I'm not an expert, but spot cleaning with Dawn might help. However, I believe that if that were the case, the hand soap would have removed the stain.

When I was having problems with makeup not coming out of collars, I contacted the company that makes Shout because it wasn't working. They directed me to Shout Advanced aerosol foam, which is formulated for greasy stains. It failed to get the makeup completely out, but it has worked well on other greasy stains. You may have to apply it to the entire garment to keep it a uniform color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shout

I use the shout spray or some Greased lightning

I haven't had good luck with regular Shout. It's better than nothing, but not nearly enough even for my regular laundry.

I have not heard of Greased lightning. I just google searched it. Which product do you use for laundry?

I use to work at a tool manufacturing plant and always used Simple Green in the spray bottle to remove grease from my clothing. I never diluted it before spraying, used it full strength and washed in warm water.

I've used it on older grease spots with luck also. It never hurt anything and worked great for me. Hope this will get rid of your grease spot for you. I also use Simple Green for the tops of my cupboards and it cuts the build up better than anything I've found. I wouldn't be w/o it!

Punk

I have used both Simple Green and Dawn on grease spots that have been washed and gone through the dryer. They both did the job well. Full removal.

Is cold or warm water recommended after pretreating the grease stain? Had the same problem with two of my son's polo shirts. Of course, he had no idea he dripped something on it. I used Dawn and Tide first and washed in cold/cold and hung to dry 0 did not place in dryer. Stains were slightly visible, so I used my trusted concoction of Lestoil, Solumel, Dawn and Shout and used a sponge to gently work it into the fabric. Finally, after two washings, the stains were gone.

I swear by Lestoil - an old product that has been around for quite a while, but hard to find in some areas.

Sooo, is cold, warm or hot water reommended for removing grease (food) stains?

I use warm and have had no problem.