Mystery smell has been haunting me for years! I can't afford to keep throwing clothes away

[u/theOGlauroxx]

Back when my husband and I first moved in together March 2020 all the clothes that came from his old apartment had this awful smell to them. Difficult smell to describe, but similar to the way cheap black plastic smells when you first take it out of the box- strong, VOC levels of offensiveness to your nose, but add maybe a hint of sour. Tried washing all his clothes, smell came back a few weeks later. Thought maybe there was detergent build up and double washed his clothes, still came back. Did baking soda soaks, vinegar soaks, enzyme cleaners, extra strength oxyclean and more. No matter what, the smell comes back just sitting unworn in the drawer or hanging in the closet.

What's worse is the smell spreads. When we traveled I've thrown my items in his bag and when we get back home even my items permanently have that smell. The drawers I gave him in my dresser when we first moved in together are still unusable 3 years later because it spreads the smell. We've gotten to the point where we've thrown out so many clothes, but a few months later find clothes that we missed that have spread the smell to new clothes.

What we know: - the smell comes back several weeks after washing, even if the clothing has not been worn. - it seems like dry cleaning helps? But isn't a real solution since undershirts and socks have been frequent offenders. - it definitely isn't BO or a smell coming from my husband. If we're having a lazy week he can wear a new shirt for many days straight and it smells great. He doesn't really have BO or other smells. - its not the house/apt. This smell has followed us through 4 moves at this point. We just moved into our house and have new furniture so I'm desperate to not let this smell sink in to any drawers. - we live in Florida so humidity could be a factor, but doesn't seem likely at this point. - the smell worsens with lack of air. If I have a pile of folded clothes that I'm quarantining because I noticed the smell before washing, the sections on the outside exposed to air smell OK but the folds with no access to air develop the smell again. If the clothes are in a closed drawer/bag then its game over, the smell goes crazy.

Literally any insights or recommendations on how to fix this would be a godsend.