Laundry Question - Jasper, IN

Hi M.,

A friend of mine had a fire at her house and after many attempts to get out the smell of smoke and fire, ... she put some "Vanilla Extract" in with the wash. Good luck with the jammies and the babies.

None of my kids fire resistant clothing ever smelled like oil, unless their dad had put his dirty clothes in with theirs. I always add a little bit of Baking Soda with my detergent than use the fabric softner. That's all I've done. If you want you can go to about.com and see if they got anything that you can search for. Good Luck.

Sounds very unhealthy for little babes. This site has pdf's about fire-retardant chemicals:
http://www.watoxics.org/safer-products/safe-start-for-kids

I always washed new clothes before they were woren and used in a little white vinegar and baking soda in the original wash water.

It could be polyester which is oil based and heat will cause them to continue to smell oily anyway.

I would contact the manufacturer and advise them of the problem if after several washings the smell still hasn't left. A lot of fabric softner may help or spraying them with something like Febreeze (spelling), but it may be the manufacturer needs to replace the pajamas.

P. R

Hi,
Stinky PJs before the boys even get to "stinky" them up would certainly be something you'd want to avoid. Good for you for being aware that the fire retardant chemicals might be something to avoid. Anything added that comes into contact with our skin is in our blood stream within a very few seconds. I'd be careful that the cure is not worse than the disease as many laundry products contain very undesirable ingredients. What I started using is very gentle but concentrated so it is cost-effective but does not contain anything objectionable. Here's where I get it.
http://www.shaklee.net/changinglives/product/GCLaundryPowder

I actually have to be careful to not use too much so it lasts a long time, but when it was tested, it outcleaned the other "natural" cleaners as well as a number of other brands. I hope you find an answer that will be good for those precious boys while keeping all the family happy, too.

Hi, M.! I'm not sure if this will help or not, but when I buy new clothes for the kids I always throw a little vinegar in with them the first time I wash them. This actually helps the clothes keep their color over many washings. Maybe it could help with the smell?? If you try it, I'd love to know if it works!

Have you tried some baking soda and/or potpourri in the drawer?

The oil smell isn't the flame retardant...it is the pjs. Polyester (an oil-based product) is likely what the pjs are manufactured from and as a result, they have an oil smell. I assume it's particularly bad if you dry them because heat melts petroleum based products.

I personally avoid polyester pjs all together. You can now find many all cotton, non-flame retardant pj choices. Brominated flame retardants are a carcinagen and cannot be completely washed out though washing in hot water numerous times does help dilute it. We've had the same issue with super hero pjs...most of them are poly. But, when I search enough, I can find one that isn't poisoning their little systems.

I have noticed that many of childrens PJs are Fire resistant. It is weird that they STILL smell...Vinegar is always a good idea...maybe different tempertures of water than used before...maybe extra detergent and or fabric softener...if that doesn't work...maybe soak over night in the sink in vinegar then over night in laundry detergent then another overnight in a liquid fabric softener...then air dry....

If that doesn't work...thow them away...LOL...a lot of trouble for the cute things huh!! :)

Good luck!

Hi M.,
You can put some Febreze in your washer with them...I have found it to work really well!
Hope this helps.

I don't think I would toss them in the trash. If you have tried the vinegar, baking soda and the other solutions given and none have worked. Then I would suggest finding out the company that made the PJ's and either calling customer service or writing to them and asking for help in getting rid of the odor. If that doesn't work, just put them on the kids and take a ton of pictures and then take them off and bath the boys. Then put the pj's in a memory box. Be sure to give g-pa a few of those pictures.

Hi M.:

I'm not sure what you used already to wash your twins' pj's. I do not have children of my own yet, but I will say this, my husband's clothes smell of gasoline, and other chemicals quite often. I use OXY Clean myself, the smells seem to disappear. Use your regular detergent, add whatever amount of OXYCLEAN the container says, then I would rewash them one more time without it, just to make sure to get all the detergent & stuff out. I don't know if that will work for you, but that would be my recommendation. Let me know how it goes.

Good Luck,
T.

M.....I have been reading a lot from Dr. Mercola (on the internet) and he says not to use "fire resistant" articles. All these chemicals will someday do damage to our nervous systems. Also, chem-lawn and mulch MAY contribute to cancer. My lawn may be a mess, but I am not taking any chances. Anyway, I would throw out the pj's.

M. B.

You could try soaking them in a borax solution (20 mule borax and water)and see if that helps. It sounds like it may be in the paint though and I'm not sure that will ever go away, it may get better but...

here's a link for more info if you need it:http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/index.cfm?page_id=56

If the vinegar doesn't work (that would be MY first try, too) You might want to try putting a little bit of Febreze in the wash, not the laundry kind the real febreze for fabrics.

Try adding about a cup of regular white vinegar to your load. This usually works to take any smells out of clothing or towels. Lemon juice might also work. Good Luck.

I would try using clorox2 for colors and that might help take out the smell. The fire resistant p.j.'s are supposed to be washed inside out too. That is about the only thing I can think of that might take the smell out. It may also take more than 2 washes for the smell to come out.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4.

Try washing them with a cup a baking soda. I put that in our socks load and they come out smelling great! I just run a load like normal and add a cup of baking soda. I use it with my towels too and we they smell great!
S.

Try plain vinegar, it is great for removing stains from laundry and is a great fabric softener when used in the rinse cycle as well!

What a shame these jammies are unwearable so far.

In light of the recent lead-in-toys recall (and even the pet food recalls!), I would contact the manufacturer and find out what they have to say. They need to hear this feedback, and know that their product is causing concern for their customers.

Find out where the product is made, what chemicals are used in the flame retardant, and what the chemical composition of the fabric is. You should be able to do some on line research to find out how "green" the product is, and how safe it is for the purpose for which it is designed.

No matter how cute the items are, who gave them to the boys, or how much Daddy loves Thomas the Tank Engine, your sons' health is precious.

On Christmas day we had a fire in my apt directly below my apt. All of my twins clothes reeked of smoke. The Red Cross told us to use a little vinager in the was and it did take out all the smoke smell. Try about a capful of white vinager in your next wash.

Have you tried Febreze or a laundry detergent containing it?

Why don't you try soaking them in fabric softner for awhile, then rince as usual. Mary L

check to see where it was made. it's possible that it was made in China, and the smell is actually from the paint base that they use to put the Thomas image on the clothing. you might be able to soak them in the sink with a baking soda and water solution. but if it's really bad, it might take quite a few washing to get the smell out. i have a shirt that smells the same way, and i've had it for over a year now, and it still stinks. i only use this shirt for outside stuff, as i can't take the smell indoors.
you also might contact your local dry cleaners and they may be able to give you an idea what you could use for it.

If you washed them twice and they still smell, throw them out! The smell is probably a fire retardant or a dye. In either case, I wouldn't want it on my baby. Tell Grandpa they are in the wash if he asks.

My husband's military flight suits have a similiar chemical on them. We the powder Tide with Bleach or any Arm and Hammer be sure to add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the wash. And what ever you use DO NOT DRY IN THE DRYER. The dryer brings out the smell as well as burn off the flame retardant. Also do not use a fabric softner on them as it will do the same thing.

I've read that using SOAP on clothing instead of laundry detergents will deactivate the flame-retardant chemical. I'm not sure if that will remove the smell though. I couldn't find anything online that spoke about directly removing the smell of the chemical. Basically, doing so will deactivate the chemical. Thus, the other option is to choose other materials or clothing that is tight-fitting for PJ's. I don't think the fire retardant clothing is necessary as long as the clothing fits tightly.

The fire resistant chemicals leach into the skin from the clothing. It's really not very healthy. I personally put my little ones in baby t-shirts and sweats. I would bundle them or put extra layers on them while sleeping.

Hay M. , I like the baking soda and dawn dishliquid ideas. Borax seems to take all smells out for me.

I wash smelly clothes with a bit of dawn dishsoap in the washer with the regular detergent. it also works wonders on getting oil & grease out of clothes.