Hey all! My housemate has moved out, she’s not western so her standards of hygiene were different.
Her curtains and bedding smells awful. Her bedding is going to a local cat sanctuary, I washed them on a 2 hour 60 degree wash with double detergent and they still smell.
Her curtains are washable polycotton, how can I get the smell out of them?
Try using white vinegar, baking soda, enzyme-based detergents, or laundry sanitizer.
Something like https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Labs-Concentrated-Efficiency-Biodegradable/dp/B09MSP7M5Y/ ought to help.
Washed them twice with white vinegar today it worked a treat! Thanks so much
Seconding this. I’ve had good success adding white vinegar to a hot wash for all sorts of smelly things, like dog bedding or stanky gym clothes.
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Good tip! How much vinegar would you add?
I use white vinegar for the towels and items my bunnies have accidents on. It works great. I typically use about a half cup.
Just a tip: use a load that is only vinegar and no detergent. The detergents will neutralize the vinegars.
Ooooh good tip thanks
I eyeball it, probably a generous cup (roughly 250mL) per load, maybe more?
Excellent thanks Klem
You can get 30% acetic acid at hardware stores, which is just white vinegar concentrated 6x. It’s cheaper per mole of acetic acid, so get some to use for cleaning and save the food-grade 5% for cooking.
Would this not destroy the curtains? I’d be reluctant to put that high a concentration of acid on fabric
Typically one would dilute the acid a bit first, but I don’t think that aceitc acid can do much damage to typical fibers quickly enough to be an issue. I use it at about 12% and I have no cause to think it’s hurting my clothes, sheets or curtains.
Interesting, I’ll have to keep an eye out for the concentrated stuff