Serious answer: It's likely that it may be some kind of starch spray that is used to try and keep clothing as wrinkle free as possible while in sea transit. And if you want your clothes to smell better than "tide" you can get that. Use an unscented detergent that does not have any type of Optical Brightener (they are a dye that never washes out of clothes). OB's trick your eye into thinking the whites & colors are "brighter & cleaner". It's not true. A detergent that I can recommend is Ecos Unscented. And adding some baking soda (.25-.5 cup per load) at the start of the wash with the detergent (just dump it in the drum before the clothes) also helps rid your clothes of stink, grease and any detergent buildup that occurs. Your clothes should not smell like anything, AKA perfume, detergent, dirt. And almost every commercial detergent deposits perfume and OB's on your dirty clothes. That means your clothes are not really clean. 100% cotton clothing smells really nice when it's clean and perfume/detergent free. Also, dryer sheets deposit a wax and perfume on your clothing as well. Drying clothes on a lower temperature without sheets is better for your garment. Never use dryer sheets or fabric softener on towels, it will ruin them, especially liquid fabric softener. Also, wash on warm or hot depending on the clothing item. Cold is not getting your clothing clean. Warm & hot water help soften/melt the dirt/grease. Bedding, whites, underwear, socks need to be washed in hot to clean & sanitize them. And the clothing should not shrink, if it does on the 1st wash return it to the store and buy better clothing or a larger size. Your booty deserves clean, sanitized undies. From time to time you will need to rinse clothes in vinegar to help get rid of all the extra laundry detergent that will build up in things like towels or sheets. Thick items or large items like sheets will need this.

We as consumers need to demand better from these products and companies. Very few detergents can be found that do not contain OB's, and OB's have a few different chemical names. And the lack of unscented products is minimal. All those "free & clear" type of detergents are just hype.

And lastly, when you spend money on perfume/cologne and it's not cheap ($50-5000 a bottle), you expect to smell the scent you picked out right? Yet your shower gel/soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, hair products, face products, clothes (laundry products) all have scents, sometimes very, very strong ones. That all competes with your preferred spray bottle of sexiness you purchased. And often, people don't smell all that sexy anymore because of this. And laundry products are super strong right now and smell very chemically.

Good luck on your journey looking for that "new car smell" for clothing. Sometimes it's hard to find answers outside of being in that industry. And than you for attending my TEDx Talk. :)