# How do I get the discharge smell out of shirts?



## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

I had a gang of shirts printed using discharge on a jumbo press. When I received them, a smell of what I can only imagine burnt dog hair would smell like overtook me!

I tried using my commercial steam cleaner to get rid of the smell - but to no avail. I even resorted to Fabreez which just made the prints smell like Fabreez scented burnt dog hair! HA!

Aside from washing my ENTIRE ORDER and then drying and folding them again... Is there any solutions that you can think of to get rid of the horrendous oder?

Two concerns with washing the shirts.

#1 They will smell like whatever detergent I use and the customers will know they have been washed plus you have to worry if they may be allergic to a certain detergent!

#2 They will not look as new as when you get a fresh shirt in the mail and how it is supposed to look!

Any thoughts? Anyone else have this issue besides me?


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## Unik Ink (Nov 21, 2006)

The discharge agent should be evaporated out of the shirt, so there should be little or no smell of discharge left in the shirt. If they are undercured, the print may fade when washed. If you do decide to wash them, I would wash/dry on the most gentle cycle without detergent, cold water.


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## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

Then this was definitely undercured because the smell is absolutely awful! If the print fades in the wash I will be extremely upset.

Justin check your email. I'm about to send you something to look at.


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## ErinAllen (Aug 11, 2009)

You may also want to check with the printer that completed the discharge print, as some of discharge inks recommend that the garment is washed before wearing. They will need to contact the ink manufacturer to see if the discharge ink they used falls under that guideline. If tha tis the case then you will need to wash them or tag them that they need to be washed before they are worn. 

Erin


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## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

Thanks Erin and Justin.

I tried washing one in a gentle cycle with my normal wash and dried it for 20 minutes and pull it out of the dryer still damp so it wouldn't shrink. Wanted to try that as a test for what the average customer might do.

Wouldn't you know it... the print STILL smells! Plus, turns out the white ink now has hundreds of tiny cracks all through-out the white print and the print now has a distressed look that was definitely not the intended look of the piece! I'm pretty upset about it. I asked the printer and they suggested that it was the fabric of the Alstyle material and had I used something like an American Apparel where the fabric was much denser that would not have happen. Seams like something they could have mentioned before hand huh? I don't know... I think I'm having a hard time believing it myself. Yea maybe its true but isn't discharge supposed to bleach the color out of the shirt so it can be replaced with the print? Yea its a black shirt printing white ink but the distressed look is not what I was after. I just wanted a solid white! Had I known this was the case with discharge I would have opted not to go that route!

Here's a Question... does discharge normally act like this or is this the result of a botched and rushed print job?


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## ErinAllen (Aug 11, 2009)

Shaun,

I would be reluctant to say that this is all from a botched job, as I don't know the details. A white discharge print can be hard to obtain. First, the garment will rarely discharge out to a really light natural color or white, it is generally going to be a tan or natural color. So you will have to have a lot of white pigment in the ink to ensure that you get a bright white. Discharge Whites do not have the elongation that Plastisol Whites have. This may be causing the cracking that you are experiencing. 

I would take it back to the printer and express your concerns. Hopefully, they can advise you what happened. 

Erin


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## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

Unfortunately I can't take it back since they are located in California and I'm in Baltimore. However I did express my concerns and they have yet to reply back to my email for 2 days now.


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## JantexInks (Nov 11, 2009)

Just an idea, try running 1 or 2 in a regular tumble dryer with some scented fabric softener sheets. I think high heat should be better.

This should help exhaust the smell.
Let me know the results!

Good luck!


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## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

Won't the high heat shrink the dry garments? Also, fabric sheets may cause problems if customers have allergies to fabric softeners which is actually pretty common.

Doesn't hurt to try just tumble drying one.

Side note: I did try a commercial steam cleaner and that sucker gets *super* hot and the steam should have gotten the smell out if it was going to come out in a dryer correct?


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## JantexInks (Nov 11, 2009)

BEatMaKeR said:


> Won't the high heat shrink the dry garments? Also, fabric sheets may cause problems if customers have allergies to fabric softeners which is actually pretty common.
> 
> Doesn't hurt to try just tumble drying one.
> 
> Side note: I did try a commercial steam cleaner and that sucker gets *super* hot and the steam should have gotten the smell out if it was going to come out in a dryer correct?


The garments have already been exposed to high heat during the first curing process. The dryer heat shouldn't make them shrink.

In regards to fabric sheets, use the low allergen sheets. In reality, the shirts are already gonna have a bunch of "junk" in them from the printing, dying, prep, etc. process.

The steam is adding moisture back into the garment, we want to remove moisture. Also the steamer is not forcing air movement like a dryer would.

Give it a go, the worse is you would ruin a single shirt. The only other suggestion would be a chemical we sell to remove and mask odors that could be sprayed on the shirts.


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## BEatMaKeR (Aug 1, 2005)

Will do I'll try this tonight!

Regarding that product you spray on. Is that something you spray and then run through the dryer afterward to help evaporate the discharge element - or something you spray and not dry and just helps reduce the odor?


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