# Getting petrol smell off clothes.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 12, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199 "2003-04-12T03:52:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199/1 "2003-04-12T03:52:32Z")

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Mr Goo got petrol all over his good suit pants on the way home from work the other day. I’ve washed them twice in the normal washing liquid we use, but the smell is still quite strong.

Any hints on how to get the smell out ? What’s worked for you ?

Thanks in advance 🙂

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**Author:** ![Triss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Triss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triss)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199/2 "2003-04-12T04:17:18Z")

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Yeesh. That’s happened to me twice, favourite pair of jeans both times.

Nothing I tried worked. I guess it depends on how much gas gets splashed on the clothing but it seems if it’s more than a thimbleful or so, you may as well throw the clothing out.

Hopefully someone else will come along with a more helpful solution. Sorry. 😃

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**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199/3 "2003-04-12T11:38:47Z")

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Sunshine and fresh air should do it

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**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-petrol-smell-off-clothes/168199/4 "2003-04-12T11:52:27Z")

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I suspect dry cleaning should get rid of anything that normal washing didn’t.

IIRC  
normal washing gets rid of stains which are polar  
whilst dry cleaning usually gets rid of non-polar stains.