This is great

Be sure to leave a freshly laundered sweater with a double dose of freshner in your old cube...

Just kidding...

My Daughter did our laundry for a week or so while our washer and dryer were getting replaced, the old one failed.

She used a scented laundry detergent that you could smell across the room, quite strong, no allergies or triggered responses but the stuff was strong.

We were happy for the free laundry service but man that scented stuff was strong.

Sure glad to get the clothes washing back home...

Switch to Gillette razors and the toxic will go away!

How good is her hearing? Maybe something along the lines of this:

https://www.amazon.com/ThinkGe..._product_top?ie=UTF8

quote:

Originally posted by sigarms229:
I don’t agree with adding additional scents to aggravate her but I wouldn’t change my fabric softener either. The issue is hers, not yours. People saying you need to change your lifestyle to suit others are basically siding with liberal logic that we need to adapt to other people’s issues or needs. No effing way.

If it becomes an HR issue, tell HR that you need the fabric softener due to chaffing.

I agree totally with Sigarms229. The problem is not you. Talk to HR and let them sort it out. Kind of interesting that she had to move away from the bathrooms because of odors. She is the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I talked to my manager this morning. We looked at open cube maps and I'm probably going to move to a cube that has more privacy much farther away from her. I won't even have to involve HR.

Win-win, personally!

Tony.

This is good. Because I was about to suggest asking them to move your "office" to your lab, where you do your hands-on work. You don't need to change fabric softener. Wife is happy. That coworker no longer has to smell you. She's happy. Everybody's happy.

Fabric softener contains a lot of bad chemicals that gets exposed to your skin. There is no way I would use fabric softener on my clothes.
..............................
The Scary Truth About Chemicals in Dryer Sheets & Fabric Softeners

Of the 3-10 gallons of toxic household cleaning products in a home, the chemicals in dryer sheets and fabric softeners are considered to be among the most toxic. Fabric softeners and dryer sheets are made up of pernicious chemicals combined with a hefty dose of fragrance. The fragrance chemicals are particularly difficult to remove because they have been designed to cling dearly to fabric so the signature scent stays in the clothing. This is called “fragrance substantivity,” which describes how long a fragrance lasts on a particular surface and how it is affected by temperature, humidity, and other conditions.

Lingering chemical residues in the clothes enter the body through the skin, which is tantamount to eating them! Many of these compounds are solvents that directly affect the nervous system and endocrine system and can contribute to the development of chronic illness. Since the term “fragrance” on a label can mean up to hundreds of synthetic chemicals, the body is provided a cocktail of poison 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of this issue because their constant exposure to these chemicals makes it impossible for them to realize the impact it makes on their health. Not to mention the health of those around them! The non-stop exposure has dulled their sense of smell as a warning mechanism, their ability to perceive the specific fragrance in many cases is lost, or they actually get a high and crave the smell of the clothing.

Of 171 they studied, the Environmental Working Group gives 83.33% of fabric softeners a D or F rating

The fact that your fabric softener may be under a counter and only used occasionally is bad enough, since the chemicals in the bottles and boxes are off-gassing into your living environment. But the truth is, these chemicals are accompanying you day and night through your skin and your lungs as you wear your clothes and sleep in your sheets. That’s why using fabric softeners, dryer sheets or even laundry detergent with fragrance are such dangerous health offenders. Once you start using them, they seem practically inescapable!

https://branchbasics.com/blog/...ts-fabric-softeners/

HR handled it appropriately and the issue is resolved.

Glad you went that route instead of listening to some here with their juvenile, just-fart-in-her-face solutions.

The suggestions of going out of your way to offend her just reek of immaturity and run the real risk that you'd be labeled the problem employee that causes people to find ways to get rid of you.

We had a lady at our place the same way. Basically no one that worked on the floor that she did was allowed to wear perfume or cologne. Couldn't use scented detergent or use fabric softener either. She would throw fits and call OSHA until she got her way, HR supported her and made everyone comply, only about a dozen people. She bought a car I was selling, nice car, she wrote a check for $24K. 6 months later she came back to me and wanted her money back. Everytime she drove it she got ill. I told her I would give her $18k for it. She traded it in, then retired, thank God.

I’m super sensitive to perfumes. They give me an instantaneous headache.

Some people are sensitive to smells. I’d accommodate her.

I hate walking into a room where the cologne or perfume fumes are so sick you can almost see it. Adjusting to non-scented sheets/soap would be a nice gesture on your part and may get you brownie points if layoffs are coming - which was what I thought you were getting at at first.

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
HR handled it appropriately and the issue is resolved.

Glad you went that route instead of listening to some here with their juvenile, just-fart-in-her-face solutions.

The suggestions of going out of your way to offend her just reek of immaturity and run the real risk that you'd be labeled the problem employee that causes people to find ways to get rid of you.

Btw, HR wasn't involved.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I talked to my manager this morning. We looked at open cube maps and I'm probably going to move to a cube that has more privacy much farther away from her. I won't even have to involve HR.

Win-win, personally!

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I talked to my manager this morning. We looked at open cube maps and I'm probably going to move to a cube that has more privacy much farther away from her. I won't even have to involve HR.

Win-win, personally!

Tony.

Her personal issue is not over however, and in view of her sensitivity to scents - some people are - on the next round she should request a reasonable accommodation from her employer - not from another employee. The operant word being "reasonable," with reasons and if necessary, documentation provided. It's an HR thing....

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
Fabric softener contains a lot of bad chemicals that gets exposed to your skin. There is no way I would use fabric softener on my clothes.

I was alluding to this in my previous post.

There most certainly are endocrine distrupting chemicals in fabric softeners and dryer sheets, and they are best avoided.

I've been trying desperately to find alternatives to eliminate static to no avail, however. Line drying works, but only if you can keep the birds from shitting on your clothes and the bugs from infesting them.

Glad you got it worked out. I had just gotten over a really bad asthma attack (ER and all that's involved with that) and missed three days of work. When I got back to work and got on the elevator I noticed I was really sensitive to women's perfume. It made me feel like the asthma was coming on again. I decided to take the stairs instead. I do to this day. In your situation your coworker couldn't avoid the problem. You handled your side like an adult and all is well. Good work!

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
HR handled it appropriately and the issue is resolved.

Glad you went that route instead of listening to some here with their juvenile, just-fart-in-her-face solutions.

The suggestions of going out of your way to offend her just reek of immaturity and run the real risk that you'd be labeled the problem employee that causes people to find ways to get rid of you.

Use vinegar, odorless after rinse cycle.

https://www.google.com/search?...=en-us&client=safari

Ps...way less costly than softener. Savings can be spent on ammo.


Sent from my iPad

Glad you got it sorted out.


I'm beginning to become sensitive to some smells. There are some of those scents that are really strong - Unstoppables comes to mind. My Fiancee bought an article of clothing from a coworker a couple years ago and when she wore it in my car I couldn't stand to have the windows closed. It had several washings (including the scent remover stuff I use for my hunting clothes), multiple stints in the freezer - nothing got the scent to go away completely. It still stinks.


Then, there's my future step son who at times must bathe in Axe or some other strong smelling stuff. When he steps out of the bathroom after a shower, I can smell him more than 1/2 way across the house. That stuff is nasty too.


I stopped using fabric softener after I had to clean the washing machine out. Over the years the liquid fabric softener had formed an almost black waxy paste inside the top of the tub and was leaving black marks on my white dress shirts Took me several hours to clean that up.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
HR handled it appropriately and the issue is resolved.

Glad you went that route instead of listening to some here with their juvenile, just-fart-in-her-face solutions.

The suggestions of going out of your way to offend her just reek of immaturity and run the real risk that you'd be labeled the problem employee that causes people to find ways to get rid of you.

Btw, HR wasn't involved.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I talked to my manager this morning. We looked at open cube maps and I'm probably going to move to a cube that has more privacy much farther away from her. I won't even have to involve HR.

Win-win, personally!

Tony.

I read that however for liabilty and agency purposes to address these types of issues, a manager or supervisor is the same as HR. If the manager proposed a solution that placed the company and HR in an awkward position to defend something, HR can't say they aren't the manager.

But I understand the winkie.

quote:

Originally posted by recoatlift:
Use vinegar

Respectfully, now that the problem has been solved, I'd like to ask: what's the effect on "performance fabrics" like moisture-wicking t-shirts and such when using vinegar?

I know we're not supposed to use fabric softeners or dryer sheets with those fabrics because the chemicals effectively "seal off" the wicking capabilities. Fabric softeners do, however, sometimes help eliminate/reduce static cling. Does vinegar improve or worsen the static issue at all?

Oh, and what kind of vinegar? White vinegar, I presume?