What is the first rule?
Test first, spot-treat second, machine-wash last. Vintage duck has a fade you cannot get back, and anything that lifts a stain can also lift dye. Treat the stained area only, on the inside first if possible, and never use chlorine bleach on coloured duck.
How do I remove grease and oil?
Work a little dish soap or a dedicated grease remover into the dry stain with a soft brush, leave it ten minutes, then wash cold. Repeat before drying — heat sets oil. Old, set-in oil marks on vintage work pieces often will not fully lift; many buyers consider them part of the piece.
What about paint?
Water-based paint softens with warm water and dish soap and can be worked out while wet or scraped gently when dry. Oil-based paint on duck is usually permanent without solvents that will also strip dye. Paint-splattered Carhartt sells well as-is for exactly this reason.
Mud and dirt?
Let it dry completely, brush off as much as possible, then cold wash. Duck releases dry dirt well. Red clay and iron-rich soils can stain permanently.
Sweat, rust and mildew?
Sweat: soak in cold water with a little white vinegar, then wash. Rust: a commercial rust remover made for fabric, tested first. Mildew: sun and air, then an oxygen-based (not chlorine) bleach soak tested on a hidden area. Mildew smell often needs several washes.
When should I leave a stain alone?
When it is part of the fade story — a knee mark on a double knee, a grease shadow at a jacket pocket — and when lifting it would leave a lighter patch that looks worse. We grade stains honestly and show them in photos rather than scrubbing out character.
We grade 97 pieces by these rules
Everything written here comes from grading and reworking Carhartt every day. Browse what's in now, or message us and we'll send photos and measurements of anything.