View Full Version : That thrift store smell....how to get it OUT?
Okay, frugalistas, I bet you have this one cased. I did it again: shopped for a few clothing items at Value Village (which we pronounce with a fake French accent so it sounds like an elegant store). Their clothes all smell...flowery or something. I have some level of reaction to those kinds of scents. That's bad enough but someone told me it is likely an insecticide that smells like that so I am especially interested in getting it OUT.
I have had to donate stuff back to them in the past because I could not get that smell out. But today I picked up a couple of wool sweaters (I have some hope for the natural fibers) and a dress that is polyester and maybe beyond saving. It is a fancy dress but was twelve bucks and I could maybe wear it for a spring wedding...if I can get the blessed scent out.
What do you recommend? They have been through the machine twice already with my unscented laundry soap. Does vinegar work on this stuff? I am hopeful but cautiously.
Thanks!
yeah, what IS that smell? It's a sweetish smell. I used to think that they put clothes in some sort of machine with dryer sheets or something, but that's pure speculation. I'll be interested in what others have to say.
I just bought a shirt with more polyester in it than I normally wear, and washed it, and that smell--not going away. Don't like it.
Did a little looking around on Google. That sweet smell could be from a delousing treatment.
One article said to bag and store the clothes 2 weeks before washing/wearing to kill off any 'scabie mites' (ok.....that alone may make me consider giving up thrift shop clothes)
Wash with 1 cup white vinegar added to your laundry detergent and dry on high.
Also suggested taking thriftshop clothes to dry cleaner......(but then we have dry cleaner chemicals to worry about).
http://you-clean.com/article/cleaning-thrift-store-clothes
I find it tend to come out after a couple of washes.
Could you sprinkle some baking soda on it and let it sit for awhile, and then wash with baking soda an vinegar? baking soda is pretty good at absorbing smells. And its cheap.
good luck. I hate that smell, too. Always assumed it was something like febreez, but maybe it is some kind of bug killer.
lhamo
Well, I know that they don't de-louse the furniture because last Sunday I dropped off a newly new upholstered chair, a buying mistake on my part. I dropped it off at the back door, went into the front to look at shirts, ten minutes later wandered back to the housewares area and there was my chair with a $40 price tag.
With the wool sweaters, the only thing I can think of is having them dry cleaned. For washables, wash, dry, and let them air outside if possible.
I hate that smell too. To me, it smells like Febreze but is indeed probably some dry clean chemical and treatment for pests. I generally have to wash things several times but what works best is to hang the clothing item outside in the sunshine and fresh air for half a day. For some reason, that kills the smell.
awakenedsoul
2-23-13, 10:16pm
Lots of good suggestions above. When I wash a hand knit wool sweater, I wash it in the bathtub in a little bit of liquid goat's milk soap. (I make it on the stove.) I use lukewarm water and swish a little by hand. (No agitation.) I roll it up in a towel and then walk on the towel to get the water out. I do this on the bathroom floor. Then I lay out a fresh towel on my double wooden swing out in the backyard. I block the sweater and let it air dry in the shade.
Can you tell I just knit my first sweater? After all those hours of work I am very careful with washing.
My guess is it's something industrial (strong). Re: the odour... I found that it also depends on what sort of material/fabric the laundered item is made of, as to how long it holds the odour, and to what degree of poignancy. Polyester/vinyl/plastic/rubber (anything synthetic), always seems to be worse... somewhat/sometimes indefinite, whereas with cotton (natural), the odour tends to dissipate with launderings.
Originally posted by Awakenedsoul.
Can you tell I just knit my first sweater?Good on you! Do enjoy. :)
Gardenarian
2-25-13, 4:12pm
I use Dr. Bronner's soap - peppermint (because it is the cheapest and gets smells out.) I put a cup of vinegar in the final rinse. For wool, I dry flat. Sometimes have to wash twice to get the chemicals out. DD put a shirt on from the thrift store once without washing first and got an awful rash within 10 minutes!
awakenedsoul
2-25-13, 10:48pm
Good on you! Do enjoy. :)
Thanks Mrs. M. I feel like a six year old! I got yarn to knit two more because I wear this one almost every day!
The peppermint soap sounds divine, Gardenarian!
Awakenedsoul. That's right on! Finding the joys that make one happy and content is the most important thing of all. Besides, feeling like a kid again never fails to bring out the greatest joy in me!
I use Dr. Bronner's soap - peppermint (because it is the cheapest and gets smells out.) I put a cup of vinegar in the final rinse. For wool, I dry flat. Sometimes have to wash twice to get the chemicals out. DD put a shirt on from the thrift store once without washing first and got an awful rash within 10 minutes!
GREAT idea to use Dr. Bronners! Just FYI, vinegar will set dyes & stains in animal fiber garments, so be sure you get all stains out before you apply vinegar.
As long as it doesn't smell like R. Kelly's sheets. ;)
Dr. Bronners will work.
Odo-Ban is a spray-on product I bought on Amazon.com, but I have since seen it at Wal-Mart. It's marketed to get out pet smells out of carpet and upholstery, but I used it on a second-hand shirt I adored, when all else had failed (repeated washing, spraying with Fabreze, hanging in sunshine). I hung up the top on a hanger, spritzed it with Odo-Ban, and hung in sunshine. It worked! I've also heard spritzing with vodka, of all things, is a fabric deodorizer.
Odo-Ban is a spray-on product I bought on Amazon.com, but I have since seen it at Wal-Mart. It's marketed to get out pet smells out of carpet and upholstery, but I used it on a second-hand shirt I adored, when all else had failed (repeated washing, spraying with Fabreze, hanging in sunshine). I hung up the top on a hanger, spritzed it with Odo-Ban, and hung in sunshine. It worked! I've also heard spritzing with vodka, of all things, is a fabric deodorizer.
Hey MamaM, this stuff might work on your carpets for pet odors. Vodka -- really cheap stuff -- is used by theatre costumers. It's sprayed on the inside of a costume in between performances, to deodorize it by killing the bacteria that sweat produces. It dries odorless. Very smart!
Can I use the Odo-ban and have a shot of Vodka??? ; ) Thanks. :)
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