I was given some hand-me-downs and they have a very strong perfume smell even after I washed them. It smells like perfume or a strong fabric softener, but it is not a pleasant scent. Is there anything I can do to get rid of or mute the smell? I use unscented detergent.
Funny -- after several years of using unscented detergent I've come to realize how very smelly "normal" detergents are. And I just don't like it!
When I need to get an odor out of clothes, I put a cup of baking soda in with the clothes as I load the washer and add a good bit of vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser. I'll add an extra rinse to the cycle & then hang clothes out on a line to dry. This usually helps a great deal.
Good luck!
I've soaked clothes in vinegar and that gets the smell out. If it doesn't the first time, you can repeat until the smell is gone~
I wash with a couple cups of vinegar. Sometimes if it's really bad it takes a couple of washes.
Vinegar in the wash or soak the clothes. When washing, add your soap and then a cup of vinegar. If soaking, soak in a cup of vinegar for a few hours and then wash as usual. You can also hang them outside for a few hours and air them out before either of the above procedures. Be careful with bleach, borax and baking soda as they may cause discoloration in the clothing. That process is more for the whites.
baking soda is good, and use White vinegar :)
Try soaking them in baking soda for a while.
Then wash them with your detergent and baking soda
I wash my laundry with a TB of laundry detergent (unscented), a 1/4 cup of 20 mule team Borax and a 1/4 cup of A & H Washing Soda... then use a cup of vinegar for the rinse/fabric softener agent.
No smells.
(Even with OLD workout/running stuff... previously Peeuuewwww! stuff, when using just "normal" detergent.)
White vinegar can work, but I end up using baking soda....about 1/2 cup with 1/8 of a cup of detergent.
You could try soaking them in a solution of vinegar and water for a few hours.
Or add some Borax to your wash load. I was my elderly Grandmother's laundry each week and it always has a strong odor of urine; I guess she has lots of accidents. I just add Borax to the wash and it does the trick.
As always, vinegar in the wash cycle. Mother Nature's miracle worker for odors. I have an HE washer and just pour it right on the dry clothes when I put them in. Add my normal amount of detergent and softener and run a normal cycle for the clothing type.
spray with vinegar. or soak in 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water for a couple hours. sometimes it takes twice - particularly if it's from a dryer sheet.
as another poster said, since I stopped using anything scented in my laundry, I just can't stand the strong (to me), fake ( again, to me) smell of name brand detergents and dryer sheets.
hanging out on a clothesline for a couple days helps too.
Vinegar? Works for us on other scents and may neutralize perfume, too.
Wash them again and pour about 1/4 cup white vinegar in the rinse. They should smell like nothing when they come out.
I also recommend vinegar in the wash. Don't put a lot, if any, laundry detergent in there as there may already be more than enough build up of previous detergents, softeners and dryer sheets in the fabric. When you wash and dry them make sure not to use any additional fabric sheets or softener. You want to clean out as much residue as possible out of the clothes, this will help with the smell.
Often times I wouldn't even throw it in the dryer until I'd washed it a few times. Just throwing it in with the next load over and over. It can sometimes take a couple washes to get the smell out.
Wash them multiple times.
I bought a jacket that I loved but it too had a terrible smell someone told me to use ammonia, just a small amount washed it once and boy it was gone!!
