Getting stink out of clothes

[Shadowdog500]

Odd question, but I noticed that the clothes that I wear while machining sometimes eventually get a stinky stale smell like a harbor freight store a day or two after coming out of the washing machine. I replaced my shop apron last summer because of the smell. And I tossed all of my blue shop pocket Tshirts for the same reason last summer. My wife would repedadly wash them, but the next day they would smell like walking into a Harbor freight when I take them out of the drawer. The other day my old shop pants had the same problem. My wife washed them several times and switched from armor hammer non scented detergent to heavy duty wisk yesterday so at least it would have a deodorant smell to cover the HF type of smell. She uses a HE machine and we do keep it fresh inside (that is a whole different story.)

My neighbor used to run a machine shop and told me that his clothes always smelled funky no matter what his wife did, and he only wore them in the shop so the smell didn't matter. He said the smell comes from the cutting oils. I use sunoco way oil, dark sulpher cutting oil, just started using anchor lube, and WD40 as a cutting fluid on aluminum. I used to use tap magic, but that stuff stunk nasty while I was using it. The HF smell I'm Describing is similar.

Do any of you guys have this problem, and if so, how do you deal with it. Is there anything to permanently get rid of the smell.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[ogberi]

So far as I know there's no real way to get the funkiness out. I have 3 pairs of "shop" clothes, and rotate out manky t-shirts for rags once they stink too much. I have my wife buy me non-pocket tees (cheapest available) for shop shirts. For shop pants, once the corners of the back pockets start tearing through on my work bluejeans, they become shop pants. Else i just hit goodwill or salvation army on a clothes sale day and get some cheap jeans for shop wear.

 

[Doubleeboy]

Might try soaking your clothes in a bucket of water and oxyclean before washing in machine. The stuff is strong, might work.

 

[dave2176]

An old time remedy is to bury the clothes in dirt for up to two weeks. They'll need to be washed just to get the dirt that sticks out but the odor should be gone. Might need a few extra shirts or pants so you aren't let without while most of them are buried.

Dave

 

[Eddyde]

A teaspoon or two of bleach might do the trick

 

[Redax5]

I do a lot of honing on a Sunnen horizontal machine and the honing oil is terrible for smell but you need to use specific oil so cannot change
My lady uses a spoonful of Lavender in the wash which works great, removes the vast majority of the smell

 

[4GSR]

May need to avoid Harbor Freight Stores....

 

[dracozny]

An old time remedy is to bury the clothes in dirt for up to two weeks. They'll need to be washed just to get the dirt that sticks out but the odor should be gone. Might need a few extra shirts or pants so you aren't let without while most of them are buried.

Dave

Works for Skunk, I don't see why it shouldn't work for machinery oils.

 

[dracozny]

The main thing is you have industrial oils which normally are not broken down by regular detergents. This can also funkify your washing machine as noted in this article. I would strongly suggest using a dedicated washing machine for all of your shop clothes and rags so you don't **** off the wife or discover your day job work clothes for the office have been unnecessarily funked. Soak all of these items in degreaser and agitate. You will want to wash all of these items on hot. If they are cotton and not preshrunk, you may have created some new shop rags or a shop uniform for the wee ones. Tide (assuming your not allergic to it like my roommate is) is probably one of the better detergents to use for most oils that have been degreased. Alternatively there are also detergent recipes using Borax and baking soda. Rinse on hot as well to flush out any remaining oils. If you have a dedicated machine in your shop just hook up hot to both hot and cold and the setting becomes irrelevant. afterwards you can use a dryer but I strongly suggest hanging them up on a line outside if possible.

 

[Mister Ed]

Works for Skunk, I don't see why it shouldn't work for machinery oils.

One of my passions in the fall is running a trapline. And I certainly get a few skunks per year. I have a recipe that I soak the skunks in before bringing them home (until this year I trapped out of a Ford Explorer, and the stinkers would be inside). This might work for this issue as well:
1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide (3% drug store variety)
1/4 cup baking soda
1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap.
Mix together and soak tainted articles (or entire skunk, lol) in a bucket. Mixture will foam up and mix only immediately prior to use.

The peroxide is an oxidizer, baking soda is good at removing odors and it gets the peroxide going. The dish soap is a surfactant to help with the oils. Double the recipe if you need to, maybe ad a little more dish soap.