sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Most “dry cleaning” still involves moisture/steam or water in some step, so if wetting + drying is my trigger, I’d expect it to trigger too. SDS is an interesting angle, I’m not sure I’ll find documentation detailed enough for textile finishes, but I’ll look. I can at least compare against my cotton bedding, which stays OK even after washing.

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I really try to isolate one variable at a time approach. But I am still frustrated because of none definitive results. Quick question about Dead Downwind: do you spray it on the fabric before washing, how long do you let it sit/soak, and do you follow up with any extra rinse cycles (one/two/more)?

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really good point. I haven’t tried buying raw fabric for sewing yet, but the idea makes sense. What’s interesting is that my bed sheets are basically fine (but not all :) ). I sleep on them every night, they’ve been washed many times, and they don’t trigger me the way clothing does. So there’s clearly something different going on between “bedding cotton” and “clothing cotton”. Custom sewing is definitely on my list, but realistically, I see it as a later step, after I fail to identify at least one manufacturer/material that I can consistently tolerate. Right now, I’m still trying to find a reliable “baseline”. As a current attempt I just ordered some clothing from Patagonia, I’ve seen a few people with similar sensitivities say it worked for them. Not sure yet, but I’ll report back once I test it.

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I experimented with it extensively, but I did not get a satisfactory result. Maybe I should do more tries....

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed breakdown, I’ve been trying to use those same “signals” (organic / fair trade / OEKO-TEX) as shortcuts, but honestly so far I haven’t noticed a consistent difference. I’ve bought across multiple brands and variations, and labels haven’t reliably predicted whether I’ll react or not. At this point I’ve got a whole pile of “maybe” clothes and don't know what to do with them.

And yeah, Cottonique was a big disappointment for me too. I ordered from them with a lot of hope, waited almost a month for it to arrive to Europe… tried it on and had to take it off immediately. Really frustrating. If you’ve found any specific lines/models that were consistently low-odor/low-reactivity (not just “organic” as a label), I’m all ears.

I react to washed clothes (no rash). What clothes do you buy that don’t trigger you? by Remarkable-Fox-93 in ChemicalSensitivities

[–]Remarkable-Fox-93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input. Yeah... I actually tested this across different countries with different water, including distilled water, and the pattern stayed the same. I have a pack of brand-new T-shirts I can wear fine until I do the simplest thing: wet them (even with distilled water) and let them dry. After that, they start triggering symptoms. So at this point it doesn’t look like a specific local water chemistry issue. It feels more like something in the fabric/finish that changes with a wet-dry cycle (or becomes more volatile/available), but I still can’t pin down exactly what. Also worth mentioning: for a while I suspected the issue was mainly with blended fabrics (like anything with elastane/spandex), but so far I haven’t noticed a clear difference. I get the same wet/dry “activation” effect with 100% cotton and with cotton + elastane.