GUIDELINES FOR VISITING THE
CHRONIC CHEMICALLY INJURED
Guiding Principles To Follow
Since you don’t want to inadvertently make the Chronic Chemically Injured person sicker, we developed some guiding principles for you to follow in your preparation for a visit with him or her.
These are not rules – only guiding principles. However, you should always keep in mind that the sicker the person is, the stricter the guidelines must be followed!
Do not have odour or scent of any kind on your person. For a Chronic Chemically Injured individual, the words “No Scent”, means No Scent on your entire person. This includes your hair, your skin and your clothes.
Never use the products that claim to cover, mask or remove all scent or odour. These products are made from other toxic chemicals. A chronic chemically injured person becomes ill by the toxic chemicals that produce the odour and masks the odour, not by the scent itself. So using a product that masks the scent or odour simply increases the chronic chemically injured person’s vulnerability and increases the severity of the toxic reactions that they will experience.
Do not wear any kind of insect repellent on your person.
Ask the person you are planning to visit for suggestions on what soaps, other personal care products, and laundry products you could use.
Put the clothes you will wear to visit a Chronic Chemically Injured person in a paper bag or in a cellophane bag. This will protect the clothes from picking up scent from other scented clothing. It will also protect the clothes from picking up scent or any other odour from other things close by.
Remember that each Chronic Chemically Injured person is unique in their individual tolerance levels. For some individuals there will be a need to be very strict in following these guidelines; and for other individuals a general reduction in scent will be adequate. It is always wise to check with the person you plan to visit ahead of time and get their advise and direction.
You will never go wrong by being completely scent free and odour free
Following these guidelines is a challenge; but not an impossible challenge. A great many people not only succeed, but they also discover that their own sense of smell becomes revitalized and greatly improved. Typically, the Chronic Chemically Injured person that you are visiting will deeply appreciate your efforts.
Below we share some scent-free and odour-free guidelines regarding your skin, hair and clothes.
Skin And Hair
Do not use any kind of scented product. No perfume, cologne or even essential oils.
Always check to ensure that there is nothing scented on either your skin or hair. Review all the personal care products you are using and make certain they are all unscented. This would include:
Soaps
Shampoos
Conditioners
Hair Sprays
Hair Gels
Hair Perms
Hair Straighteners
Hair Dyes or Bleach
Shaving Cream
After-Shave Lotion
Deodorants
Antiperspirants
Make-up
Creams
Oils
Powders
Sun-Screens
And so on
Helpful Tips To Remove Scent From Your Skin And Hair
Sometimes scented skin products will wash off the skin by just washing it in unscented soap, but it might take one to four washings to succeed in removing the scent.
However, some scented products are very stubborn to remove. If there is a stubborn scent on your skin, try using 99% isopropyl alcohol, as this will often cut through the scent and remove it. If this is done, you will then need to wash off the smell of isopropyl alcohol with unscented soap.
Scented hair products are often very difficult to wash out. They might wash out in four to seven washings, using an unscented shampoo. However, if the hair products are heavily scented, it might take 30 or more washings to remove the scent. You will know you are making progress if the scent smell is being reduced over a period of a number of washings.
Sadly, some products are scented in such a way that the scent is not removable. The scent will not wash out regardless of the number of times it is washed with unscented shampoo. This is especially true with some hair dyes and some hair perms. When the scent cannot be removed by washing, it is only removed by cutting off the hair.
If you want to visit the Chronic Chemically Injured person and you cannot remove the scent from your hair, one possibility is to cover your hair with a plastic cap that has little or no plastic smell, such as a disposable shower cap. This cap will act as a barrier keeping the scent of your hair products contained, and preventing the person from being exposed to the scented hair products. However, this must first be verified with the Chronic Chemically Injured person you are planning to visit, as many Chronic Chemically Injured individuals can’t tolerate exposure to any plastic smell either.
Clothing
Do not wear new clothing, until the ‘new clothing’ smell is completely washed out.
Do not wear any scented sanitary napkins.
Always review the clothes you will wear. Do not wear clothing that retains the smell of:
Scented Detergent
Perfume or Cologne
Solvents
Cigarette Smoke
Scented Fabric Softener
Scented Sachets
Paints or Glues
Smoke of any Kind
Stain Removers
Cedar Chips
Gas or Diesel Fumes
Insect Repellents
Bleach
Moth Balls
Oil or Grease
Pesticides
Dry Cleaning Solutions
Cleansers
Asphalt or Tar
And so on
Helpful Tips To Remove Scent And Odour From Clothing
Never wash unscented clothing with scented clothing, as the scent will be transferred from the scented clothing to the unscented clothing, and all of the clothing will become scented.
Getting scent out of clothes is just as difficult as getting it out of hair. Scent is usually made from a group of chemicals called VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds. Heat makes the scent vapourize and leave the garment. Therefore, heat is often a necessity, in order to remove scent from clothing.
It is often easier to get the scent out of new clothing, than to try to get it out of clothing that has been laundered with scented laundry products. So we will begin with getting rid of the “new clothing smell”.
Below are steps to take to accomplish this task:
1) The clothes are washed in hot water, with baking soda and unscented soap. The hot water helps get the scent out of the clothes; the baking soda absorbs the scent to prevent it from going back into the fabric; and the unscented soap helps prevent the baking soda from making the clothes stiff.
2) When it is determined that there is no more scent in the clothes, then they go through a soap wash to remove any remaining baking soda. Optionally, an additional clear wash may also be done at the end, as an extra rinse cycle.
3) The number of times the clothes need to go through the baking soda wash will depend on the degree of scent that needs to be removed. Some new clothing is treated heavily with formaldehyde and it takes approximately six baking soda and soap washes in hot water to remove the formaldehyde smell.
4) The best time to check to see if the scent smell is gone, is after the hot wash and before the cold rinse, because scent out-gasses more when it is hot.
The steps to washing scented laundry products out of clothes are identical to the steps above for washing the “new clothing smell” out of clothes. However, scented laundry products are often more difficult to get out and may require more washes.
Additionally, some laundry products are designed in such a way that the scent is permanent – it will never wash out. Garments washed with these kinds of laundry products can never be made unscented.
The steps to washing out any other kind of smell from your clothes, is also identical to the steps above for washing the “new clothing smell” out of clothes.
It is advisable to hang the clothes to dry in a scent free place, rather than put them in a dryer. This is due to the fact that most scented fabric softeners and scented dryer sheets leave a scent residue on the dryer drum, which can be extremely difficult to remove.
If the washing machine that is being used has had scented laundry detergent or scented fabric softener used in it, you will need to first remove the scent from the washing machine. If you don’t, the scent on the washing machine will transfer onto the clothes.
Below are steps to take to accomplish this task:
1) Removing all soap residue on the actual washing machine. Do this by wiping down the entire washing machine, inside and out, using a cloth and clear water.
2) Do a full load wash, using hot water (as hot as possible) and a cup of baking soda. Don’t put any clothing in this wash, as you are really washing the actual washing machine. The purpose of the baking soda is to remove the scent of the residue of the scented laundry products from the washing machine.
3) Check to see if the scent is gone.
4) If the scent is still there, but diminished, it means you will probably succeed in your goal. Therefore, you need to just keep repeating steps 2 and 3 until the scent is completely gone.
5) However, if the scent is still there, and and not diminished, it probably means that the scent is not removable. When this is the case, the clothes will need to be washed in a different washing machine, in order to succeed in removing the scent.