The funny thing is…

The other day I was reading the Yarn-a-go-go blog, like I do every day, and I had to start laughing at her latest post. She was talking about how she was turning all blue, and she was ready to go to the hospital after a couple of days when she suddenly realized that it was her new jeans that were turning her hands and legs blue! (I guess she actually uses the pockets in her jeans.) I laughed and laughed about that, because we’ve all done that before: worn something new without washing it. Mayhem usually ensues. I’ve got a similar story about my new jeans, not quite as funny, but amusing (at least to me).

I bought some new jeans at Wal-Mart on the weekend…what? Wal-Mart? Yes, if you can believe it, I bought some fashionable jeans at Wal-Mart for a supremely fashionable price. I was actually on the hunt for a dark coloured pair, and found them there, go figure. Anyways, I had time to wash them before wearing, so I did. Monday comes around, and I pull on the dark pair and head off to work. As I’m sitting here typing away, I noticed a strange smell, very light, not too strong, but there nonetheless. I couldn’t quite place it, but it was vaguely familiar. Part way through the morning I took a sniff of my sweater, wondering if it was some strange chemical reaction was occurring between my perfume and laundry detergent, but no dice. The sweater was fine. Throughout the day I kept smelling it, and it was really starting to intrigue me. But then I got busy at work, and forgot all about it.

Until I went home and changed into my lounge-about-wear. I took my jeans, my brand new jeans, and shook them before folding. And the smell hit me again. “Could it be my jeans?” I wondered, as I brought a leg up to my schnoz for a wiff. Sure enough, the culprit was the jeans, and no, they didn’t smell like my laundry detergent (which is Gain, and smells really good!). It suddenly occurred to me what the smell was: moth balls! My brand spankin’ new jeans smell of moth balls! Not really strong, but it’s there. And how do I know what moth balls smell like? My mother. Growing up she used to put them in all our drawers, in the closet, etc. Now I don’t know if we ever had any moths (I know I didn’t see any), but I guess she used to see them in the old country, going after all her nice wool sweaters and other natural fibre clothes, so she thought that here in the new country the situation would be the same.

But the jeans just fit me so perfectly and the price was just so right that I can’t get rid of them for some pesky light smell that will hopefully go away with time. Oh the things we do for fashion.