Fish Oil and Laundry

Well Vinegar was going to be my response until I read he had already tried that. How about soaking the shirts in vinegar or even baking soda overnight??? Maybe he didn't use enough of it-fish smell is a pretty bad one to get rid of but vinegar is usually the best thing for it and the baking soda well it can absorb the smell so I would try both.

Have you tried calling the manufacturer of the fish oil pills to ask them if they have any suggestions? It's an oil, so it's a fat. So my best advice is to try to run the washer again with dish soap on the shirts.

But, I'd also call the manufacturer of the fish oil tablets - my guess is that this isn't the first time it's happened, and they may have some advice the rest of us don't have the experience with.

Good luck!

How about washing them again, this time with vinegar and baking soda? Or maybe you can add some Borax to the wash. And maybe letting the uniform soak in the washer in the solution for a bit will help.

Mental note to L.: make sure I never leave fish oil pills in my clothing pockets. This could have so easily happened to me. ;o)

Hope this helps. If you do happen on the solution, please let us know.

Put the shirts in a tub or basin and add lots of lemon juice to them. The acid in the lemon juice should neutralize the odour. Good luck. I have heard that cider vinegar works well also.

L.

try washing them with pine oil cleaner, THAT will take out grasy stains anytime, my husband used to work under airplanes wings (the olda kind) and he would come home all spotted with grasy dark stains, rub a lil´bit of the cleaner directly and the add a big "gurgle" to the washing load... detergent, softener as usual... lots of luck

You can also try washing them in hydrogen peroxide too. Or soak them in a bucket with dawn then send through wash one more time. Good luck!
J.

I say that the washer may be permeated with the fish oil. I would do a cycle of laundry without clothes, let the washer fill with warm water and let it sit for may be an hour then let the cycle run the rest of the way. Next time he gets fish oil or any oil on his clothes put some dawn dish soap on it first and let it sit over night if he can then wash it with some oxyclean.

I second the baking soda soak. Be sure to add vinegar (an acid) in the rinse cycle, to offset the baking soda (a base), so that the pH is balanced again.

Also, you can try Lestoil. Its a laundry additive and cleaner that is good on grease. It's got kind of a harsh smell, but that goes away when the clothes are dried. I use it a lot on greasy stains.

I would try the pine sol method. My grandpa used to ocean fish all the time and fish guts are quite oily too. My Grandma would use pine sol in the wash to remove all the yuck. She also used white vinegar religiously in everything that she put soap into right down to the dishwasher. After you get the yuck out of his clothes, I would run the washer through a wash cycle with lots of vinegar to clean the washer. Tell your husband to take his fish pills the minute he takes them out of the bottle.

I would do a load of wash without the load. Fill it with warm water and put in some baking soda and maybe vinegar. Also, third a baking soda soak for his clothes. Baking soda helps deodorize and is a degreaser so it should help.

You probably have to throw it out. What you should do is try Tresomega Fish Oil. It has a lemon smoothie flavor. Awesome. You only need two teaspoons a day, any time of the day, has no fishy smell or aftertaste. Can be found on Amazon.com.

You might soak them in hot water with a lot of dish washing soap mixed in. Then, soak them in vinegar, then rewash twice.

My only idea is to try baking soda. Maybe cover the items with it - use a pound box or two and make sure it penetrates the fabric, then let it sit and "soak" for a while (maybe a few hours or a whole day). Then shake them out and see. The Baking Soda shouldn't stain.

Rubbing with cornstarch then washing will take out grease/oil stains. Not sure about the fishy smell though.