Thread: Smelly fabric
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Old 06-06-2014, 09:45 AM
  #16  
Prism99
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
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I had this problem with an old featherweight case. Tried so many things -- sunlight, Febreze, soap bars, dryer sheets -- nothing really worked, and I actually found the artificial scents added by the soap and dryer sheets made the smell every worse for my nose (artificial scent layered on top of musty smell). Then I tried charcoal. In my case, it was in the form of Dr. Scholl's shoe inserts with charcoal. After being sealed up in the case for 2 weeks, there was no more odor! I now keep one in the case at all times with the machine.

You can look on Amazon for the Dr. Scholl's in bulk. There is also a type of rock that absorbs odors and is recharged by placing in sunlight. If I can find it on Amazon, I will post a link. Meanwhile, this form of charcoal looks useable for your purposes: http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Moso-Natu...dp/B0099K6OVQ/ . The trick is that you need to keep these things in a confined area with the fabric in order to absorb the odors. I would use plastic totes. Allow at least 2 weeks for this.

My understanding is that soft plastic outgasses, but hard plastic does not, so I would not bother to drill holes in the plastic totes.

Edit: You really need the above only for the pieces that cannot be washed. If you have yardage that is washable, I have found this litter box powder to be absolutely remarkable as a washing machine additive for removing odors:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TSO20W/
I just add a heaping teaspoonful in with the laundry detergent for my small front-loading washing machine (probably need more like a heaping tablespoon for a large machine that uses more water).

Last edited by Prism99; 06-06-2014 at 09:53 AM.
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