Fish Smell on Clothing
The bottle spilled last week and leaked all over our kitchen counter. I used a small hand towel to clean up the mess. Over the weekend, my wife put that towel in the wash along with other towels, placemats, etc and now everything smells like fish.
I washed the items 4 times on Sunday. One of the times I put in a cup of vinegar. Last night, I soaked everything in vinegar for 2 hours, washed them with regular laundry detergent and they still smell to some degree.
Also, the smell permeated around our sink and below the sink. (It smells worse under the sink.) Need a suggestion there as well.
Thanks,
David from Phoenix, AZ
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RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I tossed a rag with salmon fat on it in the laundry with my socks and towels, and . . . as you have all experienced, the entire load of laundry smelled like fish.
I live in Russia, and can't get those great products lots of you mentioned, so had to rely on simple things. After two days of work I finally had success and thought I'd share what worked for me.
I was a little nervous of bleach, soaked everything in a small bucket with half a cup of bleach for 7 minutes, then washed them with Tide laundry detergent and about a cup of bleach in hot water. It still smelled like fish.
Washed it again with Tide and the hottest water (our water is almost boiling here) - still fishy.
Sunlight seemed like a great option, but we haven't had sun for weeks. Locals told me freezing works almost as well as sunshine. Hung it outside for 13 hours - it froze. Still fishy smelling.
Washed with Tide and 1 cup of bleach. Still fishy.
Washed them with no Tide, only 2 cups white vinegar - still smelled.
It never seemed to smell less of fish, just smelled like fish and vinegar, or fish and bleach, or cold and fishy.
Soaked it in a small bucket with 2 cups of vinegar for 28 hours, then poured the vinegar water from the bucket into the washing machine and washed with Tide, and no smell. At all. My socks are the cleanest they've been since I bought them!
I guess I would say, if your clothes are valuable to you, keep trying, persistence pays off!
Post by Verite03
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
WWW.FISHHANDSOAP.COM that is a laundry detergent additive that workd like a dream. My wife thanks them and it cheap!
Post By Bob (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I bought a dress from JCPenney and the bottom of the dress smelled like fish. I don't know if it was previously owned or anything but the tool part of the dress smelled disgusting! So I went to a concert with the dress on thinking that the smell wouldn't be noticeable and when I stood up one of my friends noticed the smell. Very embarrassing, so I took it to the cleaners and paid 15 bucks, and once I got home I noticed that it didn't smell any better! I have to wear it again for a concert in two days! Please help anyone!
Post By Jasmine. (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
We got squid stink all over our clothes on a fishing trip. the only thing that took it off was Rug DR odor remover. Good luck.
Post By nursie (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
A fish oil supplement was left in the pocket of a pair of shorts and the shorts went through the wash. The only thing that got out the fishy smell was soaking the shorts in a bucket filled with hot water and oxyclean for several days. I put the bucket in the garage and actually forgot about it. When I found the bucket, I took out the shorts and they no longer smelled fishy. I then washed the shorts in the washing machine in warm water with Tide detergent.
Post By Adrienne (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Update on my quest to rid my clothes of the smell from fish oil tablets that melted in the pocket:
The ONLY thing that worked is BLEACH. I was reluctant to try the bleach because I didn't want to ruin the colors in the clothes. But after trying many other things (see my previous post), I decided to try the bleach as a last ditch effort. And it worked! BTW, the Zero-Odor product that I ordered online did not help at all.
Hana
Post By hana (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I, too, had fish oil pills melt in my jeans pocket. As soon as I realized it, I washed everything I was wearing. This was a mistake because my shirt and bra, which hadn't really been in contact with the fish oil before, now smelled of the fish oil. I tried washing in vinegar, lemon-scented cleansers of various kinds, including anti-bacterial, baking soda, and ammonia. Things improved a little on the thinner, lightweight items, but not completely. After multiple washings and multiple methods, the jeans are still as bad as when I started. I haven't tried the sun-baking strategy yet (don't really have anywhere private to put them out in the sun, but I think I'll try it anyway). I just ordered the Zero-Odor product. We'll see.
In terms of the washing machine iteself, I found that doing an empty wash with bleach helped clean it out. I guess I could try bleach on the smelly clothes, too, but it will certainly affect the colors. I'll leave that for my very last strategy before throwing the clothes away.
Post By hana (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Yeah Right! After spilling the dogs medicine on the laundry basket I tried everything here and nothing worked. I got rid of the clothes and bought a new washing machine. Expensive! Yes but it worked. One more thing I also got rid of all the fish oil related medicine or products. Note: I tried to get rid of the dog but my wife didn't let me.
Post By Jose from Puerto Rico (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I used vinegar and a product called Bac-Out by Biokleen. It has live enzyme cultures and lime peel extract to clean and get rid of odors. I also poured an all natural vinegar in the wash and let them soak about 30 minutes before washing with Bac-Out and an all natural laundry detergent. The Bac-Out got rid of the fish smell and the vinegar smell, which I can't stand.
Post By fishing mom (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on everything
Well I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one! My daughter takes fish oil caplets, and the dogs got the entire bottle while we were sleeping. needless to say I woke up 3 hours early because the entire house smelled! They vomited it up everywhere. I have had NO luck I'm off to the store to get the voila and the enzymes (makes since) for pet oder another blog suggested. Wish me luck, if not I'm going to need a new carpet couch clothes you name it, they puked on it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Post By thatgirl (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I popped an omega3 soft gel capsule in pants pocket. Washed with every imaginable combo suggested here to no avail. Finally went with lulu's suggestion and put em in the sun for a day and voila. I live in Phoenix AZ and it was 97 here today. I gave em a squirt of fabreze before 'baking'.
Post By tom hayden (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I had my husband do the same thing to my clothes and I am in the process of trying to get it out, Well I have figured it out. I went to the hardware store and bought LESTOIL. It is cheap and worked great. It smells like pinesol but just wash yet again in normal detergent and voila! Hope this helps
Post By Rachael (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I tried everything, finally bought a product called Zero Odor and it did the trick! http://www.zeroodorstore.com/
Post By CB (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
White vinegar and hot water work if used alone. You can not add it to the detergent or softener though. It will deactivate it.
Either do a pre soak or in place a fabric softener. If it doesn't work you did something wrong.
Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Any problems with fish oil pet supplement spray leaving yellow stains on vinyl flooring around dog dishes. I have some yellow areas on my floor and the only thing I have done different is use some of this vet recommended spray in their food. What ever it is I can't get it off the floor any suggestions?
Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I made the fish oil pill mistake and all the clothes from that load are still stinky after trying vinegar several times, lemon juice, and various other citrus products. I just ordered a bottle of Zero Odor (not cheap). If this doesn't work, the clothes get trashed. Will let you know what happens. CB
Post By CB (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I washed my elderly Moms clothing and she had hid one of her Fish Oil Vitmans in her pant pocket. Washing all her clothes together, the whole load of clothes smelled like a fish. I tried the suggestions for baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice by themself as well as together to no avail. After about 5 to 6 washings, the smell was still as bad as when I began. Finally, I tried the one suggestion to use Mr Clean Antibacterial. I filled the bathtub and put 1 1/2 cups of Mr Clean and Palmolive Oxy Dish Soap(1/4 cup) in the water with all her clothes and let them soak for 7 to 8 hrs. Then I put them back in the washing machine on warm water and no laundry detergent, instead I put 1 cup of vinegar in it's place. Also 2 rinses. It finally WORKED!
Post By Patsy (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I have the fish oil smell and yellow stain on white sheets! FYI: I tried a doctor's advice on TV about fish oil also good for the skin, soft and less wrinkles. He was sure right, but didn't mention it doesn't soak in your skin very quickly, so I now have it on a pillow case and top edge of flat sheet! I tried the "Right Stuff" degreaser but it's yellow too. Smell may be better but the stains are still there. I haven't tried bleach yet because I was afraid it would set the oil in. Any suggestions?
Post By chris (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
My daughter accidentally squeezed a fish oil capsule into her hair - washed it once but reeks of fish smell - please help
Post By Tami (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I wonder if epsom salt/ salt soaks would work....it gets fish smell off of cutting boards and hands when rubbed with lemon juice
Post By faith hope (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Try ammonia! It worked 100% for us after many other remedies failed miserably.
Post By Aino (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
After working a factory job at a salmon processing plant, I thought my clothes were a lost cause. I've found that hanging the fishy clothes in the bright sunshine for a prolonged amount of time (I hung mine for three days, though just one day made a big difference), did wonders for getting a lot of the initial smell out. The sun is a powerful odor-remover! After that, the washings had much less work to do and were more effective.
Post By lulu (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Was on vacation and had to take my fish oil pill, but we were heading to a snorkeling adventure. I put the pill in my pocket to take with something to drink before I was to enter the beach water. I forgot, the pill disolved in my pocket. Hours later, in my ship room, I took my suit off, and hung it to dry. Later that night my cabin reeked of the fish smell! No one elses did but mine! Couldn't understand it. Never remembering about the pill in my pocket thing until now....5 days later when I read the stories here. Gonna try all the methods above and pray! So far i have washed the bathing suit 4 times with no luck. Have to experiment with some of the other mentioned methods! Thanks all
Post By TEUT (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Mine has the smell and the yellow stain
did this happen to anyone else
Post By Barb (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Well everyone, I gave this a valiant effort but it is time to say goodbye to my brand new jeans. All four pairs.
I tried the Mr. Clean Anti-Bacterial soak, the Wisk and the Baking Soda. My jeans still reek of fish. I'll let them go, head to Kohl's and plunked down another $200.
Been fun though.
Post By Kevin (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I too forgot about a fish oil capsule in my jeans pocket. Washed them with 3 other pairs of new jeans! I am trying the Mr. Clean antibacterial cleaner and am noticing that it is pulling some die out my new jeans. Oh well, better than throwing them away. They're NEW!!
Post By Kevin (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
Hi! A similar thing happened me...my husband accidentally put a towel in with our wash....we had used the towel to mop up a broken bottle of fish oil we had bought at the pet store. I'm curious...where would I be able to buy "Right Stuff" Citrus Cleaner ?
Post by EDYE
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I used about 1 cup of "Right Stuff" Citrus Cleaner (orange citrus de-greaser) in warm water wash and warm water rinse. I had tried baking soda, lemon juice, oxyclean, simple green, and vinegar all at separate times. The citrus cleaner was the only thing that worked for me. I think that was by wash number 15 and I am not kidding. Those little fish pills pack quite a fish punch!
Post By Jodi O. (Guest Post)
RE: Fish Smell on Clothing
I tried vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, Oda Bon<(sp?), I have washed it 8 times and it smells as bad as it did the first day. I even used the detergent my husband uses when he hunts to get all the smells out of clothes so the deer don't smell human scent. HELP!!
Post By Tina (Guest Post)
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