Stench of fabric softeners

[toggleswitch2]

.
~I've read that even with men doing more domestic chores these days, that laundry remains the women's domain in homes with both sexes. And it seems that many women like their linen closets to smell like lavender vanilla mango gladiola with mega blast permanent pearls of scent burst.

Funny, no matter how much of that stuff is used it is impossible to mask the smell of the ocean. But anyway...

Maybe it IS a gender thing. Women can tell the differences in colors much better than men, "That doesn't match, dear" she says. But men can see better in dim lighting. So in dim lighting during a "romantic" dinner She proobaly sees very little beyond her table and finds it a turn-on that (in her beleif) he can't see anyone else. "He's into me and me only, I'm so special)" He actually probably sees quite clearly who and what else is going on and feels great that she can't tell what and who he is looking at. No (outward) jealousy, no possesiveness and no clinginess....

We are all limited by our own perceptions and congnitions and tend to project onto ouhers our own stengths and weaknesses

I wonder if smells trigger fond memories more in women than in men. and I'm guessing different smells cause different reactions in the genders.

 

[charbee]

Some folks (like me!) are extremely sensitive to artificial "stank." Scents from laundry smells to (especially) colognes and aftershaves. I get choked, my throat starts to close, and my bronchials start to swell shut.

We went to a restaurant for lunch last week, and made the mistake of sitting in the booth next to a gaggle of "state worker ladies" on their lunchbreak. We had to get up and move, the stank of all their different "floral" perfumes was so strong, I couldn't breathe, much less think about trying to eat.

Laundry shouldn't smell like *anything* but clean! That's why we decided to start making our own homemade powder and using the vinegar in place of softener. Well, the rampaging raccoons drinking all the liquid detergent helped with that decision, but still...!

 

[danemodsandy]

And Then There Are...

...People who think that because they like a scent, everyone else is supposed to like it, too! I still shudder when I remember something that happened about twenty years ago. I went to the Brass Key in Atlanta, at that time a really good restaurant. We were into our first courses when the maitre'd seated a couple next to our foursome. The woman had evidently marinated herself in Jungle Gardenia perfume - she smelled like every gardenia in the world all rolled into one! In case you don't know, the combination of a gardenia scent and food odours is absolutely sick-making. We had to cut our visit very short, tummies a-heave. Fortunately, the restaurant's staff were very understanding, permitting a cancellation of orders - they weren't having any more fun around the stench than we were. It seemed that Our Lady of the Gardenias was a regular, and that this wasn't the first time she'd cleared out the joint, but she was just too socially prominent to mess with.

 

[ptcruiser51]

Suavitel

Is my sister's favorite. Talk about staying power! I recently had to house-and-cat-sit for her and my BIL. I did TWO loads of wash in her Performa using my regular Oxydol (I don't use softener) before the residual scent finally was gone. What does it do, penetrate the enamel?

Once in awhile I use 1/2 cup of vinegar in the dispenser just to cut any residual detergent left behind. It does soften a little, just enough for me.

 

[travlincub321]

I use gains liquid softner and its fine for my tastes... we usualy use the matching detergant as well.. Works just fine for us..
Snuggle, Suavital, Anything abonormally scented (NEW Downy with Ultra Migraine HEadache Scent and Febreeze..I mean Fresh Scent MEdows Rain..Or Downy Simple Pleasure Cat Pee...No wait is that Orchid Allure??)and just most of the ickky scents...

Gain works fine for us

My grandmother uses snuggle.. when i go to her house, a load gets ran and everything gets de snuggled

 

[toggleswitch2]

Why, people why?

Actually it took me months to get the smell of Bounce softener sheets out of a dryer that came with my house.

 

[circlew]

Stopped using softener

Used Downy up until a few months ago, but quit because I no longer liked the way any of it smelled, the increasing cost, and think it was causing me to itch. I always take the clothes out of the dryer as soon as it stops, and I haven't really noticed many more wrinkles. I agree with Iheartmaytag that the odor turns foul after awhile. I was still using softener when I packed away my Winter clothes in April, and a couple weeks ago when I got them out, the garments had a strange odor, like that of varnish or paint, of which I had used neither in the house since putting them away. As for detergent, I've been using Sears Ultra Plus for the past couple years, and am satisfied with it. Smells good and doesn't leave strong fragrance on items. Saw some Tide Institutional formula powder when in GFS, and sniffed at the box, and it seems to have the smell of the old Tide I remember. It's the formula they sell for washing floors, walls and dishes. Have any of you used it? Is is suitable for use in an automatic washer, or just a wringer?

 

[jeffg]

> I probably shouldn't stoop to the level of people who feel the need to slag off other's laundry habits when it is entirely uncalled for, but what can I say, I'm rather hot-headed and I don't take kindly to bull**** <

Wow, sounds like I struck a nerve. Sorry.

LOL

 

[gansky1]

An extremely rare softener user here as well. I can't stand the scent of most products on the market now, the Downy Stupid Pleasures offerings are among the most baffling and offensive IMO. I don't like food-scented anything, except food and cannot tolerate in laundry at all.

I've been using a laundry detergent from my local chemical supply house called "Royal" that has almost no perceptible scent after the wash cycle. It's their own mixture and even has phosphates for added cleaning power. They have a softener product as well called "Fluffo" that works very well and has a very light scent, but I rarely use it. I couldn't resist because of the name - of course ;-)

 

[rayjay]

Gansky, I agree with the Downy simple pleasures. The Lavender vanilla makes me gag. Now WHY could't they just make lavender which is a nice scent????

 

[panthera]

Of course,

There may be something to the strongly held if anecdotal opinion that gay men have better noses than straight me do.

Could that be part of it? What to us smells far too strong is ok for heterosexual men?

 

[westingman123]

oxydol

Oh, how I wish it could be found around these parts!! Oxydol disappeared about a year ago, much to my frustration. I do find that Final Touch used at 1/2 strength does the job without running me from the room.

 

[danemodsandy]

Keith:

Oxydol has been "re-positioned" as a value brand, don't ask me why. Redox merged with ChemPro, creating a new company called CR Brands; the new company is who lowered the price. I'm seeing Oxydol in Big Lots, Dollar General, and the like. Hy-Vee also has it, and they do have some Missouri locations.

Hope something in here helps!

 

[yogitunes]

Dollar Tree has oxydol liquid......and you can order it thru their website by the case and have it shipped to you....cheaper than getting it at the grocery store "on sale"!

 

[danemodsandy]

Also, Keith:

There's a Hy-Vee in Raytown, if you ever get to the KC area.

Plus you get to drink in that wonderful Thelma Harper ambience!

 

[laundromat]

Gain

I sware by Gain(P&G)fabric softner. I enjoy my clothes smelling fresh and clean.it is one of yhe only lingering smell FS's I have used since it was introduced a few years ago.I used to use Final Touch but can't find it anymore.gain's aroma matches the detergent they make.I used unsented Downy after I couldn't find FT.That kept the smell of Gain in my loads.I hang my wash out and the clothes smell so good!!

 

[rll70sman]

Oxydol laundry soap

Oxydol was mentioned in the last several threads. I haven't seen that soap since I was a kid and my grandma used it in her 1976 Maytag wringer washer with the square tub. The suds seemed to last forever and the clothes always had a nice clean scent as they came out of the dryer. I'd like to try this soap again. Is it as good as it was when it was made by Procter & Gamble? Any preference for liquid or powder?

 

[danemodsandy]

Rob:

I find the new Oxydol to be a good cleaner, and I like the scent. As I've said, it reminds you of classic Oxydol, without actually smelling just like it. The scent I use is the "Smells SOOOOOO Good" formula; they also make a mango-scented version which I haven't tried (and ain't gonna, either!).

Things come out smelling fresh, not flowery. And during my partner's final illness, he had many accidents that Oxydol got out without any trouble. I did presoak in cold for some stains, of course.

 

[danemodsandy]

Oh, Rob:

My comments apply to the liquid. In the house I was in, a poorly sloped washer drain pipe meant that we could not use powders at all, sad to say. Now that I've relocated, I'm looking forward to using the powder, because I don't like the plastic bottles used for liquids. Give me a good old biodegradable cardboard box any time.

 

[toggleswitch2]

There may be something to the strongly held if anecdotal opinion that gay men have better noses than straight me do.

Could that be part of it? What to us smells far too strong is ok for heterosexual men?


Well maybe it's part of Gaydar to help us sniff each other COUGH *out*.......