Edit : so are you guys staying that oil does not stain differently but the fact that it doesn’t ‘stick’ to water makes it hard to wash ?
In: Chemistry
Because oil does not mix with water and thus is not dissolved with it. If you do use water you have to treat the oil stain with something that *does* dissolve it before the water can flush it away.
Remember that childhood experiment where you mix oil and water and the oil floats? That’s because oil is hydrophobic (“hydro-“ meaning water and “-phobic” meaning scared of). Due to oil’s hydrophobia it will already have a hard time washing out as unlike other stains, it won’t mix with the water in a washing machine. Furthermore, the lipids that oil is made from can break down after time (darkening the stain) and become more permanent as they begin to permanently bond to said fabric. Hope this answered your question.
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