You slip on a clean shirt and get a whiff of a lingering musty odor. The smell follows you around as you go about your day, only to realize it’s coming from your clothes. Find out how to get smells out of clothes to keep your clothing smelling as fresh as the day you bought them.
There are many reasons for smelly clothes. Sometimes the odor is from grease or smoke, and other times it’s from mildew. Or, perhaps the unpleasant smell is body odor and sweat stains in your workout clothes. Whatever the cause, wearing stinking clothing is an unpleasant experience.
Unfortunately, some odors are notorious for seeping into the fabric. They don’t always come clean after laundering them in the washing machine. However, you don’t have to take your garments in for dry cleaning. Several items in your home work as effective ways to get the mildew stink off clothing, along with smoke, sweat, and grease stains.
Ways to Get Smells Out of Clothes
No one wants to deal with bad odors when wearing clean clothes, but don’t retire your favorite shirt just yet. Discover several easy ways to get bad smells out of clothes using safe and effective home remedies.
How to Remove Bad Smells From Clothes
The simplest way to eliminate odor if it’s mild is to use white vinegar, which quickly neutralizes a grease or smoke smell. Learn how to remove bad smells from clothes with vinegar and essential oils.
To eliminate a musty smell and deodorize clothing without a washing machine, combine equal amounts of white vinegar and water in a bottle and add a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil. Shake the container well, spritz it lightly over both sides of the garment, and hang it in the fresh air to remove the mildew smell.
Getting a Bad Smell Out of Clothing With Baking Soda
Use sodium bicarbonate to remove odors from clothes. Baking soda is excellent to get fryer grease smell out of clothes quickly. It absorbs the odor from the fabric and is a safe way to hand-wash your clothes.
Fill a sink with cold water. Then, dissolve a cup of sodium bicarbonate in four cups of hot water and pour it into the sink. Completely submerge the garment in the solution and soak it for at least four hours to get a bad smell out of jeans or other clothes. Consider soaking it overnight to remove musty smell.
How to Get Smells Out of Clothes
You may need to give your clothing a final washing after you get rid of a bad smell from clothes with vinegar or baking soda. Clean your clothes in the washing machine to remove leftover residue.
To get a bad smell out of fabric and remove baking soda residue, place the smelly item in the washing machine and add heavy-duty laundry detergent. Use the hot water cycle to clean the clothes if the clothing care tag allows it. Otherwise, use warm or cold water.
Once the cycle completes, do the sniff test to determine if the smell is gone and repeat the steps if necessary. Dry the item in the clothes dryer with a dryer sheet, or hang the damp clothes to air dry.
Removing Sweat Smell From Clothes
Sweat has a way of staining fabric and causing lingering odors; extra steps are necessary to freshen the material. Discover how to remove bad smells from clothes that result from sweating.
Removing bad smells from clothing that result from sweat is similar to other cleaning methods, with a few exceptions. Soak the item in warm water and two cups of baking soda for 24 hours, and launder it in the washing machine as usual.
To remove a sweat and deodorant stain, scrub the armpit area with equal amounts of white vinegar and water before soaking.
To remove the smell and stain in the washing machine, fill it with cool water, add one cup of white vinegar and the garment, and soak it for half an hour before running the wash cycle.
How to Remove a Gasoline Smell From Clothes
Gas and diesel stains are difficult to remove, leaving your clothes with a noxious odor, but it’s possible to remove small stains. Follow these tips for getting a bad smell out of clothing after experiencing fuel residue while at the pump.
Pretreat the gas stains with an enzyme-based stain remover by working the solution into the stain with your fingers and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes. Place the item in the washer and clean it at the highest water temperature.
If the odor persists, soak the clothes in cool water and a cup of baking soda and ammonia for two to three hours. Once the smell is gone, wash the item in the washer again and hang it up to dry in an area with good air quality.
It’s easy to think that all you have to do to remove bad smells from clothing is toss them into the washing machine. Yet, this isn’t always enough to eliminate the odor. Luckily, simple solutions like white vinegar and baking soda clean sweaty clothes or remove a musty smell without taking your clothes to the dry cleaner.
Now that you understand how to get smells out of clothes, we’d love it if you’d share our tips for eliminating bad odors from fabrics with your family and friends on Facebook and Pinterest.