I didn't know what group was best to ask this in but I figure someone here should know the answer.
I got some sort of smell on my clothes that I believe is diesel fuel, grease, or oil. I'm thinking that it must be diesel fuel but I can't be certain. I've already washed the clothes as I normally would but the smell won't come out. There doesn't seem to be any stains from whatever is causing the odor. Any ideas on how to get this horrible smell out of my clothes?
I used to work with diesel. Don't wash it with any other clothes you want to keep. I never fully got the smell out of my work clothes. Once a work shirt, always a work shirt. I used normal laundry soap and baking soda. Cut down the smell somewhat but not all the way.
Not much you can do after they've already been washed. Next time, rub a liberal amount of creme style hand cleaner on the clothes, roll them in a ball & let them set overnight, then wash as normal. The hand cleaner will dissolve most petroleum products. Bob
I heard Simple Green works. Haven't tried it myself, though. Feel free to report back.
I think you would know if you had been exposed to any diesel fuel.
I carry diesel home in 5 gal cans for my Bobcat. I hate that smell and it is quite persistent. Even a few drops on your glove or shirt and you will never stop smelling it.
My strategy has been prevention. When I gas up, I am careful not to get any on me. On my way in to pay, i am careful not to touch my clothes or face with my hands. Once inside I wash my hands multiple times. In cold weather I leave my gloves in the back of the truck never in the cab. I then wash those gloves with other similar items or just toss them in the spring.
I worked on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico from 1974 until 1980. I had one set of clothes that were for working. My wife used to wash them in Simple Green in addition to Tide, or whatever was on sale.
NOTHING took that smell out. The Simple Green helped, but it smelled like a combination of Simple Green and diesel fuel.
I'm surprised she didn't have a dedicated washing machine just for those clothes.
Steve
"Lawrence" wrote Even a few drops on your glove or shirt and
Funny how we have such strong olfactory triggers. Things that, when we smell them, take us back to that moment in time.
When I smell the black smoke of a diesel engine ......
0500 ............ Morgan City, Louisiana ............. 1975 ........ first light of a glowing golden sunrise ............ the workboat I'm on hitting the gas and casting off the lines ....... pulling away from the dock into the Atchafalaya River for a run to the ocean and two months of living at sea ............... big plumes of black smoke from the stacks that quickly disperses as we gain speed and the breeze moves the black cloud ................. hard left, and down the river ..........Steve
put some baking soda in the wash with your clothes, it can take most smells out i don't know if it would work for diesel fuel
Try washing again and use washing soda as well as detergent. Arm & Hammer is the most common brand. Not all supermarkets carry it but if they do it is usually near the detergent and other laudry items.
Sounds like sulfurated hydrocarbons which are present in diesel and especially gear oil. You could try rinsing with naphtha (dry cleaning). But sulfur has a way of binding to fabrics chemically, and that just doesn't come out with detergents or solvents.
It's already been mentioned in this thread. Dry cleaning fluid will dissolve the fuel residue. If it's clothing that can stand dry cleaning, take them to the dry cleaner. If you're constantly diesel fuel on your clothes, it'll get expensive to keep dry cleaning them.
Harry
For me, it's running firetrucks in the cold morning, when I'm out with the fire department. But that was decades ago, and I still go back in my memory when I smell diesel.
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