Table of Contents:
Kelli asked: How do I clean butter from leather boots? I dripped melted butter onto my leather boots and can’t get it off. Can you help?
Grease 
and oil stains can be tricky to remove from leather. The residue left behind seems to leave a permanent mark. Use the method below to draw the grease out of the leather and remove the stain for good.
You Will Need:
- Talcum powder or another absorbent powder
- Lint free soft cloths (microfiber cloths work well)
Steps to Remove the Stains:
- Blot the stain with a microfiber cloth. Remove as much of the grease as possible.
- Cover the stain liberally with talcum powder or another absorbent powder, such as cornstarch or wheat germ.
- Allow the powder to sit on the stain overnight. The powder will draw the grease and moisture out of the leather.
- In the morning, brush off the powder and the stain will be gone.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Similar to the grain of wood, leather has a “lie” or a line of texture to it. If possible, apply any cleaning products following the lie. If you can’t see the direction of the texture, work from the outside of the stain towards the center.
- If the leather is not protected, the grease will soak in and will be nearly impossible to remove completely. Treating the stain immediately is your best bet for any chance of removing the stain. Once set, you may be able to lighten it with the method above.
- If the leather has a protective finish on it, a water-based leather cleaner should remove the stains. Apply the cleaner following the package guidelines.
- For stubborn or serious grease stains, a leather degreaser can be used. Follow the instructions on the label of your selected product.
- Once clean, apply a stain guard to the leather surface. This will allow for easier clean up and stain removal for future spills.
I got a realy bad butter stain on my boots of Spanish leather. I tried using talc to no avail (it was a lot of butter – about half a pound). In the end I used a blow torch to burn the butter off. Worked a treat, now you can’t see the butter stain for the big burn hole.
I spilled fat on leather shoes two weeks ago and just left them -is it to late to try and remove it
Mine is mechanic grease. He sat on my leather seats and got them stained. Will this process with talcom powder work on my problem?
I got a greasy sauce mark on my beautiful soft leather belt. Talc overnight – twice – did nothing . I experimented today – I gently moistened the mark and gently rubbed in a tiny amount of hard soap and very gently rinsed and patted it dry. Then I put talc on again. This evening – BINGO – it’s virtually come out, so I reckon to redampen the already talc dried stain is the answer — trial and error — trial and sorted! ??
I have a bad oil stain on a new leather purse. I’m going to just soak the rest in oil also so it will match.
Absolute crock…waste of time.
Preparation H. Didn’t realize it until the next day. Is this stain ever going to come out? A REAL pain in the butt.
I used a really fine face powder on my synthetic leather and it worked like a charm! I worked the powder in with my fingers in small circular motions. Thanks for the suggestion!
Didn’t work. It’s a bad hot butter stain. Looks like I’ll be staining the boots with butter so at least the color matches. Thank goodness I don’t have a dog.
Grease stain on a leather rug. Looks like car grease. Using rubbing alcohol with a clean white cloth. Coming out nicely.
This almost removed the dark stain completely on my leather bag, which I treated about after two days. I also covered the talcum with plastic to keep it dry from the humidity.
Tried to clean grime and oil from hands on the arm of a Nubuck couch with soap and water. I think the soap wasn’t completely removed. Saturating with water isn’t doing much. What do you suggest?
Hi Nancy,
That’s a difficult question. Since water isn’t working to remove the soap, try letting the area dry and rubbing it with a suede brush or dry towel; when the soap residue is dry, you may be able to flake it off of the surface with brushing. Another idea is to sprinkle the area with bicarb (baking soda) while it’s still damp (or add a bit of water to the bicarb to make a paste); bicarb is an absorbent powder, so it will absorb any of the remaining soap/dirt/oil and then once dried, can easily be brushed off. If those methods don’t work, you can also try sanding the area with a nail file, which will remove some of the stained nap, hopefully revealing clean nap below. Would love to hear how it goes! Good luck!