Reader Question: Removing Gasoline Smell From Clothing?
Wednesday August 16, 2006
Andrew writes, "My co-driver and I both got diesel fuel splashed on our clothes. I have been told that diesel is one of the hardest smells to remove. Will the baking soda trick work? I have already tried washing the clothes twice with a smidgen of bleach and regular laundry soap."
Gasoline and diesel fuel are some of the toughest smells to get rid of, but there are a few different methods you can use to remove gasoline stains and smells from your clothing.
Comments
If you really want to get rid of the fuel odor add 2 or 3 caps of OdorXit Concentrate to the wash and detergent. If it is a really bad spill and you have a top loading washer, leave the lid open. This action will cause the washer to stop just before the spin cycle. After 20 minutes put the lid down and let the washer finish. The odor will be gone permanently.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4503756_rid-gasoline-odor-carpet.html
I can’t speak to the success of the suggestions above, but if they don’t work, try Fast Orange hand cleaner (Smooth, no pumice) in place of detergent. I just used it after many other attempts (vinegar, etc.) and it did no damage to the clothing and left them smelling like orange, not gas. Good luck!
I tried three or four different methods to remove gasoline from my running shoes with very limited succes. The answer? Waterless hand cleaner (like Gojo). I spread it on, let it sit for 15 minutes, rinsed it off and Voila! Smells great.
A pair of gasoline soaked pants made it into a full washer load of laundry and made the whole wet lot reek of gasoline. I washed again in regular detergent and nothing changed. After a web search I decided to try washing the load again with Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint castille soap. I have a front loading machine, so I just used about 1/4 of a cup (which is is a lot for this soap, as it is very concentrated). The laundry still had a faint smell, so I washed a second time with the Dr. Bronner’s. No gasoline odor with this load. The load was hung out to dry and smells fine.
Where can I find this Dr. Bronner’s soap?
My son had a car accident and gas from the tank leaked onto his clothes in the car trunk. Wash clothes (may take two times) in regular detergent, but add about 2 cups of white vinegar to the first rinse cycle. The first rinse will remove the gasoline odor, the second rinse will remove the vinegar odor.