Laundry Washing Soda- Clothes smell like fish

Tapioca

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I just bought some washing soda to wash my clothes. And…. now my still-wet clothes smell like fish. I haven’t dried them yet, but I can’t see how that will help. And let’s say drying does help the scent, I assume this fish smell is because the washing soda is still on my clothes. Just like laundry detergents, I don’t want washing soda touching my skin either.

What’s up with this? Did anyone else have a similar experience when using washing soda? Help please
 

Perry Staltic

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Wash them again without the soda and see if that helps. Do you normally use one or two rinse cycles?
 
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I just bought some washing soda to wash my clothes. And…. now my still-wet clothes smell like fish. I haven’t dried them yet, but I can’t see how that will help. And let’s say drying does help the scent, I assume this fish smell is because the washing soda is still on my clothes. Just like laundry detergents, I don’t want washing soda touching my skin either.

What’s up with this? Did anyone else have a similar experience when using washing soda? Help please
Recently I had to wash a new mattress cover five times because it had a fish smell in it.
 

Sphagnum

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My chemistry is rusty so someone correct if I’m wrong here, but…

Washing soda is alkaline with a pH around 11
You could try neutralizing it with a safe acid. Lemon juice has a pH around 3; so both are 4 points off from 7 which is neutral.

I personally would soak it in lemon diluted with water, in a well ventilated space and see where that got me.

I’ve never used washing soda directly in the laundry myself. I usually soak the items in the soda and water for a few hours before wringing out and then giving it a full wash/rinse cycle in the machine. Never noticed any smells in that or any of the other applications I’ve used it for so I’m wondering if it had a reaction to something else you washed the item with (detergent, softener, etc) that formed whatever compound is causing the fish odor.
 
Joined
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My chemistry is rusty so someone correct if I’m wrong here, but…

Washing soda is alkaline with a pH around 11
You could try neutralizing it with a safe acid. Lemon juice has a pH around 3; so both are 4 points off from 7 which is neutral.

I personally would soak it in lemon diluted with water, in a well ventilated space and see where that got me.

I’ve never used washing soda directly in the laundry myself. I usually soak the items in the soda and water for a few hours before wringing out and then giving it a full wash/rinse cycle in the machine. Never noticed any smells in that or any of the other applications I’ve used it for so I’m wondering if it had a reaction to something else you washed the item with (detergent, softener, etc) that formed whatever compound is causing the fish odor.
In my post above the fish smell was in the new fabric. It makes me wonder if the fishy smell in a loaded laundry, like the OP, could by coming from a new item added to familiar laundry?
 

Sphagnum

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In my post above the fish smell was in the new fabric. It makes me wonder if the fishy smell in a loaded laundry, like the OP, could by coming from a new item added to familiar laundry?

Good call. I found a few articles online pointing to this:

“Formaldehyde Resin​

Formaldehyde resin is a chemical present in some clothes, especially new ones, and it gives a fishy smell. It’s meant to increase the fabric’s resistance to wrinkles and help dyes penetrate deeper. The only solution to this is to wash the clothes well until they no longer smell.”


One of the other articles (I couldn’t copy/paste because it threw me a subscription pop-up) mentioned that the odor is more like to happen when the resin isn’t given time to properly cure in the fabric.
 
Joined
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Good call. I found a few articles online pointing to this:

“Formaldehyde Resin​

Formaldehyde resin is a chemical present in some clothes, especially new ones, and it gives a fishy smell. It’s meant to increase the fabric’s resistance to wrinkles and help dyes penetrate deeper. The only solution to this is to wash the clothes well until they no longer smell.”


One of the other articles (I couldn’t copy/paste because it threw me a subscription pop-up) mentioned that the odor is more like to happen when the resin isn’t given time to properly cure in the fabric.
Oh wow I am good! :D Thanks for that bit of info. I had never smelled that smell before washing the recent cushy mattress topper my husband purchased. I will be reposting your find!
 
T

tca300

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Been washing my clothes for years in washing soda and never noticed any smell afterwards.
 

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