Diesel Smell

T.-

The best thing I've found for grease stains is liquid dish soap. Any de-greasing type will do. I actually use the Target brand stuff. I squirt it directly on the grease and rub it in by hand until it penetrates the fabric. And as many of the moms before mentioned, baking soda works wonders on smells.

Good Luck!
-B. M.-

You might try ammonia (I used Parson's lemon scented) in the rinse cycle. If that does the trick, rinse again with fabric softener that helps to repel stains. Be careful what brand you use, some of the off brands smell really bad. Good luck.

Try "Bac-out" by Bio-kleen. It's an odor and stain remover and I use nothing else now. I had doused myself at the gas station and reeked of gasoline. It's the only thing that got the smell out of my clothes and cleaned my washer at the same time. I'm scent sensitive as well, and this stuff does not bother me. It smells fresh and clean. It works on carpet too. It's a natural product and I buy it at Fred Meyer in the nutrition section (not the regular cleaning aisle). You use so little of the stuff that it is really cost effective. Enjoy your husbands clean smelling clothes!

Have you tried regular blue Dawn dishsoap???? I have had it take out things in the grease department that I never thought would come clean. My ex had a variety of jobs, some very messy/smelly. I tried Dawn when I learned they use it to remove crude oil from water birds and other marine mammals after oil spills. I let it sit for at least on hour on super greasy spots..even over night..
There is also an old-fashioned laundry bar soap out there call Fels-naptha (I think I spelled that right)..I have had it take out some amazing things..
You could also try going to ask Heloise..she has a column through goodhousekeeping.com
good luck
Tam

a cap full of Pine Sole. When we used to work on our own cars when I was younger and my dad was in the mill wright industry....using pine sole cuts the grease and grime down. good luck.

T. - I guess my question would be, why does it matter if his clothes still smell a little or have some stains?
I worked as a print press operator (ink!!) for 5 years, and I had my "work clothes". They had ink stains, smelled like solvent, and there was nothing I could do about it. So, they remained work clothes, nothing else.
My husband details cars for a living. He always has grease, dirt and grime on his clothes, and he smells like degreaser. I wash his clothes normally. What comes out, comes out, what doesn't doesn't. His clothes are clean, just not stain free! And, when he gets back to work, they are going to get stained again.
I would just take his clothes that he normally wears to work, and make those his permanent work clothes, stains and all.
L.

Pretreating the spots with Dawn dishsoap and putting baking soda in the wash may help. My ex worked at the refineries and had grease all over his clothes too. I took an old toothbrush and Dawn dishsoap to help get out the grease stains and I know that baking soda has been used for decades to remove odor from laundry. I use it when my cats pee on the piles of dirty clothes and seems to work fairly well

I didn't see baking soda or washing soda on your list. They are effective on quite a few smells, though I have never tried them on petroleum based odors. They also boost the grease-cutting power of your detergent.

I have become hypersensitive to many smells (they can actually make me quite ill) and so I'm glad for your little girl's sake you want to eliminate these smells. I believe my illness resulted from lifetime exposures to airborne chemicals.

Hi T.,

I know others have suggested baking soda--and I've found it works great on odors. Even towels or soured clothes (the ones you forget are in the washer until its too late!). My husband used to fight forest fires and that is a tough smell to get out as well, baking soda worked great!

Powdered Spic n Span worked well for my husbands clothes when he was working in diesel, gas, oil, etc.

I added one cup (or a bit more) directly to the wash water, along with the regular detergent. I let it work through the wash cycle and then let it soak for anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Then I reran it through the wash cycle again and let it finish with the rinse.

If I used the liquid spic n span it didn't work. Oh, I also used hot water when washing his smelly clothes. Not cold.

This has always worked for getting the stink out and for stains I've found the Awesome that sells for $1.00 in the dollar stores works great on almost anything.

Hope this helps.

hey there my husband works on big machinary also. We use Simple Green. Sometimes we have to wash the clothes twice, but it seems to work really well. You can get a large container at Costco. We also have a second washing machine in our pump house that the really greasy clothes get washed in. Good luck

Good morning,

I know this sounds weird but poor a two liter bottle of Coke in with his wash - it takes away the greese and the smell.

hope it works for you

If you don't want to scrub the Dawn dish soap in, you can try pre soaking the clothes in Dawn, then wash with baking soda added to the wash.

Try Boraxo~read the directions, then use a little more. Maybe hydrogen peroxide?

my husband soaks his clothes in Simple Green or engine degreaser, then washes with laundry soap and Oxyclean. He has heard that Cole works too, but has never tried it.
He takes the really grimey stuff to the laundry mat, so I never deal with having to see or smell it. His idea, not mine. He wants to keep our machines lasting as long as possible and not have to worry about ruining my clothes.

Hi,
I know simple Green works great to remove grease as a spot spray.. we use it all the time.. My Dad was a mechanic for many years and his work clothes just had the smell of boat moters and my Dad would joke that is the smell of money:) I think washing them seperately is the way to go with simple green as a spot treatment and throw them out every so often.. Also, my Dad had a laundry service like overall or cintas pick up his rags and coveralls weekly.. Maybe coverall would be a good idea.
Lenc

I agree with most of the prior posts, D. Dish Soap to soak it and then baking soda. But I have also used the Febreeze odor eliminator for the wash. It is a little pricey, ut well worth it. You are suppossed to just use the Febreeze, but I would use 1/2 soap, 1/2 Febreeze. My husband is a tractor/semi truck mechanic so I know how smelly those clothes can be! Good Luck!