Help!

[kimberly_a]

Help me, LJ-kenobi! You're my only hope

Comments

[wesleysgirl]

I guess I'd try letting them soak in baking soda water for a few hours. I might also try putting them in a trash bag and then sprinkling a ton of baking soda (like a whole box) in over them and letting them sit for a day or so, then washing them. If you could hang them outside in the sun, that might help, too. They might just need to air out for a long time!

[kimberly_a]

Those sound like great ideas. I know Shannon used the baking-soda-in-a-bag trick when he bought some used books that had a strong smell (he bought them online, and so didn't smell them in advance), and it worked perfectly.

I tried drying the clothes outside in the sun yesterday, but our weather is mercurial this time of year, and they got partway dry ... and then got drenched in rain again after only a couple hours. I didn't notice a difference in the smell afterward, but I'm excited to try the baking soda marinade.

[wesleysgirl]

The good thing about baking soda is that it's really cheap, and if it doesn't work it at least won't do any damage!

[twistle]

skunk is an oily/smelly problem, and diluted tomato juice is the standard answer there, maybe one of the garments could deal with soaking it in tomato juice and then washing it out to see if it helps?

[wild_irises]

I am no help. I am just astonished that Lestoil is still around.

In the 1950s (or maybe very early 1960s) its jingle was:

"Less toil with Lestoil/
Clean the Lestoil way."

I could sing it to you if I could sing.

[kimberly_a]

I had never heard of Lestoil, but when I searched online for ideas for how to get bicycle grease out of shoes and clothing (I got it on my brand new green high tops and was not pleased.), the serious bicycling blogs and websites all mentioned it as the best solution. The non-bicycle-grease-experienced folks mostly talked about Dawn dishwashing liquid and Coke for such stains. Given the smell that resulted from treatment with Lestoil, maybe I'll try those other methods first next time.

[wild_irises]

Well, I can't get the jingle out of my head--I remembered four more lines. But I'll spare you. :-)