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We bought a bottle of Tide because we were low on detergent and normally we buy the one with bleach alternative as we have found that works very well for our needs. We ended up with a sporty one thinking that meant it was made for sweaty gym clothes. The STENCH from that detergent! OMG! You could kill a goat with it. I've worn the clothes washed in it. And gagged the entire time I wore them. The bedding was so awful to sleep with. We've washed everything at least 3-4 times now and it STILL stinks like that crap! UGH.
Ah yes, I have a bottle of that stuff. I work out frequently so I assumed it would be better at getting sweat out of workout gear. Turns out it's just regular Tide with a boatload of Febreze added to cover up the stench of the smelly gym clothes. The scent is definitely overpowering (lol at "you could kill a goat", which is sadly true). I don't use it anymore, I've just switched back to my normal detergent and upped the temperature to semi-warm (all the tags on all this stuff always say "cold delicate").
Ditto! The main reason I'm sensitive to fragrances now is that they are manufactured with chemicals instead of natural oils (more cost effective). That goes for fragrances added to detergent/fab softener; room freshener; shampoo; hand lotion; dish soap; deodorant; hair spray; candles, etc., etc.
That's might explain it because I have an awful reaction to most things that are scented, but perfume in particular. If we eat in a restaurant near someone wearing perfume I cough and sneeze and my eyes water until we leave. My son's ex wife only has limited visitation with our grandson but when she returns him after a visit he reeks from her perfume, I can't get near him until his dad bathes him and puts his clothes in the washer. And I'm not some kind of wuss & the only other allergies I have are contact allergies, to nickel, spandex and latex.
Amen to this. Deodorant, laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, cleaning products.... it's ridiculous. I always go for the unscented where possible. I don't need my dishes to smell like oranges, or my clothes to smell like lavendar or "mountain breeze", and the one time I accidentally bought "shower fresh" deodorant I could pretty much smell it all day (and on my clothes at the end of the day) every day I used it. Enough already.
I think someone else mentioned that many of the scents for perfume/soap products these days don't even smell good, and I agree with that as well. 90% of them are fruit (esp citrus or apple... ugh) or some nasty flower (lavendar) or generic vanilla, and not particularly pleasant.
We own a janitorial company, and all our products are scented. People expect it and to most people the smell of clean is fragrance, usually lemon or lately lavender, because people have heard about the antiseptic properties of lavender, but really, that's the essential oil, not the fake scent.
A carpet cleaner was hired once, did a great job on the carpet but used a superheated water/steam machine. The carpets were cleaned beautifully, and the area was refreshed....but no fragrance, and the residents complained he didn't do anything, because they couldn't smell anything.
Ah yes, I have a bottle of that stuff. I work out frequently so I assumed it would be better at getting sweat out of workout gear. Turns out it's just regular Tide with a boatload of Febreze added to cover up the stench of the smelly gym clothes. The scent is definitely overpowering (lol at "you could kill a goat", which is sadly true). I don't use it anymore, I've just switched back to my normal detergent and upped the temperature to semi-warm (all the tags on all this stuff always say "cold delicate").
Well, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it meant it was for gym wear! And it smells HORRIBLE! I really wonder who gave it the sniff test and said it was good. Honestly, I'd rather smell BO!!! At least, I won't end up with a headache for days or gag. Yuck!
We own a janitorial company, and all our products are scented. People expect it and to most people the smell of clean is fragrance, usually lemon or lately lavender, because people have heard about the antiseptic properties of lavender, but really, that's the essential oil, not the fake scent.
A carpet cleaner was hired once, did a great job on the carpet but used a superheated water/steam machine. The carpets were cleaned beautifully, and the area was refreshed....but no fragrance, and the residents complained he didn't do anything, because they couldn't smell anything.
Fragrance is what people want...
Only people like my dad who have ZERO sense of smell! He couldn't smell a rotting corpse 2 inches in front of his nose.
Well, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it meant it was for gym wear! And it smells HORRIBLE! I really wonder who gave it the sniff test and said it was good. Honestly, I'd rather smell BO!!! At least, I won't end up with a headache for days or gag. Yuck!
Gosh, I dislike those fake, heavy fragrances in cleaning products. Scented dryer sheets are like an asthma attack in a box for me. It's too bad that so many of us are apt dwellers these days, cuz there's nothing like clothing hung up on a line in the sun to dry & the beautiful fresh smell it has when folding.
As with others, add allergies to that & I'm currently super itchy with what looks like mosquito bites all over my upper body from a new laundry detergent... some white/blue packet things (the blue is liquid & the middle is white powder) that I purchased as they're just easier for traveling, now that I'm currently on the road. But, honestly, I feel like I could roll around on the carpeting like a pooch just out of the tub. Every cream I use makes it worse, so I'll now just bear with it 'til it disappears & in the meantime, look like I play in hornet's nests on my days off.
But, in the hopes it helps others, I have found there are 2 laundry detergents I can use & the scent isn't overpowering, at least for me. One is Era. It's now carried at Walmart. In fact, my mum was a nurse & said her dermatologists recommended it for allergic patients. The drs also used to say that Tide caused the most allergies.
The other is the cheapest stuff on the market. There are giant plastic bags filled with laundry detergent powder sold in many stores for $1.69. Must be 32 - 64oz bags for that price & they even carry gigantic bags like those enormous bags of dog food. The writing is all Spanish. They smell mild, clean well & I have no idea what the name is, but I suppose you'll need to live in an area with a high Spanish speaking population.
Otherwise, I bought green wash balls for my mum to use in lieu of detergent & they really do work. I thought clothing might no smell fresh, but it's fine, just absent of scent. Once I'm settled, I'll begin using them, too.
Lastly, I also gave my mum dryer balls to use in lieu of scented sheets & she said they work fine for static cling, leaving no scent. Both the washer/dryer balls are affordable now... they used to be $25... & can be found in many places online or even discounted at Bed & Bath. Many brands, styles & colors today.
Gosh, I dislike those fake, heavy fragrances in cleaning products. Scented dryer sheets are like an asthma attack in a box for me. It's too bad that so many of us are apt dwellers these days, cuz there's nothing like clothing hung up on a line in the sun to dry & the beautiful fresh smell it has when folding.
As with others, add allergies to that & I'm currently super itchy with what looks like mosquito bites all over my upper body from a new laundry detergent... some white/blue packet things (the blue is liquid & the middle is white powder) that I purchased as they're just easier for traveling, now that I'm currently on the road. But, honestly, I feel like I could roll around on the carpeting like a pooch just out of the tub. Every cream I use makes it worse, so I'll now just bear with it 'til it disappears & in the meantime, look like I play in hornet's nests on my days off.
But, in the hopes it helps others, I have found there are 2 laundry detergents I can use & the scent isn't overpowering, at least for me. One is Era. It's now carried at Walmart. In fact, my mum was a nurse & said her dermatologists recommended it for allergic patients. The drs also used to say that Tide caused the most allergies.
The other is the cheapest stuff on the market. There are giant plastic bags filled with laundry detergent powder sold in many stores for $1.69. Must be 32 - 64oz bags for that price & they even carry gigantic bags like those enormous bags of dog food. The writing is all Spanish. They smell mild, clean well & I have no idea what the name is, but I suppose you'll need to live in an area with a high Spanish speaking population.
Otherwise, I bought green wash balls for my mum to use in lieu of detergent & they really do work. I thought clothing might no smell fresh, but it's fine, just absent of scent. Once I'm settled, I'll begin using them, too.
Lastly, I also gave my mum dryer balls to use in lieu of scented sheets & she said they work fine for static cling, leaving no scent. Both the washer/dryer balls are affordable now... they used to be $25... & can be found in many places online or even discounted at Bed & Bath. Many brands, styles & colors today.
Most of our clothing and sheets and towels are cotton. There is no need to add fabric softener or use those dryer sheets. Even in winter.
In the rare times I use a fabric softener, I have a small bottle and I use 1/4 the amount they recommend.
I've heard, but not looked into, dryer sheets coating up the lint trap and making the dryer work harder and causing fires. I don't like them anyhow...so I'll stick with not using fabric softener at all, or just a few drops in the rinse of cotton/poly sweatshirts.
I have a friend at whose house I hate to drink anything (except directly out of the can or bottle) because every glass smells like fruit/flowers and tastes like chemicals.
I have a theory about this "generation of stink". You know how younger people are often listening to loud music through large, padded headphones. They go to concerts where their bones vibrate with the heavy bass beat, that would drive away most older folks. Well they say that tests reveal that typical people in their 30s and younger, have permanently lost half their hearing from it. So, to get the effect, the sound gets turned up louder, more damage occurs and so on.
So there may be a similar thing happening to their sense of smell. They've used these strong, harsh chemicals so heavily or people with whom they're in close contact use them, to the point that their noses and olfactory centers in their brains have been overwhelmed. What to me would be a hard, revolting stench, is just a delicate scent to them. So, they put on more of it, to compensate. No young guy, who expects to score, is going to tell a girl that she smells like a cheap streetwalker.
Those who grow up eating hot chiles, have numbed their taste buds and laugh at us, who wince when we eat even the most mild variety. There are so many examples where people have abused and diminished their senses. I once went to record the video of an invitational track meet, between teams from various high schools around the country. For a half hour before the competition, giant loudspeakers blasted out music so loud, it was painful and unbearable to me. Fortunately, in my equipment bag, there was a padded headphone set and rubber earplugs. Only with them, could I have stayed in the stands, although i saw no bad responses from the athletes or their coaches and parents. Those older people had probably been exposed to it so much, that their own ears were damaged.
So that should be one of the next political frontiers, to control sensory overload, that is permanently damaging. But those whose senses are already mostly gone, would think it's ridiculous.
Perfume is the foulest of gifts. Nothing ruins a romantic dinner like someone sitting at a table next to me, reeking of an unnatural stench.
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Explanation for the Assault of Foul Smells
