Bounce Sheets - Oh The Stench

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launderess

launderess

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Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage
As mentioned in a previous thread a new full box of Bounce FS sheets recently entered my stash. Problem is they are scented and their whiff is stinking up the place!

Box is closed and encased in *TWO* plastic bags, one of them a heavy Ziploc and still the scent is wafting through the house. This I cannot have so a solution must be found.

Thankfully weather this week has been cool and dry so windows are all open. Hate to think what it would be like if the place was closed up and AC running.

Methinks someone is going to get a *gift* of these things at upcoming Labour Day family events.
 
See Thread "New to Me...."

They were discarded at recycle area of building.

Thing is if the chemicals used to scent Bounce and other lingering laundry products for that matter are this strong one wonders at what people are breathing in 24/7?
 
A Bad, Bad Memory

My first Maytag dryer (an A608) had been owned by a Bounce fiend.

The erm, "scent" was evident while the dryer was still out in the yard being manhandled by the guy delivering it; it hadn't even been in the house yet.

Once it was inside, it was like Perfume Hell. It was eye-watering in its intensity.

Investigation showed why El Stinko Grande was so intense - there was a heavy, grey, waxy, greasy buildup of the softening agent all over the inside of the drum and the inside of the door; it had to be removed with mineral spirits and straight ammonia. Once this was accomplished, the odorific odor abated only slightly, generating further investigation....

The lint filter had a largish hole in it, allowing sheets to blow through the hole and into the interior of the dryer. Why this beauty (well, it was Almond, but it was my first Maytag, so I was willing to make allowances) had not caught fire is beyond me. On top of that, the lint buildup was also holding the "scent," and trust me, there was plenty of it.

A great deal of careful cleaning later, I got the stink down to a level that no longer made me wonder if I should call the Environmental Protection Agency, but I was in for a surprise....

As long as I owned that dryer, it was still a bit whiffy with Bounce - the smell never went completely away. Nothing I tried ever killed it; nothing I ever tried even impacted on it all that much.

Launderess, you need to get those things out of your home before Eau de Bounce forces you to move!
 
From what one has read all fabric softeners are to some extent bad for automatic clothes dryers. Both liquid, bar and sheet contain waxes and oils that are deposited on internal dryer surfaces including sensors as treated loads are dried.

I've seen persons put two, three, or more FS sheets into Laundromat dryers. It is no wonder all interiors are badly discoloured and so much maintenance.
 
I Don't See....

....Buildup from my own use of a liquid softener. I have a pair of Maytag 806's, and I use Sun's Cuddle Soft "Mountain Breeze" formulation, the least odorific softener I can find.

The trick, I find, is paying attention to the dosing instructions and not using too much. I use the softener dispenser cup on the washer, keeping it clean, and I end up with neither overly heady laundry nor dryer-drum buildup.

An 806 dryer is a fully automatic-shutoff machine, with sensors, and I would not want to have softener-related issues with it. And I haven't so far, knock wood.
 
Smelly Bounce

Laundress: Google "Smelly Bag" you will find plastic bags that will not let anything out.
 
We once had a box of the UK version of Persil Bio powder. Same thing. It stunk up the house so bad our eyes were watering. We put it out in the garage for a few months to let it "cool down". The garage even reeked of it for months.

But after about 6 months the odor was a lot less intrusive so we used it and were very happy with the results. Must have been a real fresh batch.
 
Dear

Is it possible that the person that left them there, found them to be too overly scented, maybe just set them out, as to not waste, and for someone to come along that wouldn't mind them over scented?
 
Ariel (P&G's premium detergent in this part of the world) went through a phase of being super-whiffy too. It seems to be toned down a bit again, however it was really strongly scented for a while.

Ariel's scent is a little hard to describe. It's not floral and it's not pine. It's just "ariel".

Persil (Unilever) also has quite a pungent and distinctive scent which tends to last for a long time.

In the past, Persil had very little scent, or at least a mild scent, but that was replaced by the current version which is a lot stronger.

I quite like the scent of Persil's Small and Mighty liquids. They're again, not a floral scent, but just a detergent scent.

Bounce or Lenor Dryer Sheets as they're now branded over here, are pretty strong smelling.

We've a Bosch heatpump dryer, so they won't be going anywhere near it though. I don't think wax build up in the heat-pump components would be particularly good for the machine.

Bounce definitely used to be more popular here when I was a kid. I distinctly remember the scent of it wafting around from neighbour's dryer exhaust vents when I was a kid.

You have to remember that these products are designed to leave lingering scents too, so they're very hard to get rid of.

The only detergents around here that seem to leave no trace of a lingering scent are SureCare (which is deliberately scent free) or some of the ecological ones like Ecover which will just leave a very slight lingering trace of some kind of essential oil that disappears after a short time.
 
While waiting for my SQ to be repaired I am using a laundromat. And I have been amazed at what I see people doing and using. The place has 30 lb Maytag front loaders which actually wash fairly well - average cycle time for "whites" is 45 minutes and wonder of wonders, that setting actually provides a hot wash. I have used several laundromats over the years where the "hot" wash is merely warm at best.
Anyway, 30 lbs or not, yesterday was the one that nearly did me in. Someone came in with a huge duffel bag, literally stuffed the machine to the point where the door would almost not close and proceeded to add 5 scoops of regular Gain powder to the pre wash cycle and then another 5 as the main wash began. The clothes were packed so tightly that even once everything got wet, nothing could move. And of course she chose a cold water wash for her enormous mixed load - whites (some of the dingiest I have ever seen), colors, towels, jeans, athletic clothes. That is probably the reason there wasn't a fountain of suds coming out of the top of the machine. We get to the final rinse and almost half a bottle of Gain fabric softener was poured in the dispenser as the water was entering the machine. But wait, we are not through. Now it is time to dry, and what happened? You guessed it, two Gain dryer sheets were added to each load. I almost said something but decided most laundry advice is not welcomed. The smell of Gain was heavy in the air to say the least. Are people really that disinterested in how their clothes look?
 
Stench

I agree, Launderess and Danemodsandy, about the stench from 'Bounce'. My former partner used it in my English Electric dryer, which unfortunately is too fragile to dismantle and clean, and so sits with the door shut to contain the stink, as it is no longer my 'daily drive'.

I used to cut the sheets into quarters for her (a quarter sheet is more than enough - even if you do like that sort of thing!!) in order to limit the stench on clothes, and hopefully damage to a classic machine.

Only time will tell.....

All best

Dave T
 
Bounce

I actually used to really like the scent of original bounce, when it used to come on a roll, ofcourse back then I didn't know about the problems it could cause in the dryer, and probably wouldn't have used it if I did! Can't remember the last time I used the dryer though anyway, so it wouldn't really be worth my while buying them anymore!

 

No one really seems to use it these days over here, mind you, liquid softner scents have become so overpowering and long lasting that there really is no point!

 

As for Persil Bio powder, I wouldn't have said it had a particularly strong scent, just leaves a mild fresh scent after washing I find.

 

Matt
 
I too liked the scent

and it was really nice on a winters day to smell the dryer all warm and scented now I have trouble finding bounce sheets we seem to have " Lenor " ones instead but no where near as nice as original bounce.
Ah well no good to me any more as heat pump dryers do not get hot enough to make the scent for the clothes so mine are in the back of the cupboard waiting to be gifted.

Austin
 
Waved bye-bye to fabric softeners with the acquisition of the 2010 Frigidaire front-loading pair. Don't miss the stuff at all, and as is often the case with former smokers, wondered why I'd used it for all those years. No build-up in washer, dryer, or fabrics.

frigilux++8-17-2013-07-09-17.jpg
 
Frigilux:

"Don't miss the stuff at all"

Did you grow up with softener being used on your clothes, by any chance?

I did not - Mom was too, erm, "thrifty" to use it. I vastly preferred the feel of my clothes when they'd been washed at my paternal grandmother's.

Once, I worked up my courage to suggest that since my clothes felt and smelled so nice when back from my grandmother's, that our family might also possibly benefit from the use of softener.

I was basically told it was "sissy" to have any desire whatsoever for towels that could not be used to grate Parmesan cheese.

Later, of course, Mom discovered Bounce, and started a love affair with softener. Her main objection seems to have been that she would have had to put liquid softener in at the right time, and she was notoriously absent-minded about that sort of thing.

Much simpler to warp your kids than to say you weren't so hot at remembering stuff like that.
 
I found when I have an expensive bar of soap that I don`t want to use immediately it is way more effective to wrap it generously in aluminum foil than using a zip log bag to keep the scent from fading. Should work the other way around (not stinking up the place) as well.

Personally I love the fragrance of Bounce Outdoor Fresh, but am not too fond of dryer sheets. I wonder what might have kept P&G to introduce at least a liquid Lenor version with that wonderful scent in the EU. Is it too toxic to comply with European regulations ?
 
"They were discarded at recycle area of building."

I think that's a substantial hint. :)

Use of fabric softener in our house is limited to socks and not much else, unscented Downey with about half a teaspoon (no joke) regular Downey or Suavitel added. Depending on your detergent that may be all you need to pleasantly scent even a large load.

The only scented laundry products we use are Charlie's powder (I don't know if it has any added fragrance, it's mostly washing soda and that's what it smells like), Woolite and the fabric softeners. BTW we found the "for darks" Woolite has a great residual scent, it's what we use for lightly soiled clothes.
 
danemodsandy-- Every house I've lived in since birth has had a water softener, so fabric softeners don't make a big difference in results. My mom rarely used fabric softener; a bottle of watery, pink Hilex softener would last a couple of years. Began using Downy in college, and used it on nearly every load 'til 2010 when I liberated myself from it.[this post was last edited: 8/17/2013-21:45]
 
I personally like the scent of Bounce sheets, only the Outdoor fresh scent though. I don't think they are as overwhelmingly strong as they are being made out as; I have been known to use one or two sheets in a load, even with a Bounce bar in the dryer. I have never had an issue with buildup in the dryer, we have used them in every dryer we have owned, and aside from the usual brushing to remove lint and occasionally washing the lint screen, never had a problem with residue. We have a dryer at our other house that hasn't been used in almost a year, and the door has been closed. I am sure that if one was to open the door and have a whiff,there would be no smell whatsoever. I don't think a couple sheets per load hurts anything, but if you don't like them, don't use them. Simple as that.
 
Only if Static Cling is really a problem do I use fabric soft'ner sheets...

And some generic brand bought at one of my regional retailers (Aldi) is what I'm currently using now; big box of 'em, too...!

Both BOUNCE & GAIN really rank as the most strongest! (Be sure not to bag w/ anything other than scented and/or cleaning stuff when buyin' 'em...!)

-- Dave
 
Some -not all- dryer sheets smell sickeningly strong in the box, yet have little to no smell in use. I am a Cashier at Dollar tree, and one in particular are "Breezy" "Sun sky fresh" scent, which you can smell as a customer comes up to the checkout with them in their cart, and you can literally smell them coming down the conveyor. I have used them, and you literally can use 4 of the things and have -NO- smell left in the clothes. I think that is a waste, so I only bought them once. Same goes for most store brand dryer sheets (and liquid softener)
 
Sandy:

I also use Cuddle Soft sheets and like the fact that they don't stink up my clothes the way the overpowering name brands (like Laundress described with Bounce) have a tendency of doing.

Roughly (give or take) a year ago, I participated in a survey in which I was sent a bottle of fabric softener (Downy) to test and evaluate. I still have a little under half left. And when it does get used, I fill the cap up to almost the first line. The scent, if I use more, is a bit too much for me to handle.

I alternate on these items, but use them about every 3-4 trips to the laundromat to help eliminate that nasty static cling I get from time to time, and also to soften things up a bit.
 
Bill:

I'm a liquid softener fan myself.

One of the reasons I like Cuddle Soft liquid is that Sun makes refills available in paper cartons, like milk cartons. This eliminates buying a petrochemical bottle every time I buy softener.

I also like that my Maytag washer dispenses it automatically, with no intervention on my part, and no non-woven polyester dryer sheet * to dispose of (more petrochemicals) when the load is dry.

* Some are polyurethane foam. I just love the idea of urea in contact with my clothes, don't you? /sarcasm
 

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