I need some laundry help.

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craftymom0263

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My son is works on cars and got gasoline on his clothes. I have washed them twice in my homemade laundry soap. Once in store bought laundry soap and once in some soap from an auto parts store. They still smell like gas. I have not put them in the dryer. Does anyone one have any suggestions. I don't want to use bleach because they are jeans and a dark shirt.
 
craftymom0263 said:
My son is works on cars and got gasoline on his clothes. I have washed them twice in my homemade laundry soap. Once in store bought laundry soap and once in some soap from an auto parts store. They still smell like gas. I have not put them in the dryer. Does anyone one have any suggestions. I don't want to use bleach because they are jeans and a dark shirt.
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Vinegar and baking soda?
 
Try a product called Simple Green. I have used it to get clothes clean that had been worn by my nephew when rebuilding an engine. I think he was bathing in auto chemicals rather than rebuilding that engine. I soaked the clothes in a bucket with a very strong solution of water and the SG, dumped the liquid, soaked them again, over and over until I was willing to put them in my washer. When I was done there was no oil or other auto liquids on those clothes and he could wear them in my house again. I bought a gallon of Simple Green at the local Sam's Warehouse and still have most of it. I think it may get the gasoline smell out too. Don't do this in your washer, do it in a bucket or something. If you have an area you can hang them to let the sun and air to them, I have heard this works too, but I have not tried that. I would not rely on homemade laundry soap to get such a petroleum product out of clothes.
 
Simple green will sometimes give light colored fabrics a greenish tinge, but better than gas smelling! :) Simple green is awesome though. And it smells like sassafrass, which I love.

Might also try a product designed for getting pet stains out -- it's called Get Serious! and it's enzyme based, but removes lots of oily greasy stains too, and can be added onto the stain or directly into the wash as an additive. I've found it gets out a lot more than what it says on the bottle.

Others who have mechanic husbands have said to add a can of Coca-Cola to the wash load. Several people on some websites confirmed this is supposed to work. hey, it cleans toilets, so why not? lol

Others say run it through 2 washings using 1/4 cup of Dr Bronner's Peppermint "Castile", or to spread Fast Orange Hand Cleaner thickly on the stain and then wash using Fast Orange as the detergent as well. I know Fast Orange gets the smell off of hands, and Orange Oil is a solvent frequently used to remove petroleum residues...
 
Dawn Dishwashing Detergent

Soak clothes in a big bucket(5 gal or larger) with hot water and about 1/2-1 tsp of Dawn Dishwashing detergent for about half an hour.(I know it is not homemade, but if it is good enough for wildlife in oil spill areas, it is good enough for me.) Dump this out then run through the washing machine with more Dawn. Be really sure to use 1/2 tsp or less of Dawn in the washer if you have an HE machine. Smell the clothes. If you need to rerun it, do so. But I usually don't have to.
 
I was about to suggest dish detergent too, it's what they use to get oil off soiled sea birds and apparently works a treat so should cut right through the gasoline.
 
I have to use gloves to handle these clothes, as I am allergic to Dawn, but it works. Dawn will also get motor oil out of carpet, cooking oils out of clothes, indeed, I have yet to find any oil it won't remove. Not saying I won't find something tomorrow, but so far, so good.
 

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