View Single Post
Old 01-24-08, 05:02 PM
  #23  
Niles H.
eternalvoyage
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,256
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I agree that foods can cause some odors, on breath and skin; but they are usually not the really offensive and problematic ones that people are trying to deal with.

Baking soda is great at dealing with odors.

Part of what it does is change the pH -- most microorganisms are very sensitive to pH levels.

I would guess that leaving some residue from a baking soda solution on clothes would change the environment enough to inhibit the growth of many microorganisms. It would not have to be harsh or strong, just enough to inhibit growth....

Another thing that can help is to leave some kind of anti-fungal residue on the fibers. The same organisms that cause athelete's foot can also cause some serious odor problems as well, as can some of the other fungal organisms.

Some synthetic fabrics include anti-microbial treatments that stay in the fibers and inhibit growth (some are impregnated with silver or copper).

This has worked well in some fabrics. I believe Patagonia, among other companies, has had fabrics like this.

*****
What I've been wondering is: what are some of the better ways of ahieving this yourself, with fabrics you already own? I haven't tried it yet, but there are probably various ways of treating fabrics to minimize the growth of microorganisms.

*****
Some meditation teachers say that thoughts and emotions have or emit smells, and I think there is some truth to that.

But I also think that the major (not the only, but the major) cause of the really offensive stuff -- the stuff that most people are trying to eliminate -- is the microorganisms and their secretions.

Last edited by Niles H.; 01-25-08 at 02:38 PM.
Niles H. is offline