Conference moira::parenting

	Perhaps you could have them professionally laundered, where they
	don't have to be dry cleaned it shouldn't be too expensive. Be sure
	to mention the smell as your reason for bringing them, if they can't
	guarantee to remove the smell then it's up to you if you want to 
	chance it, maybe have them do just one first.

    Kind off off-the-wall, but there are solutions at pet supply stores
    that remove odors.  Nature's Miracle and Odormute come to mind.  You
    might check the bottle to see if they are safe for the fabrics you
    have.  I've used it for both pet odors and for upholstery (poly/cotton
    blend) for baby odors as well (spit up formula, mostly).  I also use it
    in my carpet cleaner.
    Sarah

    Had the same problem when I got out James' stuff for Hollis.
    About the only thing was fresh air, sunshine, and -- unfortunately --
    "tincture of time."  It takes a while, but the odor does fade.
    
    If you can hang up the clothes in the open, i.e., don't stuff
    them in a drawer or a closet, after you wash them, the smell
    will fade that much faster.

    
    I don't think I would take baby clothes to the dry cleaners, due to the
    chemicals that are used. Just in case your baby might have some
    allergies. 
    
    Baking soda in wash water has removed bad smells for us. 
    
    (one wonders, but is too polite to ask, why someone would store baby
    clothes in moth balls... our moths usually stay away from cotton and
    synthetics...! ;-) )
    
    Cyn

    Cyn - probably for the same reason the wife who always cut the ends of
    her post roast didn't know that her mother's mother did it because the
    oven was too small......
    
    -sandy
    (who stores hers in Xerox boxes)
    

    (who stores her baby clothes in a xerox box, no not her pot roast!)
    
    -sandy
    

    .0>I've tried washing them with other clothes and putting them in
      >the dryer, no luck.  I've soaked them in biz bleach, I've soaked them
      >in a heavy dose of liquid fabric softner hoping the odor would change,
      >nothing, they still smell bad. 
    
      >I rewashed them for the fourth time this morning and hung them out
    
    With note 257 in mind, if you're currently pregnant... maybe you're the
    *only* person who can still smell the mothballs!
    
    Leslie 
 

    Thanks for all the replies.  I have also tried soaking them in baking
    soda overnight, no luck.  Maybe I'll leave them haning outside for
    several days and wait and see what happens. 
    
    Lisa Cozzens

    I'd stuff them in a pot roast in a xerox box and see what 
    happens! :-)
    
    Cyn

    
    Boy this sounds familiar...I bought some real cute pajamas at a yard
    sale a while ago, and couldn't smell the mothballs at the time since it
    was outside.  When I got home, the smell gagged me (I'm not pregnant,
    but have NEVER been able to stand strong smells!)!
    
    I tried everything all of the notes suggested, and I found that it was
    just time (3 months) and lots of fresh air that helped.  Just last week
    I washed it for the last time (about 15 times total), and it smells
    okay now.  I actually let it hang for the entire time, outside for a
    couple of days then downstairs for a couple of days.  By the time I
    figure the time and energy I put into it, I could have bought her
    enough pajamas for the next couple of years....but then again....I have
    always been very stubborn!
    
    Good Luck!
    Carol

    Boy, I'm in for it...
    
    All my baby stuff is packed in bags with mothballs.  Not for moths -
    there's only 1 wool piece in the whole bunch - but to keep out the
    field mice, squirrels, and chipmunks.  I store the bags in the rafters
    of the backyard shed.
    
    Much as I love babies, I don't fancy my stuff being used to coddle baby
    mice.  ;-)
    
    L

    A good soak in water with a cup or two of vinegar.  The faint vinegar
    odor that will remain smells better than moth balls - and it should
    go away after your second wash.  I use it successfully with cloth
    diapers.
    
    Patricia