Goodwill and get some $1 shirts and pants. I just chuck them or cut them up and use em as rags after they are super dirty.

I'm not allowed to sit on the indoor furniture if I have my garage clothes on

 

I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it sometimes. AC, recliner, and a cold soda is a great refuge when working under the Jeep.

Great ideas on the clothes washing, guys.

Thank you.

 

Hot water and Dawn dishsoap works well. add a splash of Purple Power for really greasy stuff. regular laundry detergent really dont cut it most of the time lol

 

Ha, here's my solution, like it or not.

I keep a dedicated worn-torn-jagged pair of jeans & T-shirt for wrenching on my vehicles.
When i'm done i hang them up in the basement until the next dirty job.

After a few months, once those clothes become way too grimy for even wrenching, i toss them in the trash.
Washing problem solved!

Then the next pair of ragged-torn-worn clothes are next on the list.
A cool way to recycle worn-torn-jagged clothes.

Of course this method won't work if one only has one pair of pants and a lonely T-shirt.

 

One word. Laundromat.
X2. Keep it clean and you don't have near as much mess.
Honestly. Who would do this. If you do, you deserve what you have coming.
Good advice.

Bottom line is use clothing you don't GAS about, and if it's too soiled for the home wash, laundromat. Do whatever pre-wash stuff you like, but a good dose of oxyclean with detergent is ok in my book.

I take all my rags to the laundromat as well. No way I'm gonna put that junk in my machine, LOL

 

Huh, so you're the guy ruining the machines at the laundromat? Putting damn brown grease stains in the seat of my undies.

 

Yup. No shame here.

 

Oh, you guys wash yours?

 

Another vote for hot water and dish soap, it is a degreaser.

 

Yeah, i don't get it either!

 

I understand not washing hunting clothes.
But it's a good idea to wash your wrenching clothes or throw them away once contaminated. Automotive fluids are absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. One of the most hazardous is ATF. And brake fluid is caustic.
If I get a bunch of ATF on my shirt, it goes straight to the trash or burn pit.

 

If my shirt gets ATF soaked or with other hazardous chemicals, its goes straight into the garbage!
No great loss, the shirt was old, worn and torn.

Don't want any hazardous chemicals or contaminates in my septic tank.... other than my own sometimes hazardous sch!tt that is.