Diane Gilman jeans- chemical stink!!

It’s not just Diane’s.  I notice a lot of clothes have that horrible chemical smell no matter where you buy it.

ty for sugestions:}

:smileyhappy:

I would Never go through those steps to ‘get rid’ of chemical odors on clothing. It is junk and I would not purchase it. If I did purchase it, I wouln’d keep it. Even if you got rid of the chemical smell, the Reason for the chemical smell is still  present, and Therein lies the problem. Whatever chemicals or chemical process that is done to cause clothes to have a chemical odor, also has turned the ‘clothes’ into Junk!  Junk that I don’t want.

So glad you brought this up yes I had gotten two pairs to review and it had the awful smell of chemicals I washed the jeans and they still had that smell I have no idea but it can’t be good to have that strong of an odor it even felt dirty to the touch and they faded so bad they looked several years old after the washing even in cold water.

I tried fabric softener in washer, then sheets in dryer on delicate, and still stunk. Sooo angry, I flung them on a counter in basement, and month later they still smelled. Well, washed them in every load of dark clothes, about a dozen times before they didnt stink. Well, wore them on a super hot day while outdoors for hours, and guess what, the humidity from my body made them smell like when you leave clothes in washer forgotton for 2 days!! Soooo Mom suggested I lay them inside out in the sun on the grass. Wierd, but almost no more odor!!

I dont think her tsv have any chemical smell.

Soaking in baking soda and water has been tried. Washing after soaking in baking soda and a vinegar rinse has been tried. In another post I read the jean owner had success in getting rid of the smell after drying the jeans. She didn’t say if she used high heat or what. If I was going to try the heat method, I’d take them to the laundry mat. Late at night when no one else is there to breathe the fumes. 

:womansad:GOT SOME FLIPFLOPS THAT STUNK OF GASOLINE – MADE IN CHINA OF COURSE.  (NOT FROM HSN)  THEY WERE STINKING UP THE WHOLE BEDROOM.  I DUMPED THEM.  WHEN WILL OWNERS OF COMPANIES STOP TRYING TO POISON US?

I continue to read about the Diane Gilman products, and think that she must be laughing all the way to the bank. Her followers will buy anything that she sells…and she knows it. I use to get just a few laughs at what she pushes off on her customers…now I laugh all the time because she keeps pushing her poor quality products…and thousandsof people buy it…it’s almost like a sad joke being played on her followers/customers over and over.

When all else fails…soak the pants in a mixture of baking soda and water.

Thank you all for all your wonderful ideas. Kinda scarey if these chemicals don’t wash out and then you wear them & the chemicals go into your pores. Maybe I should just stop shopping.

On a blog I just read, the OP had tried everything that has been suggested here. Apparently it’s the sulfur causing the smell that won’t go away. She noticed that every time she put them on and they warmed up, the smell would get worse. After some research, she tried "cooking" them. I really would have to love the jeans for me to go through all this to get the stink out.

"After this many failures I was about to give up and resign these pants to my donation pile until I read on wikipedia: “Sulfur dyes are water insoluble. They have to be treated with a reducing agent and an alkali at temperature of around 80 degrees Celsius where the dye breaks into small particles which then becomes water soluble and hence can be absorbed by the fabric.”. This explains why soaking did nothing – if the dye was the source of the smell and insoluble in water then no length of time underwater was going to help. This got me thinking, what if I exposed them extreme heat? 80°C is about 176°F – no issue for an oven. I preheated my stove to 400°F and turned it back to 250°F once it was hot enough (I did this to prevent the heat from coming back on while the jeans were inside). Flipped inside out and folded to fit on my center rack I stuck them in for a few minutes and shut the door. When I pulled them out the smell was worse than ever, with visible fumes coming out of the fabric. I opened the window and turned on the fan, refolded and repositioned the jeans back on the rack and waited some more. I was careful to keep repeating this process so the pants wouldn’t scorch. When I was finished the smell had lessened to such a degree I could actually wear them for an entire day.

"After another overnight soak I noticed the water had turned more grey than any of the prior soaks. To be thorough I gave the pants a 2nd oven treatment and a few clean water baths until the rinse water was no longer turning color. Once the fabric dried the smell was finally gone."

Ok, a question, wouldn’t a dryer do the same thing?

What about Febreze? Would that work? 

I bought a few jeans items that stank of chemicals in the past – one was DH2 jean jacket and the other I don’t remember. I think I simply aired it out for a while and washed it a couple times. Dark colored denim, in my experience, needs washed a couple times before wearing anyways lest it dyes my skin, underwear, other clothes and car seats.

On a related note, I am obsessed with graphic print shirts and a lot of the time those will arrive smelling horribly of somthig like vinegar, especially the ones f rom DesignbyHumans. I air them out a bit and then wear to the gym because nobody will smell me there and I want to wear a new shirt when it’s at its sharpest looking. Then I wash them and they no longer smell. 

The smell has been an issue with black jeans I purchased from her in the past. Lately, I had not had the problem with the smell so I am sad to hear the newest version of the jeans has the return of the odor. I soaked the jeans in water and part vinegar then washed. The smell remained so I purchased a detergent used to get odors out of clothes. It did little so I soaked again. I then washed again with detergent and baking soda. Still smelled so I kept repeating until smell lightened. I also added scented fabric softer and dryer sheets after the odor lifted some but not in initial washes. I would say I washed three to four times before smell faded. It was so frustrating to get rid of smell but I am a fan of the fit so I toughed it out.

After reading everyone’s posts about the chemical stink, I Googled "chemical smell in black jeans" to see what I could find. Looks like it could possibly be formaldehyde. Clothes and other items are sprayed with it for the transport so they don’t develop mold or mildew. But if that is the case, they all would smell like that I think.

Another thing is the dye. Darker clothes have to be dyed several times. Then chemicals are used to ensure the color of the denim. Many blogs, articles, threads out there about it. I’ve just read a few but that’s what I have so far.

They all say to use the vinegar during wash or rinse, some say do that two or more times. Then dry. Be sure to turn them inside out, I do that when washing all my jeans anyway no matter the color.

:smileyindifferent:cant take the smell off and its been a year i dont wear them…tried everything… any ideas?

wont buy another pair till they do something about it…