How do you get a really, really bad smell out of clothing?

Factual Questions
1

Okay, I know there will follow many unfortunate puns, and I accept this, because I’m desperate.

I guess I must have had a capsule of fish oil in my pocket or something when I did my laundry. (Don’t ask me why. Nooooo idea.) Now all my favorite clothes smell like Cthulhu. And while I concede that there may be hidden benefits to this that one of you will surely come up with, I Just. Can’t. Stand. The. Smell.

Please, please help me. It seems to me that to remove an oil you need an enzyme? What if I put a papaya in the blender? (daiquiri? why yes, thank you.) Will that can of coca cola thing work?

I tried an entire box of baking soda, and the two strongest good-smelling laundry detergents I know. (with Febreze even.) Didn’t touch it.

Aaaargh.

2

Maybe try the suggestion for cleaning skunk smell from clothes?

(From Yahoo Search - Web Search)

Good luck!

3

Fire. Ten minutes in a roaring fire.

4

Hydrogen peroxide. Check.

5

Hair shampoo - these are formulated to break up and remove oils. Pick one that’s labelled for oily hair, and make sure it isn’t a shampoo / conditioner combo.

6

But I like a well conditioned T-shirt.

7

A degreaser. I prefer LA’s Totally Awesome or something like that, from Dollar Tree. Betcha a zillion dollars it works. soak it, though, for at least 4 hours. Then, pour Palmolive over offending clothing, and give it a quick scrub, if the material will stand it.

8

You might want to check if part of the smell is in your washer now. If the oils have adhered to the rubber parts of your washer, you might try running it empty or with a machine cleaner on a hot program, and then try doing laundry again.

9

Peroxide will fade your clothes. Degreaser and fuels may also fade or dissolve or stain destroy your clothes.
Oxygen bleach is a commercial product, made to a precise recipe, that if used as per instructions, won’t wreck your clothes.

10

Dishwashing soap

11

Yup, if it’s oil, then use Dawn or other dishwashing soap.

12

I spit banana on my brand-new widescreen monitor. Damn you. You deserve to smell like fish.

13

Buy a Cthulhu Knitted Ski Mask and nobody will notice the smell.

http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=TYV12031#desc
If you still want to remove the smell, take the clothes to a professional dry cleaner and be sure to inform them what caused the stain/smell. Or try applying naptha IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA.

14

Nothing wrong with that. But condition separately.

15

I wonder if this oxy cleaner stufffrom the Dollar Tree will work. I use it on my clothes and it doesn’t do anything BAD…maybe if you need a lot of it (to do several loads) it’d be nice to just pay $1.

16

I’ve had success using Febreze on bad smells–although not fish–on fabric.

17

All of the fishermen I know wash their clothes in Pine Sol

18

I’ve gotten cat pee (worst smell ever) out of clothing by soaking for a few hours in oxyclean and HOT water. FWIW, I think the Dollar Tree oxyclean is the exact same thing as the national brand.

19

Wow, ZipperJJ, didja happen to click on the photo of that person’s carpet, on the page you linked to? Pretty amazing.

Because all my favorite clothes are black, I think I will try this stuff first; if that doesn’t do it, maybe Pine-Sol.

Thank you so much everyone!

20

Pet store: enzyme solution “Nature’s Miracle”. Gets out pee smell and many others.