A friend has a BC who is very old and suffers from senility. Yesterday she "got lost" coming in from the garden and ended up in the garage instead. She managed to knock over a tin with old engine oil in it and her underside and legs are covered in oil . It is in her coat but hasn't gone down to her skin.

They managed to get the worst of it off with washing up liquid but she still looks a mess so any ideas for removal of oil would be very welcome. I know eucalyptus oil gets engine grease off clothes when used neat but not sure if neat eucalyptus would be very good for her as you would have to use copious amounts of it.

The garage door is firmly locked now.

Poor old lady! When mine have been sniffing under the car and got a bit on head or tail, the next bath and shampoo usually takes it off, not sure how that would work for a large amount or an elderly dog though.

For what it's worth, I remember watching TV programmes about birds that needed oil removed after being covered in it in the sea, and the RSPCA simply washed them again and again and again in Fairy until eventually it was all gone -took quite some doing.

swashing up liquid...fairy variety....we use it on oiled birds

When I worked on my engine I used to use Goop hand cleaner. I see you can get it at HUB International.

Thank you for the replies. She is almost blind and is deaf as well so gets a bit panicked if something out of the ordinary happens :(

Her white bits are oily grey even after several washes, but she was getting distressed by all the bathing so have stopped washing her now. Will they need to put anything on her skin to counteract the washing up liquid as I know you aren't meant to wash them other than with dog shampoo? They don't want to distress her anymore. Would she be best left dirty?

The thing with oil is that it can burn the insides if ingested :( (Saw this on the Telly today, watching the RSPCA programme too ;) If you can be sure that she won't try to lick herself clean, or that there isn't another animal that would try to help, then I would leave it and see how she is. If you think it is likely to be licked off then I would try to get it off somehow.

They have three other BCs but usually keep them from pestering her now that she is rather confused so will tell them to keep an eye out for the others licking her. She is wearing an old cotton cardigan buttoned up on her back at the moment so their sofa doesn't get oil stains on it so not much of her is in reach of her tongue :)

no need to worry about the fairy it wont harm her.....much better to use it and remove the oil than risk ingestion. failing that why not clip off the affected coat?

I'm sure I've heard somewhere that butter will remove oil - might be worth a try!

Whatever you do please don't use Eucalyptus oil or any other kind of solvent (essential oils, turps or white spirit) as it will increase the chance of nasties being absorbed by the skin   You could try rubbing in a little sunflower oil and washing out again with yet more and more fairy liquid, this may help to remove the last traces of oil ;)