Author Topic: Getting detergent smell out of clothing  (Read 4394 times)

Offline Rooney

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Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« on: October 24, 2014, 04:18:35 PM »
My dad was nice enough to give hubby a bunch of really high quality clothing that he just didn't need.  I am grateful, but there is one problem.  They use some kind of detergent that is so strong that it actually nauseates me.  I wash them like 5 times on a sanitary wash cycle, so it uses the real hot water, have used baking soda and vinegar mixture and rewashed.  Still smell.  Don't know what the detergent is, but it is so strong that the clothes that are lying in the floor unwashed are going to have to go into the basement until I can deal with them.  I am unusually sensitive to smell and use unscented detergent, so I thought that was the issue (like it was just me), but the kids are even saying something about it.  These are really nice clothes (better than what we can buy).  How do I get this awful fragrance out of them?!!!  It is worse than when hubby spills fuel on his clothes.  Any ideas?

shedrinkzcoffee

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2014, 04:26:51 PM »
Maybe Borax?

Offline bobbie78

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2014, 09:08:39 AM »
Oh, :( .  I dont know of anything but will pray something will come up!
~Bobbie from southern Ohio. Living life with my partner, Chad and two furbabies Punkin and Jade.

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2014, 11:12:50 AM »
I wonder if you could soak them in a strong baking soda solution?  Maybe even heating the solution to be able to dissolve more baking soda in it?  When you mix vinegar (acid) and baking soda (base), they react but then are essentially neutralized from a chemical standpoint (obviously depending on exact amounts).  So one or the other alone might produce better results.

Offline Rooney

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2014, 12:22:42 PM »
Thanks Catherine.  I wish I had mixed them together, cause then I would have something new to try. :)  I shouldn't have used the word mixture....I alternated vinegar, then baking soda.......rinse, lather, repeat....urrrrh. :P  I don't think it will come out with anything!!!  On the plus side, if hubby ever spills gas on clothes again......I know a smell that will over ride that now!  I am thinking I should tell my parents that it might be a good idea to switch detergents.  I can't believe that anything that is that hard to get rid of could be good to have on your skin.  I would love to hear any other ideas you might have. :)

Offline Cheryl

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2014, 01:05:23 PM »
I don't have any ideas, but I'm curious.  What brand of detergent is it?
Cheryl in Alabama
Wife to Tony
Mother to Lana & Emily
Nana to Logan & Madilyn

Offline Rooney

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2014, 03:51:06 PM »
I don't have any ideas, but I'm curious.  What brand of detergent is it?

No idea, I'll ask next time I get a chance.  I just know it is NOT what they used when I still washed my clothes there.  Don't worry Cheryl, believe me,  you'd know if you were using it. :P  I think I will hang them in the greenhouse for a week or so to air out and let the sun get to them.  Maybe that will help. ???

Offline RenKnitter

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2014, 04:13:27 PM »
Have you tried hanging the clothes outside for several days.  The sun and wind might remove some of the smell.  When my son has stayed with his grandma, she uses some detergent that makes me sick - and you are right, normal washing does not seem to take it out.  You also might try soaking them for a very long time in a bucket of baking soda and water.

Offline Cheryl

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2014, 05:23:40 PM »
Wow, Lindsay, that is strong detergent! :D. I was wondering if maybe they used the Downy Unstoppables or the Gain Fireworks fabric softener beads that are supposed to be really strong.
Cheryl in Alabama
Wife to Tony
Mother to Lana & Emily
Nana to Logan & Madilyn

Offline Rooney

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2014, 01:06:46 PM »
Wow, Lindsay, that is strong detergent! :D. I was wondering if maybe they used the Downy Unstoppables or the Gain Fireworks fabric softener beads that are supposed to be really strong.

I hadn't thought of dryer sheets.  They do use those now.  My mother never changes anything (she still use Prell shampoo and wears Krystal perfume for over 30 years  LOL) so I thought it was weird that the detergent would be different.  The dryer sheets may be the culprit, she never used to use those. 

Offline Alice

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2014, 01:42:13 PM »
When you are with them, do they smell like this also? You haven't said that THEY smell. I wonder about the great outdoors also as a way of removing the smell.

Alice
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Offline Rooney

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2014, 01:52:17 PM »
When you are with them, do they smell like this also? You haven't said that THEY smell. I wonder about the great outdoors also as a way of removing the smell.

Alice

Haa! No, they don't smell. ;D  But, yes, the clothes they have on do smell the same.  In fact, the kids ask why our couch still smell like them days after they visit. ;D

Offline Proudmama

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2014, 02:39:45 PM »
I agree with the others that said it may be the fabric softener.  I have noticed a strong odor on clothes of others and whenever I ask, they all say Downy fabric softener.  My in-laws use it, too and I have noticed it after washing clothes my SIL has handed down to me. It isn't overpowering, though, just a subtle scent for a few washings.  Perhaps your parents use a little too much in their laundry?

Denise

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2014, 08:43:10 PM »
So Lindsay, I thought of you just now, and this thread.  We have good friends who we call family and they use Downy and some strong detergent.  Heavily, apparently.  Anytime the kids are there and leave a clothing item that gets washed, it comes home smelling strongly.  More than my sensitive nose cares to smell.  :P  So anyway, the kids were just there this evening for a bit after church and brought me home some little containers of Milk Duds, which they know I love.  I was sitting here eating them and wondering why they tasted funny when it hit me:  they taste like the fabric softener smell in their house!  Blech.  I thought you would appreciate that.

Offline Rooney

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Re: Getting detergent smell out of clothing
« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2014, 04:48:55 PM »
Yuck, Cath! :P  How can smells like that get into food??! :P  Imagine how strong a smell has to be to do that! :P  That's a hoot!  Thanks for sharing. :)  If we lived close, I'd bring ya over a big box of non-detergent milk duds just for the laugh. ;) ;D