Sev'l months ago I installed some pressed-wood shelving in my bedroom closet. I purchased these shelves at Home Depot. Within the last month, however, the shelves developed an extremely bitter, pungent odor -- unlike anything I've ever encountered -- which then spread to my clothing. All my clothes now stink! I put two coats of oil-based "Kilz" paint on all sides of the shelves but the stink persisted, so the shelves are no longer in my house and I plan to install plywood (not pressed-wood) shelves instead. In the meantime, however, my clothes still stink so bad that after wearing them for a few hours, I am sick to my stomach from the odor. I'm a tall guy (6'6") and cannot just go out and buy new clothes; I have to order all my clothes online and must pay about 50% more for my clothing than average-sized men. I found Nok-Out while doing an online search. I ordered a gallon of this product from a distributor in Louisiana but have not yet received it, so I have no idea if it will eliminate these terrible odors. In the meantime, I tried every other odor-fighting product that I could find at retail stores. I also took about ten items to a dry cleaners. They came back nice and pressed and pretty, but the stink was un-changed. I'm posting this message not just to warn people about buying pressed wood products, but also with the hope that someone can recommend an alternative to Nok-Out in case it doesn't work. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Hi, found this thread during research as I began to notice perspiration odors were not coming out of high-tech sports clothing - a typical problem as those fabrics have a long-standing reputation for retaining sweat odors. Some of the clothing was given to me, perhaps because the original owner couldn't deal with the problem, so I inherited the smell. But two shirts have been mine since new and I guess I let them get sweaty recently. So thanks to OP for bringing up the topic and for all the helpful answers. I've long been a fan of natural fibers, but being an active outdoor hiker and backpacker, have finally started using the polyester etc. high tech clothing. Many may not realize that for extreme winter snow sports, we avoid cotton, even as undies. It is called "death cloth" because it absorbs moisture and then loses its insulation value and can even freeze. Thus the move to fabrics that wick moisture away from the body and do not retain it. (And those are just the ones that get stinky.) I used a baking soda mash on the pits, then washed all the shirts normally. That did not work. So next I put them in the front-load washer in hot water with about a third of a cup of Oxiclean dissolved in it - a strong solution - and let them sit overnight before washing. Now no pit odor. Could've been just the Oxiclean that was successful or perhaps the action of the combo. Meanwhile I realize that prevention is the best idea so am rethinking my antiperspirant/deodorant, which for years has been unscented Mitchum roll-on. For some reason it is not quite as effective as it used to be, so I will acquire both Certain Dri and the Secret Clinical Strength to alternate with the Mitchum. I realize that I need to be careful to use both an antiperspirant AND a deodorant since I can't shower daily during the winter due to extremely dry skin. (Itching prevents sleep even after the application of lotion, usually Walmart's version of Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion!) Again, thanks.

So long as nothing is rotting anywhere, have you considered ditra on the floor? Our downstairs bathroom was penny tile on plywood; TONS of grout and many years of too much missing and not enough hitting left a urine smell in the room even after the tile and grout was gone. We put ditra down for other reasons and we love the ditra, but it also sealed off the urine smell and it has not reappeared even in high humidity.

Stinking laundry and washer is people's fault. The more chemicals and additives you use, the worse it gets. First, got heater? Use it as often as you can. Or wash in hottest water possible often, specially towels. Proper detergent dosing is a must. If you use pre treatments and additives like soda, borax, bleach, oxy or whatever, use extra rinses otherwise over time there will be build up and it will stink. Prewash helps too. Don't store damp laundry in hamper. Already smelly laundry takes several washing cycles to get the stink out. I never ever use bleach cause I'm alergic to it but ammonia works great too if needed. Bellow is a little link I found to help you understand how ammonia works and what to do. I live in Florida so I know what humid is but I have no smells. Febreeze just covers up odors and it is just another chemical that needs to be washed out. Enough good quality detergent, hot water and extra rinses will keep laundry smell free. Everybody tries to save water and electricity but in the long run it doesn't work. Fls don't use enough water to rinse properly. I didn't read all posts so if I repeat something that someone already mentioned, I apologize. Honestly, I don't do tub clean, I just clean the bottom filter. I use little extra detergent(hard water) and lots of extra rinsing. One more thing I'd like to add. It just hapened. Three days ago I did two loads of laundry. I have two washers. My little euro washer shares 220 plug w/dryer so when big LG finished, I put the laundry in the dryer. But b/c I had to unplug the little washer and the laundry there wasn't finished-just rinsed once, I transfered it in to the big LG to finish it. There was some soapy water left inside the little washer. Today I started loading the small washer again and I could smell mildew. Well, it was the leftover dirty water from 3 days ago that I forgot about. I drained it and did load on 194 degrees and it is all right. So my point is, if laundry is not properly rinsed, it will leave residue in the water down bellow and it will stink and over time things will grow everywhere! http://www.ehow.com/how_4722643_use-ammonia-laundry.html