Getting coal stains out of jeans

This is driving me nuts. It's happened before but there has never been a problem and I don't understand what is different this time. Jeans now washed twice in a row - stains still there. I've hand washed the stained area with a bar of soap but didn't want to overdo the scrubbing element - now putting them in the wash again.

If this doesn't work, any suggestions?

My favourite jeans an' all...

Baking soda mixed with a little water to make a paste and then rubbed into the stain as a 'pre-wash' ?

Thanks - maybe yeah - would it be a bit harsh though? Might try it tonight.

Soap thing helped a bit but not much.

As its a regular occurrence why not try one of the [broken link removed].

You may find something useful on www.persil.com

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Thanks for that - I had somehow got the impression that those stain devil things didn't really work properly but maybe I'm wrong. A few things to try anyway.