You are pretty much doing the right thing.
I've left DH's jeans soak overnight in equal parts white vinegar and hot water in a pail..I put it outside cause I could still smell it! Wash and wash and I'm afraid wash again and hanging on the line in sunlight does help.
You could try making a paste of baking soda and water and rubbing it into the spot if you can see it?
Wish I could help more. DH spilled diesel fuel on his shoes and jeans and it stunk to high heaven. Took awhile but it did come out.

Put them in a garbage bag with some charcoal in it and leave them alone for a few days. The smell will be gone and you won't keep using so much water.

His work jeans are so stained with paint that I can't actually see where the gas is. So I'm just hoping to get rid of the smell.

Tami- That's worth a try. We have a gas grill but I'll buy a small bag of charcoal and then give the rest to my neighbor.

Hi old gray ...

How about borrowing some charcoal from your neighbour, returning it later ... and hoping that s/he doesn't charge too high rent?

o j

Clothespin on nose?

Another clothespin to hang 'em on outside line for about a week ... including, one hopes, at least one rain.

o j

Just be sure that it's regular charcoal, not the stuff with the lighter fluid included in it.

Charcoal, that's what I use to keep the odor away in my fridge. No, I don't use baking soda. Actually, I use Activated Carbon (oxidized charcoal) used in filtering fish tanks. This lasts much longer and do the job better than baking soda.

After laundering, the heat from a clothes dryer tends to remove most of the volitiles from my work clothes.

In order for you to smell anything, there must be a gas (fume) given off from the object of interest. No gas, no odor, no smell.

Maire, are you still trying to remove the odor? I faced the same problem a few years back - I put about every additive (including Spin n Span powdered floor cleaner) I could think of in the wash and could still smell gasoline.

An online search told me the odor is there because there is still gasoline trapped in the fibers of the clothing. It takes a oily type product to remove a petroleum product. I followed this suggestion and it worked like a charm...

Place clothes in hottest possible water in the washer (mine was jeans too so straight hot was good). Pour in a bottle of baby oil, let agitate a few minutes. Add a healthy amount of laundry soap and finish washing, follow with the normal rinse cycles.

No kidding, it works. I used about 2 Cups of generic baby oil from Safeway, no babies here so I needed to buy it for the laundry.

lol..by the time you have bought charcoal, washed, ect, bet you could get a new pair from target or wal mart...both stores carry them for about $20, or less...

Susan - you are so right! That's exactly what I told DH.

Well the smell is gone but I'm not sure exactly what did it. They were twice, then I soaked them overnight in water and white vinegar, washed them a third time and then hung them in the sun all day to dry.

Something worked.

Morz - I did find the baby oil tip in several different online searches but since I didn't have any baby oil at home I didn't get to try it. However I will certainly remember it for the next time which hopefully won't be anytime soon.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions,

Maire