what type of laundry detergent do you use..?

lauren grier

lauren grier

you're like stars
yes. another laundry related post at ssd!

I need suggestions really. We're having a .... man stink problem. BF is outside on the tarmac/in a tiny non ac'd airplane all day at work and well he .. stinks. bad. lately. really bad. like. walk in the door and holy heck go take a shower bad. i know it's summer time but ew..lol
we usually use the all free & clear gel pack things-- we have a lot of skin sensitivity and sneezy allergies to detergents so i'm limited here.. but his stink is NOT washing out of his undershirts & shirts. I've had to run some shirts through the wash three times. I don't like to bleach every load (i also get hives from bleached laundry. wth man) but that seems to be the only thing that helps the undershirts(gag) and i can't bleach his coloured work shirts :p ..

what super powered non smelly detergents do you guys use for man stink? i'm not used to having to deal with this problem :p
 
OK serious answer since I've read your post now.

I can tell you what I do with diapers, so hopefully that'll help you some.
First off we use Tide Original (and we have LOTS of skin issues here as well) with no problems. But before I even wash I put the diapers through a rinse with 1/4 cup vinegar and then when I go to actually wash-wash them there's little-no smell left.
 
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lol lol


i'm def allergic to tide :[ i could try a rinse cycle first with just vinegar though. he hates the smell of it, but seriously.. i hate the smell of his stink way more :p
 
If you've dried the clothes, the smell will probably never come out. Dryers are nice like that. Otherwise, you can use normal white vinegar. You can spray the clothes directly in the stink spot and/or put some right in the wash with the clothes. We use Purex free due to skin sensitivities, too and vinegar has never given us any problems. I put some in my towel loads all the time because it helps keep them fresh.

If you have the option on your washing machine, set it to heavy wash so it agitates more frequently than a normal load. It's really that movement that gets clothes clean anyway, not the detergent. It could help shake out the funk.
 
Oops. I was typing at the same time. hehe

nothing will smell like vinegar after going through the wash. No need to preinse.
 
Yeah I also use it on towels every other week (more like a cup then) and I use it on the kids' clothes after they go spend the week at my grandparents. (Their house smells like cigarettes and sulfur. Ick)
 
I used to throw vinegar in with the towels -because you know, those get wet.. and some people (ahem) fail to bring it to the proper hampers and they can get yucky.. he complained though so either he has a super sniffer or he's a spazz (leaning towards the latter :P ). I could always just do an extra rinse after the wash too. but again.. i will take slight lingering vinegar and whining.. over man stink.
 
Huh, he must have like a dog nose because I've never smelled it on the diapers or towels afterwards... lol
 
You can also soak lemon or orange peels in your vinegar which kind of helps with the smell. But, seriously, if you put it in at the very beginning when you put the detergent in it works great and is totally rinsed out by the end... You should never get a whiff of it. :)
 
I have some that I made, but I couldn't find Zote soap locally and the Fels Naptha stinks (as in way too strong of a soap smell for my sensitive nose). It's fine now that it's made, but golly I'm not sure I can go through that again. But It works well and gets the potty smell out of unrinsed soaked undies. I do 4 T and an extra rinse with a downy ball of vinegar on the bad loads (doubling the amount of soap is often what I do for bad loads...)

But, I really love Arm and Hammer laundry soap. The scent isn't bad (I actually like it, which is not something I say about most scents) and if I ever had stains or issues I would just soak the clothes in the washer overnight before running it through the cycle and all stains etc always came out.

Vinegar plus baking soda is magical. I usually do a second rinse on the loads I throw vinegar into, but not because of the vinegar smell, but because they were nasty loads.

One other random thing you could try would be liquid dish soap. If I have a grease stain (even one that has gone through the dryer) a dab of that rubbed into the stain gets rid of it. I've heard that you should be careful how much you use because of suds and do an extra rinse.
 
well, you already said you don't like Tide, but I wash my guy's clothes in Tide Sport. It kills the stink factor. Boo that it won't work for you!
 
We use the dye-free clear gel packets too. I also add Borax into the wash if something is stinky, extra dirty, or just looks dingy.
 
We've never had problems with the vinegar smell remaining in the clothes-maybe you're using too much vinegar in each load? We have to use a free and clear detergent because of 1 kiddo's sensitive skin, and I've never been that impressed with how it gets smells out. Best solution I've found is the set the washer to "soak" and then pour in about half a cup of vinegar. After the soak cycle, I just wash everything normally. Using the vinegar during the wash cycle doesn't get enough of the smell out of the clothing.
 
Sounds like the same kind of stink from my boys' football pants. I know I had a Pin about how to get the odor and stains out, but I can't find it. So here is another one I just found:
http://pinterest.com/pin/422281186815024/

The other pin I had said to use dish detergent and bleach and soak them in a tub of hot water. I always did that outside for a few hours, then drained them and washed them through the washer as normal.

And this reminds me that I had a year off from washing football pants and am about to start up again in a few weeks. Only this time it will be times two. Oh boy. :unsure:
 
Julie Billingsley said:
well, you already said you don't like Tide, but I wash my guy's clothes in Tide Sport. It kills the stink factor. Boo that it won't work for you!
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Ditto. We do Tide. Its the only thing that doesn't break us out. I figured out we can even do the extra lil booster gel pack things. I use those for my husbands uniforms. shhhhh but they stink! :glare:
 
I actually use WISK and love it, but I read the vinegar thing before and I started usi8ng it on my towels and I LOVE it...so I am also putting it in my whites since we got lots of seat folks that seem to wear white alot LOL!
 
We use method or Ecos. Method is def. scented but you could look into Ecos. I think they have a free and clear version.
 
Oh, man - I LOVE SA8 line... you can all boo me because it's amway... but it's a great product. When J was a baby, it took out the worst that he could throw at it... stains and smells... and gentle on his baby skin. We no longer IBOs for them... but hubby went on twitter and found someone who would sell it to us for wholesale... I had switched to Tide Sport (which I LOVE the smell of)... but it doesn't have the stain fighting that pre-spray and trizeme does... love that stuff!
 
Nettio said:
For real, especially if they've spent the day in the field. This is why Adam does his own laundry. :D
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Evan usually does but when he comes back from the field I get this massive mess of man stink. PT, boot socks... oh goodness.... boot socks from 3 weeks in the field. They've permaited in the heat for 3 weeks in sweat... ugh. :eek: (where's the puke smilie?)
 
tide- as it's the only one I am not allergic too.

I'd do a vinegar wash too. I use it on everything and notice a difference if I forget to use it on DH's smelly military gear.
 
Milmomma said:
Evan usually does but when he comes back from the field I get this massive mess of man stink. PT, boot socks... oh goodness.... boot socks from 3 weeks in the field. They've permaited in the heat for 3 weeks in sweat... ugh. :eek: (where's the puke smilie?)
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I know that, "I'm happy to see you but you need to shower" moment all too well. :D
 
We have some serious allergy/eczema/sensitive skin issues as well. I use Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin? (no dyes or additives ) I add vinegar to my Downy Ball and put it in every load. When I have a load of extra stinky clothes I add just a couple drops of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint in with the detergent and I might add a tablespoon of baking soda as well.
 
I use the same Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin that Keely uses :) I'd toss some vinegar in there as well. I don't have a downy ball..might have to invest in one
 
We used to use Tide Free and switched to those All Free liquid packs. They're so convenient by definitely not as effective as powdered Tide was. I think the powders are generally better. I remember a study from Consumer Reports a few years back found that Tide was the best for getting stuff clean. I know you don't want to use Tide, but you might consider another "free" laundry detergent since they aren't all the same.
 
just wondering if putting in arm and hammer baking soda (powder?) you know in the orange box with your laundry might help the smell? It is supposed to help with odors.
 
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