Twice in an 18 month period I have experienced a reaction to some chemical used by the small laundry services that populate tourist areas--once in Bangkok and once in Pattaya.

The clothing in question was just out of the plastic bag. The only identifier I can note is a very strong, sickly floral-chemical smell to the laundry items, generally not present in the laundry I've had done there.

Symptoms are not mild: I felt on the verge of blacking out, unable to get up, and that my breathing was not providing enough oxygen.

I'm fit and have no health issues that would relate to this. The wearing situations were totally different--one occurred at home when I wore a Pattaya laundered a-shirt to the gym. My guess is the physical activity accelerated the skin absorption of the substance.

Anyone up on this?

Edited May 4, 200818 yr by litefoot

Sounds like an allergy- you probably shouldn't use those laundry services again.

I've noticed at some laundries they put your clothes in the plastic bag and just before closing it they spray some sort of clothes freshner in it so it smells nice when you open the bag. Not all laundries do this but my local one does. You can ask them not to spray or change your laundry.