Formaldehyde-infused clothing in the dryer.......what could possibly go wrong?

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Formaledyde is Very Volatile

In normal use it's in solution with water. (As is said above, i think the typical usage is 37% in water, stabilized with something like wood alcohol, which helps prevent polymerization.)

So, as things get warm, it's going to go from a gas dissolved in water to a gas with a vapor pressure too high to stay in solution.

I'm still a little baffled why it was still on your clothes after the wash and rinse cycle. That's a lot of water and a lot of surface area to not just get washed away.

You sure it was formaledyde you were smelling? There are probably other things used in the wrinkle free process that some people might be sensitive to, from an odor perspective. That might be something water insoluble that then "gassed off" in the dryer.

On Edit: Your dryer walls won't hold on to it. Without the water, it's already gaseous. It's gone.