Long story short: my beagle ate a bunch of fish oil capsules and, fortunately for her health, she threw them up on my bed. Now I can't get the smell of fish out of my beautiful new cotton woven bedspread and sheets! Any suggestions before I have to replace them?
Christina from Greenville, NC
I would try washing with ammonia. Let me know if you have success :) God bless you! I'm glad your dog is okay. (08/19/2007)
By SL Edens
I would try a heavy dose of vinegar in the laundry, then wash an extra time to remove the vinegar smell. I also have had very good luck setting things outside in the harshest sunlight of the day. The sun is a natural whitener and deodorizer, I have never had anything fade yet. Just recently I started using febreeze (Target brand) on my throw pillows and bedspread to avoid over washing, I spray and set in the hot hot afternoon sun for a few hours, I am very impressed with the results! (08/21/2007)
By MrsMom43.
If you put Oxy Clean in your washing machine with Laundry detergent the smell will come out. It is a great product for getting smells out. I have gotten Cat Urine smell out of my car and bathmat when my cat was sick. I swear by the stuff. I use in on the carpets, clothes, all over. There is a new product too that is Spray n' Wash with Oxy Clean in it. That works great for stains too. Love it! (08/21/2007)
By Molissa
I live on a farm. Believe me when I say I *know* about odors! My all time favorite remedy for offensive smells is enzymatic spray. The enzymes actually 'digest' the odor molocules! It works especially well on places where an animal has urinated. The urine gets altered by the enzymes and the animal can't smell where it has peed.
By Cheryl
Ammonia could fade out the color from these cotton materials. I used it on some dark green towels, and it removed the stale smell, but also changed the color. I would try adding baking soda to the wash. It is a base, like ammonia, but is not as strong. It is also very good with odors -- that is why you put a box in your fridge, right? It says on the box to use it as a laundry additive, and bases are good for removing oil residue, which may be why your sheets are still smelling of fish.
Another thing to try, if the baking soda doesn't work, and the regular laundry additives don't work, is handcleaner that the mechanics use to remove grease and oil from their hands. Of course, some of these have an abrasive, and you don't want that, but it might be worth a try if the regular things don't get the fish smell out.
Louise, Nipawin, SK (08/23/2007)
By Louise B.
My 4-year-old daughter gets liquid fish oil in the mornings and she got sick at school, puked all over her sleeping bag, pants and my coat. The fish smell came out of her sleeping bag fine, but still lingered a little on my coat and A LOT on her jeans. The smell must hold better in certain fabrics. Anyway, my coat and her jeans had to go through a few rounds of wash. 1st I tried detergent, oxi clean and backing soda. No go. 2nd I tried pouring vinegar on the spots and then dumping baking soda over it. Then I washed it again in detergent and a non-chlorine bleach.
By What am I going to do now?
My daughter takes fish oil supplements and one squirted all over our new couch. Any ideas how to get the oil stain and the fish smell out of something I can't throw in the wash? (09/16/2008)
By amaya
I soaked shorts in a bucket of warm water and oxyclean for several days. The fish oil smell is gone! (09/25/2008)
By Adrienne
I had a whole bottle of fish oil break in a travel bag; here is what we've learned from our very unpleasant "fish oil epidemic." If you get a substantial amount of oil on clothes: DON"T PUT IT THROUGH THE LAUNDRY! This gets into the machine somehow, and we fished two more loads. I finally got the smell out of these loads with 2 cups bleach added to the wash (after vinegar didn't work). But I haven't been able to help the stuff that has oil on it: the fish oil has hardened into a yellow stain on denim and on our comforter (I've also tried carpet cleaner and straight bleach). Will try oxyclean and shout! next, but don't have high hopes... (11/13/2008)
By AKB
Here is how I solved this problem: I tried soaking the clothing in vinegar overnight. That didn't work at all. Now they smelled of fish oil and vinegar. Not a great combination. It's amazing how those little capsules stink! Then I tried another overnight soak in Shout. Nope. Still stinky. At this point I started worrying that my jeans and shirts were going to mildew and have to be thrown out. But as jeans are expensive, I wasn't ready to give up.
After more research online, I decided to try enzymes. I went to the pet store and bought Nature's Miracle, a preparation containing enzymes that is made to deal with pet accidents. I have used it in the past for spot cleaning on carpets, and it worked fairly well. Apparently they also make a laundry detergent, and while that is expensive - 12 bucks Canadian - the store owner assured me it worked. They have a website, so you can look it up.
I washed the clothes in warm water with two capfuls (twice the recommended amount) of the detergent, twice. It got rid of 90 per cent of the smell - it really seems to 'stick' to denim. The tshirts at this point were smell-free. Yay! I then did a final wash with regular detergent and a half-cup of bleach, in warm water. FINALLY the smell came out.
So the enzymes in Nature's Miracle did the trick, along with a final wash of regular detergent and bleach. They are purported to be available in almost all pet stores. I think you could get away with just the regular stuff, rather than the detergent, but it worked for me.
Don't waste your time on vinegar! And the Nature's Miracle is also environmentally friendly.
(02/20/2009)
By Mouse
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