Laundry Question - Eagle River,AK

The military has no answers for you? That's ridiculous. Jet fuel is so, so toxic. I don't want to make you feel bad, just please find a way to be safe. If it was my husband's laundry, we'd have to find a way to separate it entirely from the rest of the families laundry. Like a separate washer and dryer in the garage just for his stuff. Or an outside laundry service. I know that seems extreme, but--you don't want to mess around. I couldn't sleep at night if I thought the family's clothes and bedding had traces of jet fuel on them.

My dad does refrigeration, and we always used vinegar. I didn't know that everyone didn't use this when I was growing up! :) Now though, my dad has a service that does all the guys' uniforms. You may want to look into this, if not for everyday, at least when there are spills.

I don't really have any suggestions for the smell, but just wanted to give the warning of combustables in the washer and dryer. Usually jobs with this type of hazards typically have a laundry service for them. As you said he has a uniform... I would think that they would have the proper cleaning suggestions for you. Maybe call the employer and ask?

Good luck!

Soak the clothes in a bucket of water and white vinegar overnight. If stuff still smells after doing that, add more vinegar during the prewash cycle (about a cup of vinegar for a load of wash). This is how I get the old urine smell out of my cloth diapers, and it really works. Good luck.

I have chemical sensitivities, and can not tolerate most laundry additives or scented detergents. But I find a pre-wash or a final rinse of a cup of white vinegar (you could use more if needed) is a cheap and effective odor reducer for just about any kind of smell, and vinegar is also a great fabric softener when used in the final rinse. Baking soda or old-fashioned washing soda (up to a cup per load along with your detergent) also works well for many kinds of smells. DON"T mix soda and vinagar together in the same cycle, though, or they will largely neutralize each other, and not much will happen. But they are completely non-toxic, even if mixed.

If those two just don't work well enough, there's also a natural and non-toxic cleaner called CitraSolv that's made from Valencia orange peels. Because it's chemically an oil-based solvent, I'll bet it would bond with and lift out other oil or petroleum-based materials. It has multiple uses and works well on greasy stains, too. Can be used diluted in the wash.

I would use vinegar in the rinse cycle. If you don't have one, get a downy ball and use that. I do that in my husbands laundry all the time. I fill to the line and throw it in with the wash. The clothes smell clean. He gets paint, and fuel oil on him and who knows what else, when working or even here at the house when doing things. The vinegar should definatly help.

Are you able to hang the clothes outside to dry at all. that should help. Or if you can't hang outside to dry, even if you can place outside for a day or two before washing them, that should help the odor as well.

Can he ask the other guys what they do (or what their wives do)? Or, if you know some of them, it might be best to ask the wives directly! lol I'm sure you aren't the only wife with this problem, so perhaps they have some good tips.

Good luck!!

Have you tried white vinegar? And is it save to be washing/drying items with fuel on them at home?

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Maybe try a little baking soda in the wash. My mom often would toss in a half scoop of it into my fathers clothes. He didn’t work with jet fuel, but he was a welder and often had grease and other harsh smells on his clothing.
Good luck!

I use Sol-U-Mel along with MelaPower laundry detergent.

My mom washed my dad's dirty smelly greasy overalls in Shaklee's laundry compound. It is called Fresh Laundry now. It worked better than anything else on the market!

http://nontoxiccleaners.myshaklee.com

N.

I've had much success with using vinegar in my wash water. I add about a cup to a full load and let it soak. If it's a really smelly load, I'll soak it for at least an hour. After soaking, I add detergent and wash regularly.

Good luck with your odor removal!

Cheers,
K.

In addition to vinegar I have heard of soaking clothes in coca cola before washing. I've never tried it though.

It doesn't really go away. But there are some "rules" on using certain things because the fabric has anti-flammable properties and things like fabric softener should not be used. ALL Free & Clear helps a lot & is approved on the uniforms (been using it for several years now). To get the stink out of the washer use baking soda and vinegar, which you can also add a little to the wash load for the uniforms too. I never dried the flightsuits if they were really horrendous so the smell didn't gravitate into the dryer too.

Add borax to the soaking water. It is a great deoderizer. I use it on my hubby pants when he has a spill , he drives a fuel tanker and once in a while there is a splash.

<laughing> Oh boy, JP5. I'd forgotten about that stuff. You won't like my answer, most likely, because my solution was to buy extra uniforms. Then I'd just take the offending ones into the base cleaners. They got rid of any problems *most* of the time and if not, (after ironing them just to be sure, irons and starch take care of a lot of residual odors, and besides... the cleaners never get the creases right) I tossed them.

Borax helps, but you'll still have to wash the uniform a couple of times. I know what you mean about the smell. My husband is on a submarine. Boat smell is awful.

Quit using those normal American laundry detergents and dryer junk. They are full of chemicals and no antidote to jet fuel or grease. Buy ECOVER in the powder form. You may have to look in health food stores and on line to find it. It really takes junk out of clothing.
Put a cup of vinegar in your wash cycle. It cuts odors and grease. For a dryer bag buy the Lavender bags that give off the smell of the natural plants inside of them. Trader Joe carries them. So do health food stores.

You could try 20 Mule Team® Borax. It has been used forever as a natural cleaning de-odoring agent.

I don't really have a laundry solution for you, but perhaps just giving them some time outdoors to really air out would help. I know when I accidently get regular gasoline on my hands or shoes, it never helps to wash them because it's not water soluble. The only thing is to wait and it will eventually evaporate and the smell wears off. I would assume that jet fuel has similar properties.

Try soaking in Bac-out by BioKleen. There are enzymes that get everything out. I use it all the time for stains and general cleaning. It smealls like lime, I love it. You can find it at Fred Meyer.

I see that you have tried Febreeze; however, Febreeze also makes a laundry additive now to help get rid of strong odors. That might work for you but I am not familiar with the jet fuel smell so it may not, but I have found it works for all of the everyday, ordinary odors and doesn't take much when added to the washer.