Tide or dryer sheets won't get rid of the smell, they'll just cover it up. Try soaking in Oxi-Clean. I used it to get the odor out of my son's football uniform (it smelled worse than bad eggs sitting in the sun!). Use the hottest water you can for the fabric and if you soak in the washer (as opposed to the sink) use a few scoops.

You might want to check out the smelly jeans thread for some ideas. I used borax and Charlie's Soap on my jeans and I think the smell is now gone.

Another vote for Charlie's Soap . . . DD had problems with smelly towels for two years till I directed her to CS. She switched and noticed a difference immediately, but also said that they continued to get better and better for several months. I use it and find everything is clean and fluffy -- and no odor ever!

Was the apartment painted recently? Fumes released while the paint is fresh can cause a bad smell in dried clothes, *particularly* with a gas dryer.

stupid question but are you on well water? Well water with certain minerals, such as sulphur, will do that to your clothes. We throw a little baking soda in to help with the odor. good luck!

We're having the same problem - mainly with sheets, and after reading the posts here, I'm pretty convinced that the problem came from washing and drying things too HOT. The dryers in our apartment building laundry room run insanely hot - I can't even touch the clothes for a few minutes when they're done - and I was washing and drying sheets, towels, and anything that got a lot of kitty dander on it in HOT, HOT. My guess is that at some point something - either one of the cheap $10 sheets I use to cover the sofa from cat hair, or a pair of slippers with rubber soles, or like someone here said paint fumes from the gas heat pushing up through the dryer - something with petroleum or oil in it got cooked into a batch of laundry and kept baking itself in nice and solid every time I tried to wash out the smell.

Thinking it was the dryers here, we just took everything to a local laundromat to try to get rid of the smell. We got some new sheets and a new duvet cover. The duvet cover smelled bad when I opened the package! It smelled bad after I washed it in warm water. It smelled bad after I dried it on medium with a dryer sheet. And it still smells bad after a spin on low with 2 more dryer sheets! But it doesn't smell AS bad, and I'm going to try washing it in cold and drying it on low with some more dryer sheets.

I don't know, but since we just got the new sheets, I'm going to write to the company and ask if they have any suggestions. Meanwhile, I do think it will be worth it to try to wash your banished clothing in cold and dry on low, but keep it separate from good-smelling clothing. There is definitely something that rings true in the idea that this smell is "contagious."

All these are good recs. The only thing I can add would be to check the quality of air in the room where they drier is. If the air quality (odors) in the room where the drier is is bad then the clothes will come out smelling just as bad if not worse than the room.

Have you thought of re-washing them w/detergent, putting baking soda in the washer before adding clothes, vinegar in the fabric softerner dispenser, letting them soak for several hours before washing, and then hanging them outside to dry? When my husband was working outside around wood smoke for a time, that's what I did to get the odor out of his clothes.

Getting unusual odors out of clothing and fabric in general can be a real challenge that detergents and over the counter odor products simply can not handle.

However, all is not lost. There are 2 products available in some Cincinnati hardware stores and on line called OdorXit Concentrate and OdorXit ClO2 that will remove the odors mentioned on this thread.

OdorXit Concentrate can be added to the wash right along with the detergent. If you can let it soak for 15 to 30 minutes at the end of the first agitate cycle before the spin cycle it improves the performance a lot. Then let the cycle finish normally and dry normally.

For odors that do not respond to OdorXit Concentrate, there is OdorXit ClO2. It is a small packet of powder that when exposed to water vapor generates a gas called chlorine dioxide (ClO2) that kills mold, spores, bacteria, and eliminates a wide variety of odor including tobacco smoke, burned food, cooking odor, body odor, shoe odor, mold odor, and much more.

Just hang the affected clothing/fabric in a closet with a packet of OdorXit ClO2 above the clothing. The clothing needs to be separated so the gas can get in between and inside the garments. Generally the treatment takes 2 to 4 days but the extended release products continue to produce gas for 20 to 30 days and can be used in other places during that period. Once started the reaction can not be stopped.

If you are interested in getting rid of tough odors check the web site for a ton of information.

Here is a link that might be useful: OdorXit Products

try OdorKlenz-S in your wash. It's nontoxic eco friendly made of earth metal powder. Seriously though it works, I swear by it! It's not marketted for laundry specifically but use it on laundry and it'll do a great job. All odors gone from urine to vomit to sweat to you name it. Anyways the company is legit. and have some other cool stuff too. May seem pricey but it lasts forever practically and works amazing!! Hope this helps you out.

Here is a link that might be useful: NanoScale Corporation

Borax works just fine. :p

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBFHFZN/ref=sr_ph_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1490808206&sr=sr-1&keywords=laundry+sanitizer

Not a good choice. All those chems against the skin.

@mamapinky0.... As if bleach, detergents, fabric softeners, booster beads are naturally crafted :)

Yes, but those are rinsed out..the Lysol sanitizer is used in the rinse. Big difference.

Maybe it would help if you look at what the chems are in the Lysol.

I think you might be holding it against the product because they stated it on the label. Which cycle do you think the fabric softener comes in to play? Ever wonder why there are seperate compartments for bleach, detergent and fab con? The reason is the wash cycle takes in Detertergent first, then bleach and then fabric softener is released in the rinse cycle :)

As far as the chemicals are concerned, I know this because I have been working with chemicals and labelling regulations all my life. I work as a scientist in New York, I am a Bio Chem PhD from UMich...

Products that kill germs (Lysol, Clorox etc) are regulated by the EPA which means by US law they are mandated to list ingredients on pack thus you will see ingredient details.

Other products like detergents, oxies, fabric softeners dont kill germs hence not regulated by EPA or government and thus you might never see whats on the inside :)

I'll just keep using proper water temps to kill germs and bacteria, rather than to add another item to my wash.

Oh my....

The Lysol Sanitizer us most likely Quat based (Mich a little help please lol)...I understand Fabric Softener is added in the rinse, but a sanitizer has much higher risk factors to your health. Not to mention generally not required in a home setting. Heres a few of the risks involved with quat based sanitizers

What other products have quats?