# Help musty smell in stashed yarn



## yarn collector (Oct 8, 2011)

I'm cleaning out some things my mom had stashed for several years... She had a lot of yarn stored in plastic bags and boxes in outdoor storage... it isn't wool and looks to be in good condition ..no bugs etc BUT it has a strong musty smell and with my allergies I cant work with it and then wash it ..not sure about donating it with this smell...I actually thru some away UGH so hard for me to do . Is there any way to get the smell out so it can be saved?


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## mombr4 (Apr 21, 2011)

Here is a link that gives several suggestions on how to get the musty smell out of yarn.

http://www.getsmellout.com/how-to-get-smell-out-of-yarn/


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## yarn collector (Oct 8, 2011)

mombr4 said:


> Here is a link that gives several suggestions on how to get the musty smell out of yarn.
> 
> http://www.getsmellout.com/how-to-get-smell-out-of-yarn/


Thank you so much for the quick responce and the link to find the info I needed. I will give a couple of the suggestions a try. Now Im even more sad about the part I trashed...It could have been saved. I know there is more to discover.. she had a lot to go thru


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## mombr4 (Apr 21, 2011)

Glad the information at the link was helpful


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## donnaparrone (Dec 22, 2011)

I have also heard that putting things in the freezer will kill mold. Worked on a cashmere sweater I had.


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## Classyone13 (Mar 22, 2012)

I use a clean dryer sheet placed in each bag. Really helps to freshen stale yarn.


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## Ronie (Jan 21, 2011)

throw some bars of soap in the bag or how about putting some in pillow cases and hang them out in the sun for a day... make it a beautiful warm sunny day .. see if that helps.. you could hang each skein of yarn on the lines .. how fun would that be...LOL


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## nitrpat (Apr 1, 2011)

I found that Fabreeze sprayed right on the yarn does wonders. I got rid of moth ball smell in some yarn that was donated. Good luck!


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## krankymax (Mar 5, 2012)

I would soak the yarn in a bucket of 1 cup of ammonia, rince throughly and let air dry. Ammonia is used to wash clothes that has been in a fire and it gets the smoky smell out of it. If you want to rince it in downy, it will put a nice smell back into the yarn. I use to smoke indoors, and i would get my white blouses a dingy yellow. I first soaked them in ammonia, rinced throughly, then did another wash in clorex. They came out snow white. If colors, you can use clorex 2,


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## Topsy (May 7, 2011)

mombr4 said:


> Here is a link that gives several suggestions on how to get the musty smell out of yarn.
> 
> http://www.getsmellout.com/how-to-get-smell-out-of-yarn/


Thanks so much for this link mombr4! I bookmarked it for future use.


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## Ms. Tess (Mar 2, 2012)

krankymax said:


> I would soak the yarn in a bucket of 1 cup of ammonia, rince throughly and let air dry. Ammonia is used to wash clothes that has been in a fire and it gets the smoky smell out of it. If you want to rince it in downy, it will put a nice smell back into the yarn. I use to smoke indoors, and i would get my white blouses a dingy yellow. I first soaked them in ammonia, rinced throughly, then did another wash in clorex. They came out snow white. If colors, you can use clorex 2,


Thanks so much Max, as a new non smoker I have been hunting for ways to get that smell gone. I feel the need to severely apologize to everyone I ever had over to my house because I didn't realize how much it stinks!! My car is even worse because I smoked mostly while driving...gonna put some amonia in my steamer and try to clean the car with that =) Thanks again!


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## Waterford Girl (Mar 10, 2012)

Try using some dryer sheets
Happy knitting


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## yarn collector (Oct 8, 2011)

thanks to all who have responded I am armed with charcoal and Fabric softener sheets gonna tie it up in bags and see which works best .. will post results in a week or so


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## TNH (Apr 22, 2012)

If none of these methods work, you may have yarn made of outmoded synthetic fibers that just naturally smell bad.


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## Jan L (Sep 10, 2011)

nitrpat said:


> I found that Fabreeze sprayed right on the yarn does wonders. I got rid of moth ball smell in some yarn that was donated. Good luck!


Our charity knitting group received a large yarn donation that had a musty smell. We laid it all out on tables and sprayed it with Fabreeze and let it set for a couple of hours. It was amazing how well it worked. Some friends quit smoking and used Fabreeze on the inside of their truck. I am a non-smoker and was pleasantly surprised that I couldn't smell the smoke any longer inside the truck.


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## yarn collector (Oct 8, 2011)

I will Pick up some Fabreeze as well... Hope some of this works cause it breaks my heart to discard any thing useful..


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