See these cute little printed burlap pouches, well I just couldn't resist purchasing a bunch on my trip to the US a month ago, but when I got home and placed them in my studio on a shelf, they suddenly started stinking up the whole room! Like a toxic ink smell that I realized was on account of the printing process, namely silk screen printing. Now these little pouches were needed for Purim, and I just couldn't think of giving something so awful smelling to the neighbors, but what to do? I figured the smell would go away, but it didn't.
First I aired them out in the sun and overnight.......no change. Then I left them outside some more. Then bing bing bing, I thought I ought to google my problem, and sure enough this is a typical problem, though usually with silk-screened t-shirts. People complained that even washing the goods didn't help (and here washing the burlap wasn't really an option) and I fortunately came across a comment on one of the discussion boards that recommended putting the items in the dryer with a few dryer sheets.
So dear readers, while dryer sheets are only available at the very large supermarket not so close to my house, (or so I assumed) I took a special walk over there just the night before Purim, purchased those dryer sheets, and threw a few in the dryer with my little pouches. And sure enough it did the trick, phew, phew, phew! The stink was gone, as was the really stiff nature of the bags on account of the ink being really stiff.
So, when you need to get the stink out of something, whether it be silk-screened items or even something else, throw it in the dryer with some dryer sheets, and maybe you'll breathe a huge sigh of relief too!