Weird Request - Formaldehyde Smell?

[lilsweetpea]

I know this is weird but I have to ask since all of you seem to know so many helpful hints. My boyfriend is in college studying for a medical degree. This semester he has Anatomy Lab where they work on cadavers. He says he comes home and his skin stinks and his clothes reek! Is there anything you guys can recommend to remove the smell of the formaldehyde and other embalming fluids?

TIA!

 

[Mom21]

sorry no help, but

 

[lilsweetpea]

He's loving the class, but I'm not! I am being supportive, but it grosses me out!

 

[MsLeFever]

Yikes! I don't blame you! There has to be something that will help - might his professor have an idea?

 

[MDTerrapin]

My husband always says that I when I come home I smell like the hospital.
He should change once he gets to work and then change before he goes home. Alot of people also have shoes they only wear to the hospital and leave them in their lockers.

HTH

Karen

 

[lilsweetpea]

He does leave the stuff in his locker, but once a week it all needs to be washed. And he showers right when he comes home. Maybe the smell is only in his nose for a while. I am not around him during the week(Long distance relationships suck), so I don't really know.

He says all the girls use Bath and Body works stuff, so I gave him some to try. Previously, he would've never touched the stuff, so it must be really bad!

 

[kalaim@charter.net]

If the smell is on his skin he could try baking soda, just add a little water and wash with it. Easy if it's just on his hands!

Good luck, sorry I have no other idea!

 

[Dancemom03]

To get onion smells off my hands I use lemon juice and salt. It works incredibly well.

I wonder if perhaps bath and body works or a similar store might have a bath/shower gel with lemon in it that might work?

 

[cookies]

Try using Gain laundry detergent. They have a heavy duty-industrial type. My friends husband is a mechanic and his clothes stink (gases, oil) and she swears by this.

 

[ZanneMarie]

Vinegar? Seems I remember using this on my hands after disecting in an advanced biology class long ago. Should also work in the laundry.

 

[soccerchick]

White vinegar is recommended to get urine stains/smells out (DS4 still has night time accidents, so I know about this one!). I pour some on DSs undies to presoak and then do a splash in the water as it fills up.

Baking soda is another one of those power products and would probably help in the laundry. Check the label first though.

I'd try both of these - they are also nice and cheap -- just not at the same time (remember elementary school volcanos?).

 

[bumbershoot]

I know of nothing that gets it out.

And his professor very likely stinks of it 24/7, so he likely doesn't even notice it.

I had 3 quarters of dissection in chiropractic school, and there was nothing to do for those 3 quarters but stink. Those a year ahead of anyone in Anatomy just avoided the younger students for that year, LOL. (the three quarters were usually split up by a quarter in Embryology, so it was a whole year instead of just that 3/4 of a year)

When my friend and I would go to the gym, we would clear out the stair-step room once we started sweating. The formaldehyde just oozed from pores. Though once we worked out things were better. But then we'd go to the lab and it would be smelly again.

He does need to wash those clothes more often, and the other shoes thing is an absolute. I bought a $10 pair of tennis shoes from payless for that class and never EVER wore them anywhere else.

Though I wonder if there are any message boards for people in dissection classes, or for undertakers...

 

[Mickey527]

Why not call a funeral home and ask them? they might have the answer you need. I am sure they deal with embalming fluids and spills daily and know just how to get the smell out.

 

[shortbun]

Call a funeral home and ask them. Oops, we posted at the same time. Still a good idea.

 

[daisax]

My homeroom in high school was in a biology classroom and to this day I can still smell that smell in my memory!

Fortunately we didn't have to be too up close and personal with the liquids.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Peroxide, it works wonders. I handle hangers and new merch coming off the truck all day, it's the only thing that gets the nickel and metal smell out. As for the clothes, hot water and bleach.

 

[mnasmom3]

I would try vinegar, too. Add it to the washer. He could also use it in the shower if his skin and hair are absorbing the smell.

 

[minkydog]

My hubby used to complain that I smelled like the hospital when I came home at night. I told him it was the smell of money

About the best I could recommend is the clothes-changing suggestion that was previously made. I have also used liquid castile soap with peppermint scent; it clears my head and makes me smell better.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Learn to love it...

DBF is a 3rd year now. He had anatomy his first year and tutored anatomy his second year

We just had him put all his dirty scrubs in a garbage bag and closed it up every time. He'd jump in the shower right when he got home. As long as he used gloves on the cadavers, it never got all that bad

 

[fostrmom2mny]

My dad worked at a funeral home and I never remember any odor. But then again, his funeral home used cherry scented imbolming fluid. I thought that was crazy, but now I'm not so sure.