I use Ecover Stain Remover. It works wonders on colored items too!

I have had great success with Persil 2/1. It has taken out previously washed and dried stains from all kinds of cooking oils/fats.

I agree with Joel, who by the way knows his stuff....but one thing I'd do different is after the Dawn treatment I would either flush it with cool (not cold) water in the sink prior to the hot wash, or do a quick cool prewash.

By cotton knits do you mean a cotton poly blend?

I mean colored t-shirts or polos. Inexpensive things. Have tried Joel's method, and still have the dark spot afterwards. Brand/type of detergent doesn't make a difference. Hot/cold doesn't seem to matter. Sigh.

Sushi..were these already washed and machine dried before you noticed them??

no

I have had good luck with Dawn, but it does sometimes take several passes through the laundry. And sometimes it is hard to see if the stain is gone UNTIL you dry it, which is frustrating.

My husband loves to cook, but oddly enough does not like to clean up afterwards or to do anything to prevent getting food, especially oil, all over his shirts.

The best I have found so far for the worst grease stains is to spray deeply with LA's Awesome ($1 at Dollar Tree) followed by a glob of blue Dawn, which I then scrub in with a little gyrating brush I have made years ago by Tide. Even this does not always work the first time, but I keep at it, and eventually win - mostly.

Those used to be hard to get out until I got Shout Grease Busting foam. It works every time for me.

Speaking of Shout Advanced I just picked up Shout Advanced Action Gel.

Is this really better than the old Shout in the white bottle?

George, yes it is but my favorite Shout formula is the gel in the bottle with the brush top. Actually, Seventh Generation makes a fabulous stain removing spray that works better than Shout.