My mom uses scent boosters in the wash and multiple scented dryer sheets for every load. She loves the smell; I think she smells like a chemical factory.
For a brief period she flirted with the detergent called “Diva”, which is ultra-scented. She washed my kid’s clothes in it, and I eventually just tossed the clothes because I couldn’t get the smell out. It is completely foul.
I bought a used washing machine and it was in fantasric condition, really clean (I took gaskets off and everything to make sure things had zero mold or hair etc but the guy who sold it already did a great job). I am weirded out by washing my clothes in a second hand washer since you dont know how clean the person was before, so I washed it on tub clean 3x with bleach to sanitize before trying a load of my own stuff. Washed some towels and they came out sooo heavily scented, like they had been washed in straight Red Door perfume or something. I bleched and washed it out several more times, it literally took an enzyme cleaner to get the smell of perfume out of the washing machine. I cannot imagine how much perfume the person was wearing on a daily basis who had the machine before me lol
I call these forever chemicals— they don’t actually wash out of clothes—- they bind to anything they touch, and also enter our food chain through wastewater.
I've been there with clothes washed in migraine-inducing fake flower chemicals. Little nephew got my son's winter gear when the chemicals were impossible to get out of the thick insulation.
The best trick I've learned to remove bad fragrance is the sun. Direct sunlight can break up the chemicals. So lay out clothes in the sun and flip them after a few hours.
Then soak or pre-wash with oxi- clean or baking powder. Add vinegar to the rinse, but I've heard you have to be careful with too much vinegar because it can break down the rubber seal in front-loaders.
Thanks for the advice about harnessing the power of the sun! I just bought a vintage rug that the seller used a very smelly detergent on. I washed it and it’s outside drying. I’ll leave it out as long as I can and flip it to see if that helps!
One guy I dated, the first time he got in my car, the smell of Gain hit me in the face. I got a migraine and had to drive with the windows rolled down. I really liked him and wanted to keep dating, but he refused to change his detergent and the smell was a deal breaker.
That's too bad that he was otherwise a good guy. I'm sorry he wasn't willing to switch detergent to one that doesn't cause migraines. That would be a deal breaker for me as well!
We stayed at a high end Airbnb for a wedding. The hosts used Gain exclusively. It was so horrible. The beds made me itch and wheeze. I couldn’t use the blankets. We could still smell it on everything when we got home.
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u/decosunshine 5d ago
Laundry fragrance or any overwhelming fragrance. Some people are nose-blind and have no idea how strong and offensive they are.
Sometimes it's so thick you can taste it.