FTM — All my baby hand-me-downs clothes reek of toxic detergent and I can’t wash the smell out

[pualanina]

@ch3apshad3s I bought some used sleep sacks and I literally made a huge pot of boiling water, shut the heat off once it was boiling and let it sit for about a minute and then put them in and stirred them and then left them there for 30 minutes. The amount of soap in the water was crazy but it got the smell out!

 

[pdvc19]

@ch3apshad3s I regularly get smelly hand-me-down and here is my process:
1. (Too late for this now, but keep in mind for future) don’t wash with our normal clothes
2. Just run in rinse and spin once or twice through the wash (this should help get out excess soap/detergent embedded in the clothes).
3. When washing with your preferred detergent, add vinegar to fabric softener cup
4. I personally would avoid the dryer and air dry (especially if you can get them in the sun) until they are less stinky.

It does take a while though. I swear some of my kids clothes still have a scent after the first few washes, but it fades. I hate it so, you know, solidarity.

 

[nontoxic12]

@ch3apshad3s No advice but really wish people would stop using fabric softener and too much detergent. I live in a city and it sometimes makes walking around horrid if someone is using too much and the vent is close to a walkway. Gross!

 

[francescagg]

@nontoxic12 I go to the laundromat to wash bigger items occasionally. Every single person is using a whole Tide CAPFUL of detergent and add bunch of other stuff, you can see the soap sudsing like crazy in the machines. Then they pour tons of Softener to the mix. SMH

 

[ukuladypdx]

@ch3apshad3s There’s no real way to get the scent out of them by washing in my experience. The only thing that will work is putting them out in the sun, possibly for a whole month. I did this to several items and it worked. Nothing else did. I also had piles of beautiful hand-me-downs given to me before my daughter’s birth and I ended up giving them all away after spending so much time washing them in all sorts of ways! (This was before I had access to a lawn and unlimited sunshine.) Personally, I’d choose the few items you really like and put them out in the sun, and give the rest away if the smell bothers you. If it’s not the smell that bothers you but the idea that these clothes might harm your baby, I don’t think they will. It’s more about whether you can stomach the scent… which I personally cannot.

 

[francescagg]

@ch3apshad3s maybe you can join "crunchymoms" and not moderately crunchy moms