Originally Posted by Bedspreadhead

To clarify again, these were not in a meth lab. They were in the home of an addict. They smell because the house was full of black mold and mildew. There are only a few mildewy places on the quilts. The rat pee is a bigger concern. Fortunately, it appears to be concentrated in the quilt that also has cigarette burns going all the way through it.

Things are going much better than expected. Most of these things will be usable. The color catchers are working. I'm washing them in a warm cycle with a prewash and an extra rinse, and I'm drying them on low heat. If I can get them to the point where they don't smell, then I can make sure they're dry, and I can store them indoors without filling the house with mold funk. After that I'll have time to worry about further cleaning.

When they came home, they smelled so awful I had to open the SUV windows. Not a particularly powerful smell, but very oppressive. Like being trapped in a filthy drawer.