Try adding a cup of vinegar to your rinse.

Overdosing OxyClean probably got the job done, but yes, now you've got the residue. My suggestion is to re-wash everything affected, with NO detergent, but add some other soiled items (not rolled-in-the-mud) to this load.

The OxyClean residue will attach itself to that dirt and be washed away. Seems like you've got a lot of residue, so you could add quite a bit of soiled clothing/towels/whatever to the load.

This technique will save you a lot of water, as opposed to rinsing and rinsing and rinsing, which could take all day, depending on the amount of residue left. This is what works for me, every single time.

What size washer do you have? Not to step on Our Cavimums toes, but be careful what other types of fabrics you wash with sheets otherwise you will end up with pilling.

Cavimum, that system works for you but I never understood it LOL...the residue will attach itself to the other soiled laundry, but if its oxiclean residue which is actually mostly sodium carbonate, and not surfactants or phosphates, what's to stop the soils from the added soiled laundry from redepositing onto everything? This is confusing to me.

I wonder how large your washer is? When rinsing again I would rinse the sheet set then do each blanket individually . Better rinsing that way. Not sure how yours works about balance for spin, I see from time to time people say they added things to balance. I don't have to do that thank goodness. I can do one blanket or one cotton rug and it goes right through the spin without any fuss, but do what works best with your machine.

mamap - you're not stepping on my toes and it is perfectly okay to question a method. That's what forums are about. And, I always reserve the right to be wrong. :-) But this is what works for me and saves me a bunch of time. And water. When I have not 100% rinsed out OxiClean from pre-soaking stains, I can end up with sudsy foam in a final laundry rinse after a normal detergent dose in that load. This is what works for me. Faster and more efficient. I figured it out the hard way. (Ack!)

Occasionally, I wonder if I added one too many soiled items to that second wash, but it all smells clean ( I use perfume-free detergents, so there is nothing to cover up bad odors) and it'll get cleaned up really well, the next time it gets laundered. I run enough weekly true HOT washes with OxiClean of whites, that I'm not worried about crud growing inside my FL washer.

One could add a half-teaspoon of detergent, if it helps one feel better. Sodium Carbonate is the primary ingredient in Charlies Soap, has water softening properties, and ought to take everything down the drain. There's a ton of Sodium Carbonate in OxiClean, too. The stuff just needs a bit of dirt to latch on to that will take it away.

I have not found vinegar to be very effective at removing extra detergent residue in our washer and water, so I guess it just offsets the alkaline pH in my case. I know a lot of people swear by it instead of FS. I'll take their word for it, in their washer and their water of course. ;-)

(And you are absolutely 100% correct about watching what one washes with towels!)

Thank You Cavimum..I got stung once before because I said I did not like excess sodium carbonate, the person took my views as a personal affront so I tend to be careful..lol. yes if it works for you that's exactly what matters.

I also have had no luck with vinegar, did nothing for me. I wonder what kind of washer the poster has and how much oxiclean they used..I have problems myself with oxiclean if used with powder detergent. Anyway..have a great day Cavimum.. (((hugs)))

Thank you everyone. It is so good to find this community with very knowledgeable people who are willing to offer advise.

We have a front loading HE Kenmore (about 10 years old). which works great. No problems with the machine of any sort.

Background to give you perspective:

The whole problem began when we came back from a trip and all our clothes had a sweet chemically smell. We had traveled with some other people who had sprayed raid, and used carpet cleaning liquid where they live, and had brought all those chemicals on their self, suitcases clothes etc. Those chemical residues transferred to our luggage, shoes, clothes and everything else.

The problems multiplied when we tried to clean out our favorite travel clothes (rest were thrown out with the luggage). These clothes were dry cleaned by three different methods - traditional, silica and CO2. Nothing removed the smells. Somehow this sweet smell transferred to the sheets and blankets that I mentioned in my post.

Home laundry: I washed the items that have not been dry cleaned at all with Aureus LaundryPro. Smell reduced but remained so I put in 2-3 table spoons for each load. One load was sheets, one load banket #1, one load for blanket #2 I feel that the sweet smell was removed, but now I have this problem.

I am really afraid of adding clothes that do not have OxyClean residue with the problem clothes. When the dried clothes were in a room with fan running, the "problem" transferred to clothes that were sitting next to the blanket. I feel that the residue aerosolized.

We currently do not have soiled clothes, but plenty of the sweet smelling clothes. I will add those with each load and see how it works out. I plan to dry things outdoors, my dryer currently has the OxiClean residue also. We have a rain storm coming so my experiments will be limited.

I will report back when I finish rewashes. Do let me know any additional thoughts.

I had tried Charlie's Soap and Borax (1:1 ratio) on some clothes. Irritated by throat terribly. It must be too much quantity for the clothes.

Should have asked for advise on this forum earlier...

Charlies I wouldn't recommend as its loaded in sodium carbonate and that's the residue your trying to flush out...stay away from all powders if your having a residue like this...I also recommend you order some STPP, it will strip all the residue out and hold it in suspension preventing it from redepositing back on your clothes..add the stpp along with a good liquid detergent and I bet you will get rid of the chemical smells also..STPP is phosphates but if your a enviornmental person...nows not the time to worry lol

I do like your suggestion. I would like to understand how to do the wash correctly Mamapinky.

I am going to purchase STPP from an online vendor. I need specific directions on how to not make a mistake. Have made so many already...

(I just wiped off my dryer with some biokleen soap and dried a rag in the dryer. The whole laundry area is full of something in the air. My throat is all caught and have tough time swallowing because it feels so raw)

How much of this powder should I add? Add it directly on top of the blanket? Also add detergent? Detergent would be tide scent-free or should I use Seventh Generation? What water temperature do you suggest?

For cleaning up the dryer - Can I make a paste of STPP and detergent and then wipe off with a wet paper towel?

N N, since you have seversl things going on offensive chemical scents and residue..you need to work first on removing the odors...I would rewash all the clothes affected, with a good TOL liquid detergent, since you have powder residue I'd use liquid right now, hot water and 2 Tablespoons STPP, add the STPP to the drum before you add clothes...wash as you normally would and let it run thru the rinse cycle dont add any fabric softener.....now you need to rewash using only STPP, 2 OR 3 Tablespoons in the drum, no detergent, hot water, after wash cycle is complete let it run thru the rinse cycles, how many rinse options do you have, 2 or 3 will be fine. the STPP will remove the powder and any other residue in the clothes and keep it from depositing back on them. See how they smell now...as for the dryer, I would wipe it out with a mild detergent diluted in warm water.

As for your breathing and raw throat is this all from the chemicals used in someone's home while you visited yet they were washed? This confuses me...could you be allergic to some new product?

Thank you for your detailed post/reply mamapinky.

I will follow the steps as you have described. I am not sure I know the term TOL (I see online some brands like Ariel, with the word TOL), please clarify.

The raw throat happens whenever the "component" from OxiClean is released in the air as aerosols. Others on this post have helped identify it as Sodium Carbonate.

Sorry for the confusion. I was trying to explain in my earlier post that my journey has been long. The exposure to various chemicals has sensitized me to a lot of things, so may be that is the reason I am having this reactions to Sodium Carbonate.

Let me know if there is a specific detergent I should be purchasing to use with the STPP.

Thanks.

NN...how long have you been doing laundry without detergent? ?? And do you live in a home where no chemicals are used?

TOL= Top of the Line.

I have some issues...poster:: I'm confused as to what you mean by some of the scents you've discribed, sweet, spicy, powdery, you also say that you currently don't have any soiled clothing just sweet smelling clothing. You mention you were visiting people that used raid and carpet shampoo..you also mention a Pro Laundry System that is a Detergent Free form of laundering..what I'm wondering is...could you have become so used to living in a no chemical perfume home that your picking up on odors from someone else's home that you carried into your home on your belongings?

We do use simple chemicals around the house. We used to use tide scent free and seventh generation laundry detergents before this "event". Since the "event" I have tried Tide, Charlie's Soap + Borax, Soap Nuts, Vinegar, by themselves and in sequence for some loads. I saw ProLaundry as another means of trying to get rid of smells.

Yes, we are now hypersensitive to smells. That is very likely. I pulled out some old clothes that were washed years ago in Tide or something similar (off the grocery store shelf). Those clothes smell just fine in our current hypersensitive state. So it is the residue of new chemicals that is bothering us.

Please let me know whether there is a specific detergent that you recommend for this work. Otherwise, I will use Tide scent-free.

Thanks.

FYI: I used to mix OxiClean with BioKleen to make a thick paste and apply it to the mold in bathroom grout. One of our bathrooms does not have a window so we sometimes have to do this. So oxiclean used that way was not a problem for years.

The sweet smell that we are trying to remove, is exactly the same smell that you find in new clothes you purchase. My assumption is that this is a chemical that is applied to the clothes themselves, or to the shipment containers that are being shipped to the USA (most ready-to-wear clothes are imported these days unfortunately).

Tide Free is an acceptable Top of the line detergent and should work fine..but I'd use the pods or liquid since part of your problem is sodium carbonate residue...typically I wouldn't recommend using any detergent for this, but your also having chemical scents that need removed.

Thank you Mamapinky. I will be using Tide liquid version. I have ordered the STPP, and I hope to do some runs on Tuesday once it is delivered.

Thanks again.

Your Welcome.

The STPP worked!

I placed the clothes which had OxiClean residue in the washer.

I heated some water in the microwave, dissolved the STPP in this warm water.

I poured this water on top of the clothes, and then washed the clothes warm wash, warm rinse cycle.

I rinsed with just water multiple times after that.

__________________

I also did some detergent + oxiclean (to get the sweet smell out of clothes)

I also did some detergent + STPP first run and rinse, rinse, rinse

These washes have given me hope that we will be able to salvage some of our clothes.

Thank you everyone for helping me with this issue.

Glad you had good luck with the STPP.

Hello - the STPP I had purchased was Sodium Tripolyphosphate Light Dense 1Lb
Sold by: The Dafna General Store on Amazon. is this what was recommended? Or is this something else? If I have excess of this on clothes can I use OxiClean again to get it out? Seems I am stuck in a circular cycle.

Look forward to your help.

That's the right stuff. I'm not sure I understand your question...are you saying you have excess stpp in your clothes?

Thank you mamapinky - yes, it looks like I am sensitive to stpp. I had used only a tiny amount (1/4 teaspoon) on a full large load of clothes.

What should I try?

STPP is in many food and cosmetic products. Seems odd that you apparently haven't had a reaction to it from those sources but did from laundry ...

You sure do have your problems....detergent residue...stpp residue...I wish I could help you, but I don't know how. STPP is a complex phosphate it surely wouldn't leave residue of itself behind expecially at mostly trace amounts that you used. How do you know the stpp didn't rinse out of your clothes?

It is a good observation dadoes. I do not have an answer.

Mamapinky, when I finished washing with stpp the whole room had something it did not have before. So, I know that whatever ingredient it is was definitely strong and it was not in the clothes before. I have rinsed the clothes and the washer many times - with TOL detergent, with vinegar rinsed by hand. Nothing has made the clothes or the washer back to their original form again.

Dry, Southern Comfort Manhattan, on the rocks, with a twist, for everyone.

N N, might have missed what machine you have TL or FL, 1/4 teaspoon of STPP seems way too small, even for a FL. I would try increasing the dosage with no detergent and rinse a good two or three times. Who knows maybe you're having a reaction to the oxy. The stpp should help get ride of any residue you might have.

Pat zone 5, nice that everyone is offering helpful suggestions and for me I particularly like yours.

Venmar..did you know Pat and I are sisters? She's the prettiest one.

Don't I WISH we were sisters.

Just spent Mother's Day eating the godawfulest restaurant food. Another SC Manhattan, please.

Yes! My sister uses it for all her laundry. I can't sleep on her bedding when I visit. It is such an unpleasant smell.