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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 144848" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Trinityroyal, you said, "...we had to throw away some of his clothes that were unsalvageable because of the smell"</p><p></p><p>Unless the clothes are also rotting (we've had that) you don't need to throw them away because of the smell. We've developed a technique that works. I've written about it here before, but we are currently using it A LOT, with both difficult children very stinky at times and both sharing the same room.</p><p></p><p>What you do - our kids are told to put their dirty clothes in the laundry. I sometimes (often) have to chase them up to make them do it. When clothes are really stinky, the kids are told to put vinegar on them, especially on the stinky parts. We used to splash it on, we now have a spray bottle full of vinegar, that is kept in the laundry. Nothing flash - the cheapest, most industrial-grade generic vinegar you can find is best. It doesn't matter if it dries on the clothes, the vinegar is still there.</p><p></p><p>Then if necessary, you pre-soak the clothes. NOT hot water or you will 'fix' the smell in the clothes. Nothing hotter than hand-warm. If it's really bad, repeat the vinegar and pre-soak.</p><p></p><p>Then cold wash. Not hot. If necessary, wash again.</p><p></p><p>Another important rule - don't wash difficult child stinky clothes with anybody else's. Change his bed and wash his clothes with his bedding. If necessary, soak the lot in vinegar first, then pre-soak. </p><p></p><p>Hey, the worst that will happen is the fabric will fall apart. And if you were going to throw the stuff away anyhow, what does it matter? At least you stand a chance of not having to buy new stuff to replace what you threw away.</p><p></p><p>I stumbled on this technique years ago when I was playing Prince Charming in a local pantomime. The drama club properties person gave me a black dinner jacket, previously worn in a play about an escaped bushranger. The bloke who had worn the jacket was a heavy chain smoker who never washed and never wore deodorant. His role had required a lot of running around in an Aussie summer under hot lights, then lighting several dozen cigarettes while he waited offstage for his next run past. I visited the man's house once and I'm not kidding, you could barely see the far wall of their living room, through the pall of smoke. The walls were streaked yellow with nicotine.</p><p></p><p>The properties person handed me the coat on the end of a stick, said "Get it cleaned if you want, we'll pay for cleaning. But if they say they can't clean it, or you feel that you can't wear it even after they've had a go, we'll understand and happily buy a new jacket."</p><p>I chose not to send it to the dry cleaners because with the chemicals they use, so often a stain or smell gets permanently trapped instead of cleaned out. I figured if they were going to throw the coat away anyhow, I may as well experiment.</p><p></p><p>We made an interesting couple of discoveries:</p><p></p><p>1) It worked. I had to change the pre-soak three times and wash it twice, but it worked. Absolutely no trace of a smell (no BO, no stale cigarettes), other than a fresh clean sunshine smell from drying on the clothes line.</p><p></p><p>2) The coat actually wasn't black, it was dove grey. The colour of the rinse water was unbelievably revolting. Then the props person found old photos which proved - yes, the coat WAS dove grey originally.</p><p></p><p>For most clothes if you do this semi-regularly, you won't need repeat treatments each wash. Once will be enough.</p><p></p><p>easy child 2/difficult child 2 has taken this treatment further - BF2's car wass delivered to us by his parents. It smelt badly. Cigarettes plus BO. So easy child 2/difficult child 2 has spent the last two years slowly deodorising the car - she sprays vinegar around it, she cleans every bit she can reach, she's soaked the ash trays in vinegar, and the car now has lost its smell (apart from her ultra-sensitive nose). It lost the BO long ago, the cigarette smell took longer, perhaps because you can't put an entire car's contents through a washing machine.</p><p></p><p>Vinegar works because it starts to chemically break down the molecules causing the smell. it breaks down protein chains and kills the bacteria associated with the smells.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 144848, member: 1991"] Trinityroyal, you said, "...we had to throw away some of his clothes that were unsalvageable because of the smell" Unless the clothes are also rotting (we've had that) you don't need to throw them away because of the smell. We've developed a technique that works. I've written about it here before, but we are currently using it A LOT, with both difficult children very stinky at times and both sharing the same room. What you do - our kids are told to put their dirty clothes in the laundry. I sometimes (often) have to chase them up to make them do it. When clothes are really stinky, the kids are told to put vinegar on them, especially on the stinky parts. We used to splash it on, we now have a spray bottle full of vinegar, that is kept in the laundry. Nothing flash - the cheapest, most industrial-grade generic vinegar you can find is best. It doesn't matter if it dries on the clothes, the vinegar is still there. Then if necessary, you pre-soak the clothes. NOT hot water or you will 'fix' the smell in the clothes. Nothing hotter than hand-warm. If it's really bad, repeat the vinegar and pre-soak. Then cold wash. Not hot. If necessary, wash again. Another important rule - don't wash difficult child stinky clothes with anybody else's. Change his bed and wash his clothes with his bedding. If necessary, soak the lot in vinegar first, then pre-soak. Hey, the worst that will happen is the fabric will fall apart. And if you were going to throw the stuff away anyhow, what does it matter? At least you stand a chance of not having to buy new stuff to replace what you threw away. I stumbled on this technique years ago when I was playing Prince Charming in a local pantomime. The drama club properties person gave me a black dinner jacket, previously worn in a play about an escaped bushranger. The bloke who had worn the jacket was a heavy chain smoker who never washed and never wore deodorant. His role had required a lot of running around in an Aussie summer under hot lights, then lighting several dozen cigarettes while he waited offstage for his next run past. I visited the man's house once and I'm not kidding, you could barely see the far wall of their living room, through the pall of smoke. The walls were streaked yellow with nicotine. The properties person handed me the coat on the end of a stick, said "Get it cleaned if you want, we'll pay for cleaning. But if they say they can't clean it, or you feel that you can't wear it even after they've had a go, we'll understand and happily buy a new jacket." I chose not to send it to the dry cleaners because with the chemicals they use, so often a stain or smell gets permanently trapped instead of cleaned out. I figured if they were going to throw the coat away anyhow, I may as well experiment. We made an interesting couple of discoveries: 1) It worked. I had to change the pre-soak three times and wash it twice, but it worked. Absolutely no trace of a smell (no BO, no stale cigarettes), other than a fresh clean sunshine smell from drying on the clothes line. 2) The coat actually wasn't black, it was dove grey. The colour of the rinse water was unbelievably revolting. Then the props person found old photos which proved - yes, the coat WAS dove grey originally. For most clothes if you do this semi-regularly, you won't need repeat treatments each wash. Once will be enough. easy child 2/difficult child 2 has taken this treatment further - BF2's car wass delivered to us by his parents. It smelt badly. Cigarettes plus BO. So easy child 2/difficult child 2 has spent the last two years slowly deodorising the car - she sprays vinegar around it, she cleans every bit she can reach, she's soaked the ash trays in vinegar, and the car now has lost its smell (apart from her ultra-sensitive nose). It lost the BO long ago, the cigarette smell took longer, perhaps because you can't put an entire car's contents through a washing machine. Vinegar works because it starts to chemically break down the molecules causing the smell. it breaks down protein chains and kills the bacteria associated with the smells. Marg [/QUOTE]
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