Try Dawn liquid dish detergent - plain good ole original Dawn, and none of the jazzed up versions. Dawn is what is used to clean up wildlife/birds from disastrous oil spills. I've read it works great on motor oil in clothing. Rub it in gently with your finger.

If you have a front-load washer, be sure to rinse most of it out before the final wash with the warmest water the fabric can handle. Dawn can suds up quite a bit and I'd be afraid to put very much in my new FL washer. I used it all the time in the old TL washer for oil & grease spots.

You didn't say fresh-from-the-can oil or dirty oil from the crankcase.

If it's dirty oil, many of the contaminants are metallic particulates and won't come out no matter what you do.

Asolo makes a good point about crankcase oil. If that's the problem, then after the Dawn try a hard stream of water from the back side of the fabric. By hard I mean something akin to a fire hose, but often a car wash is the next best thing. However for silk, something gentler would be in order, maybe a garden hose, or even a strong stream from a kitchen sprayer, or bath tub faucet?

Good luck!

L

If it is oil from the crankcase, it wont come out. I know this because I work as a machine operator and when I haveto clean out the sumps of them machine, and the oil and metal particulates get in my shirts, they are stained for life. I have used tide with bleach, Lestoil, straight on them, even added a pint of ammonia to the wash water, no luck. Some stains just dont come out :(

I'm a full believer for using Lestoil on motor oil stains.
I work for the Department Of Sanitation in NYC and got industrial grease on my uniforms when doing PM's (Prevented Maintenance) on our trucks. My uniform is completely covered with grease and other matters when hitting the grease fittings with a jetty (Steam Machine).
The key for proper removal is to treat stains directly but that's not necessary, one cup of Lestoil with your favorite detergent and the longest cycle on your washer, do not drain wash cycle but reset and complete cycle with the warmest water temp according to fabric care label.

Rewash garment with regular detergent.
1st rinse add one cup of Baking soda and 3/4 cup of Vinegar
2nd rinse add fabric softener.
This will neutralized the smell of Lestoil by 90%.

This is me off duty going home in my car, so I'm not faking the funk on who I am or whom I work for!

Keep in mind that silk may be damaged using this product! So if I were you, take it to your local dry cleaner.

Thanks for the top cleanteamofny, but for me it didnt work. Al li could do was fade the stains. Someone told me at work that once the metalic oil gets into your clothes, it s there for life because it is now part of the fibers, and I beleive him too. Oh well, I have certain shirts and jeans that I wear to work, no where else so all is good

Anytime Gate1!
Zout is also good for removing oily stains, but with both products, they can fade the garnment or permanently bleach color that area being treated so we must be careful preteating any fabrics.

I'm sorry that the stain could not wash out.
If it was more of a cotton blend, chances would be greater for total stain removal!