getting rid of fabric softner/febreeze smell?!?

[crl]

Hi,

I bought some (cute) baby clothes off Craigslist and realized on the way home that they reeked of fabric softner/febreeze smell. I've tried washing them on cold with an extra rinse cyle and no detergant (2x), washing them on hot with vinegar in the bleach and softner slots, soaking them with vinegar and then washing them. I thought I finally had it after the soak followed by wash because they did not smell when wet. Dried them and, sigh, they smell. I've spread them outside for the moment hoping the fresh air will help.

I'm getting really frustrated and annoyed now. At some point it's not exactly saving money or being eco-friendly with reuse anymore, is it? What else should I do? More hot washes? Start using detergant? Something else?

Catherine

[Drummer's Wife]

How frustrating! I HATE fabric softener. DS had a used comfortor that was saturated in it and it took like a million hot washes (with Charlies soap, vinegar, and baking soda) to get it out -- and even then, I could still smell it if I got too close to it.

I hope you figure something out.

[EmmysMama]

My SIL, oh I do love her and I appreciate the hand-me-downs (our DDs are the same age but hers has always worn just 1 size bigger than mine), but ... THE FABRIC SOFTENER SMELL. I feel for you.

I let everything soak in plain hot water, in the washing machine, for an hour or so. Then I drain it and restart it on the longest wash cycle (still on hot), with just a little Dawn. Extra rinse. Hang dry outside.

It does depend on what kind of fabric softener it is/how much, though ... this works on her Downy, but a hand-me-down Boppy cover from someone else (no idea what they were using!) took more washes/outside dries than that.

[crl]

Thanks! I've washed a few more times--I think I'm up to 7 or 8 washes at this point and now I can only smell it if I pick the clothes up and put them right to my nose. I've got them drying outside now and hopefully they'll be good enough this time to put away without "infecting" other clothes or making the house smell. I'm going to be super-careful when buying off CL from now on!

Catherine