Help! My Husband's Clothes Smell Like Pig Fat!

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Discussion Overview

This thread explores various methods for removing strong odors from clothing, particularly those associated with butchering and working in the pork industry. Participants share their personal experiences and suggestions for effective laundry techniques.

Discussion Character

  • Anecdotal, Opinion-based

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions using baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn dish detergent without success in removing the smell from their husband's butchering clothes.
  • Another participant suggests using bleach for clothes that are only worn for butchering, noting that it may be a practical solution.
  • One participant, identifying as a consultant in the pork industry, discusses using vinegar and suggests trying ammonia for odor removal, sharing that it has worked for them in the past.
  • Another participant recommends adding hydrogen peroxide to the wash cycle, while also cautioning about its potential to discolor fabrics.
  • Several participants mention using OxyClean and enzyme-based products like Try-Zyme, with mixed results reported regarding their effectiveness compared to ammonia and vinegar.
  • One participant shares their experience with M30, a stain remover, highlighting its effectiveness on various stains, including blood.
  • Another participant discusses the use of hairspray for ink stains, sharing a personal anecdote about dealing with ink on jeans.
  • One participant warns about the chemical reactions between vinegar and ammonia, advising caution when using multiple cleaning agents.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Views differ on the best method for odor removal, with no clear consensus emerging on a single effective solution. Participants share a variety of personal experiences and suggestions.

Contextual Notes

The discussion centers around personal laundry challenges faced by participants, particularly those involved in butchering or working with livestock, and the various cleaning products they have tried.

Who May Find This Useful

Consultants and community members dealing with similar laundry issues related to strong odors from work clothing may find the shared experiences and suggestions beneficial.

C
ChefMoore
Messages
181
Hey everyone, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with PC...but you all seem to have such great advice on all sorts of topics. I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on a laundry dilema I'm having.

My husband has recently decided to try his hand out at butchering our own meat. Him and his BIL have been butchering pigs the past couple weekends. When he comes home, his clothes smell like pig and pig fat. I've washed them multiple times and the smell will NOT come out! I've tried adding baking soda, adding vinegar, adding Dawn dish detergent. I don't know what else to try! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to put these clothes anywhere near the rest of our clothes because they make everything else smell too!
 
Well, that's a stinky situation! I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I would bleach it. Fact of the matter is, they are only going to wear the clothes to butcher again (and really who is going to see them?) so in stead of ruining other clothes, just keep bleaching them.

Sorry I dont have a better explaination...but maybe youll try it.
 
My husband works in the pork industry ... by pig smell do you mean hog waste or the meat smell? And how would you describe the pig fat smell?
I use vinegar to kill the smell in my DH's clothing when he has been in the barns. When we have butchered hogs I can't say that I've had trouble getting any smells out then. I'm assuming you are using hot water... There is a product called OdoBan .. it used to be in gallon jugs at Sams Club but it may be in WalMart now... that works very well for all kinds of odors. Actually... try Ammonia ... the plain white sudsy kind ... and use a cup or more in a load. When DH was in the pens every day that is what I used... it's cheap and it's worth a try.
 
Another thing to try is peroxide. Wash the butchering clothes separate from all the other things. Add 1/2 c peroxide to the wash cycle.
 
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  • #5
Diane,

When you use vinegar, how much do you use...maybe I'm not using enough.

Also, will ammonia or peroxide discolor the clothes because I accidently threw in a pair of my jeans when I was washing his the second time and the smell is on them too now. I don't care about ruining his work jeans because they are beat up anyways, but mine are nice!
 
I don't think ammonia will hurt, but peroxide will remove color.
 
I never had the ammonia discolor anything... so I think you are safe with that... I've used peroxide on blood stains and once when I used it straight... which is NOT a grand idea... :( .... it ate away some of the fabric on my sheet ... but I've never had a problem with peroxide when diluted in water... I've not used it for odor but it makes sense that it may work. It's the ingredient in Oxy Clean ... I use about 1/2 cup of vinegar in a load unless it's REALLY stinky and then I use a full cup. Someone on here suggested vinegar for the microfibre towels when they smelled and it worked so great I've been using it more and more. I had some bath towels that are old but good except I couldn't get the bad smell out... the vinegar did the trick on those too! Thanks to whomever suggested that awhile back.
 
What about Oxy Clean? I use that on my hubby's clothes (we have livestock, too) that stink with hot water. They come out ok. Actually, I have a sanitize option on my washer for things like that but all it does is make the water really hot.
 
raebates said:
I don't think ammonia will hurt, but peroxide will remove color.
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Ammonia won't hurt it a bit. You can put straight ammonia on clothing and it doesn't hurt it. It works so well that it will actually take dried blood right out.
 
I always use at least a cup of vinegar. I'm kind of anal about it though. I only want to have to wash once so I use more rather than less. Overkill? lol

Btw, on another thread, Charlies Soap was mentioned and I ordered some. That stuff is great! There's absolutely no odor on your clothes after washing. It just smells like clean fabric. I use it in the dishwasher, too. Maybe it's worth a try if he's going to be doing this alot. The only drawback is you have to run a load either empty or with a few rags with a couple of scoops first to get the detergent residue out of the washer. So if you only use it for his clothes, you'd have to do that every time maybe. I bought it mainly for hubby's hunting clothes but I'll be reordering it because I'm really impressed with it. Clothes come out soft, too. No softener needed.
 
OxyClean is an oxygen based cleaner, much like all-fabric bleach (Clorox 2). It's worth a shot to use it, what's it gonna hurt? DH and I have had good luck with Try-Zyme, an enzyme-based laundry booster available from Amway. It works alongside detergent to remove odors and stains, and it brightens, too. If there's an Amway distributor in your area it may be worth contacting them to get a box. (Actually, until about a month ago when my supplies ran out, all DH and I ever used on our laundry was Amway products.)
 
I've used both Oxy Clean and Try-Zyme and they work okay but not as good as the ammonia or vinegar have ... and they are both much cheaper. I'm thinking that with the animal fat... the ammonia will be your best first shot... and I'm SO excited to hear that the ammonia will work on dried blood... I'll be trying that out soon!!!! ;) Oh the topics of Chef Success! :)
 
Diane, anything protein based will work on dried blood because it's protein based, too. This is going to sound gross but the best way to get blood out is to spit on it. Unless it's a huge spot. You'd be there awhile. lol It's kind of like when you get a grease stain, you put something greasy like wd-40 to regenerate the grease in it so it'll come out.

The best stain remover I've found is called M30. It's in a tub like Go-Jo. The only place I've found it is Dollar General. The cost? A dollar. :) I've used it to remove blood, sharpie marker, grass stains, grease stains...everything I've tried it on, it's worked.
 
I LOVE M30 too! Just bought some at Dollar Tree last week! I have not tried it on blood though... cool!
 
Just how do you tell what cleaner is protein based and what isn't?
 
Good question. lol Some products will say if they'll remove protein stains but doesn't necessarily mean they will. I've never had any luck with spray n wash or shout. I guess Oxi-Clean is because it works with peroxide. That's why I mentioned the spit. lol That's the only thing I know for sure is protein based. :p
 
Sorry off topic but when my DD got her finger pretty bad I used peroxid to get the blood out. It as crazy I would do the peroxide leave thinking I got it all cleaned up then came back 15 mins later and it looked like someone died on my floor. Finally I did the peroxide put paper towels on top and a very heavy book finally got out of my carpet
 
Since we are talking about stains and such, how do I get ink pen out of my jeans? DH left a pen in his pocket and it went throw the dryer and bleed everywhere. The only problem is it's not a regular ink pen, it's one of the roller ink pens (with the thick "wet" ink if you KWIM). He doesn't care about his work jeans but I'm down to 3 pairs of jeans and one of them has ink spots all over!
 
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  • #19
I heard hairspray works on ink stains. I think I tried it once a long time ago, but I don't remember how it worked out.
 
JUST A WARNING - If you tried vinegar or other chemicals then want to try ammonia...run a rinse cycle in your washer first. Bleach and ammonia for sure do not get along (releases chlorine gas) and I'm pretty sure vinegar and ammonia don't get along the best either.So be cautious before you cause a chemical reaction.I personally use straight vinegar and for stuff like that you can use a cup or two without any problems.
 
Try Original Pine Sol works well for greasy/dirty butchering work clothes. I've used it on sheep ranching clothes. The aroma of sheep manure...lingers. Also suggest keeping the work clothes in a separate load. Put them in the machine directly after wearing. We used to hang the dirty clothes on the line and hose them down in decent weather, then wash!So consider running a load through rinse cycle to remove as much organic matter as possible. Then proceed with soaking/washing.
 
Hairspray works on regular ink but it's not so great on the gel inks. It'll take some of it out but not all of it. Try the M30 if you have a Dollar Tree or Dollar General in your area. It's worked on everything I've tried it on including gum on cloth sneakers. I usually put it on, let it stand for several hours, put a bit more on then wash. Sometimes I've had to do two applications and washes but not often.
 
RebelChef said:
Hairspray works on regular ink but it's not so great on the gel inks. It'll take some of it out but not all of it. Try the M30 if you have a Dollar Tree or Dollar General in your area. It's worked on everything I've tried it on including gum on cloth sneakers. I usually put it on, let it stand for several hours, put a bit more on then wash. Sometimes I've had to do two applications and washes but not often.
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Thanks, we have both in our area, I'll have to remember to look for it next time I'm there. It would be better than nothing, they are a fairly light colored jeans so the black splotches show up very easily.
 
When my daughter was 1 year old she fell and cut her head. She had a white dress on that got blood all over it. They told me at the hospital to soak it in peroxide, which I did and it didn't work. I always use Tide w/Bleach (the powerder kind which I think works better) so I read the directions on the box. It said to load the washer w/soap, water and then the clothes. Let it agitate for a while and then turn it off and let is soak all night. It then said to empty the water and start the cycle over again w/addtional Tide. This worked like a charm and got all of the blood stain out! The blood was almost over the entire dress.

Good luck,
 
wadesgirl said:
Thanks, we have both in our area, I'll have to remember to look for it next time I'm there. It would be better than nothing, they are a fairly light colored jeans so the black splotches show up very easily.
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For ink, try Spot Shot!! This stuff is wonderful! :love: It actually took permanent marker off of my couch when my son was 2 and decided to "color"! I'm talking black marker on a light blue-gray colored sofa!! LOVE that stuff!!:love:

As for the odor...my daughter works at Pizza Hut, and was having trouble getting those pizza smells out of her clothes.:yuck: We tried various things, and then I asked our dry cleaner if she could make any recommendations. She suggested a Spray 'N Wash, but it has two sides to it in the bottle, one side being a spot remover and one side being more of an oxygen type thing. I'm currently out of it, so I can't remember the exact name of it.:confused: However, it actually looks like 2 bottles blended together. It worked really well.

Hope that helps!!:balloon:

Paula
 
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