What can remove the chemical smell from dry cleaned clothing?

Question

Both my husband and I dry clean a bunch of our work clothes. The result is a closet that constantly has the dry clean chemical smell. I try to let my clothing air out before hanging it up, but between all our clothing the smell is still there.

I've considered buying some cedar blocks but wondered if that would simply "mask" or cover the odor. What about baking soda? That absorbs odors in the fridge, might it work in the closet too?

Anyone ever had this problem and found a good solution? I want to get rid of the smell not mask it. Thanks!

Answer 1

tumble

Answer 2

You might try tumbling these items in your drier on air fluff and place one of those drier sheet in with it.  Tumble for about 5 to 10 minutes and remove items immediately  (not recommended for real delicate items).

Answer 3

Airing-out is the best way to get rid of any odor (and not just mask it) however, from a truly professional, full-service dry cleaner your clothes should have no smell to begin with.  It may be that someone is "short-cycling" the reclaiming cycle (i.e., drying and aeration cycle) in the machine to save time and money.  Or a "newbie" in the industry may not know the difference and thinks that's the way it is supposed to be. Tell your cleaner about your concern.  Be sure you dealing with an owner/operator and that the cleaning is done on premises.

Answer 4

Hi,

well, keep the closet open until the smell is completely gone, and completely air out newly cleaned clothes before putting them in.  not sure if the smell completely ever goes away - leaving tons of clothes out for a week can get unsightly and annoying.

i keep those conical gel blob things of air freshener in the closet, you know, twist to open? and also some fabric softener sheets, both for the aroma, but also to deter bugs.  they also have those blob things available in odor eliminator varieties.

i never tried baking soda, but i do vacuum the closet using arm and hammer pet fresh odor eliminator carpet powder - not that i let kitty in there and he does NOT smell, thank you, but i use it on the rest of the house to help loosen the hair.  it has a very nice smell, and it is baking powder.  also comes in other scents not pet-related and baking soda based as well.

if you don't have carpeting in there you could try an area rug and sprinkle it with the stuff for odor-elimination, then periodically shake it out and wash it - unless you have a tiny vacuum or vacuum tools to use on it.

you could try lysol or other odor eliminating spray, but it's hard to avoid your clothes when spraying.

that's all i got.