How to remove bad smells from clothing

By Nicole

It can be very bothersome when your clothes smell unpleasant. You worry that others will smell it and then think you are not clean. That is sure to make you feel bad about yourself. Unpleasant smells can occur on your clothes for a number of reasons. How can you make sure your clothes smell fresh and stay that way?

In this blog we will give you tips on how to make your clothes smell fresh again. We will discuss what the most common unpleasant odours are and what you can do about them. Whether it's laundry that comes out musty from the washing machine or odours that occur during the day when wearing your clothes, there is a solution for everything. Keep reading to find out what they are.

What are the unpleasant smells? What can you do about them?

The most common unpleasant odours that almost everyone knows of are the smell of sweat, smoke and a musty smell after making use of the washing machine. Sometimes these odours do not disappear by themselves when you wash your clothes in the washing machine according to the instructions. Throwing away your clothes for this reason is a shame! But we understand where the thought comes from: clothes should give you self-confidence and not take it away.

Suppressing unpleasant odours in clothing (temporarily)

Do you really want to wear your favourite nice shirt or dress tonight, but do they smell of smoke or sweat in the armpit? Then you can opt for a quick, temporary solution such as a textile freshener. This is not ideal, of course, but if you don’t have that at home you can also spray some deodorant on the garment. Make sure to leave enough distance between the deodorant and the clothing item in that case. You can also make your own fabric freshener spray by adding a few drops of tea tree oil to a spray bottle. Then spray the mixture over your clothing and let it dry. Tea tree oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties and thus effectively combats the smell of sweat. The same trick also works with vodka by mixing two parts vodka with one part water. Please note that while tea tree oil is suitable for fragile fabrics, vodka is not. Just spray your clothes with the textile freshener, your deodorant or spray bottle with your own fabric freshener and your clothes are ready to go again!

You can also let the clothes air outside on the clothesline before putting them back in the closet: this often helps a lot. Cold air works even better: for this you can also put the garment in a plastic bag in the freezer for an hour. The cold air makes unpleasant odours and bacteria disappear. The opposite is also effective: you can easily steam odours out of your clothes from home by hanging them in the bathroom while showering.

Remove sweat smell from clothing

Sweat can leave a very stubborn and lingering odour that nobody loves to smell. You can easily remove this smell both with or without using the washing machine. Preventing the problem before it even starts to come to life is always easier than trying to solve it afterward. When you throw your clothes in the wash as soon as possible, you prevent the formation of bacteria that cause the unpleasant smell.

Using the washing machine to get rid of sweaty odours

Are you unable to get the smell out with a simple wash? Then you can use the following solutions. To start with, you can use organic vinegar as a natural fabric softener by adding a little in the soap drawer. This technique is less suitable for clothes made from very sensitive fabrics, such as wool or silk. For these fabrics, it is better to treat the affected parts of the garment by rubbing them with Dettol where it’s needed. Then you can put it in the washing machine as per usual. You can also choose to remove the smell without using the washing machine. To see these tips please keep on reading below.

Remove Sweat Odour without the Washing Machine

Would you rather remove the smell of sweat without using the washing machine? For example, because you are dealing with a sensitive fabric or because the washing machine is not working right now? Then the following tips are meant for you. The first tip is to steam your clothes with a steam iron. Give the armpits a lot of extra attention, as this is where most of the bacteria will gather. If you’re dealing with a sensitive fabric you’ll want to protect it from heat when you decide to iron it. You can partly compensate for the heat by putting a separating layer on top of the clothing, such as a dishcloth or baking paper.

You can also give your clothes a nice bath in a fresh orange-and-water mixture. To do this, boil the peel of an orange thoroughly in a small pot of water and then let it cool a little. Now add your clothes and let them soak for two or three hours, then rinse them well. Finally, dry your clothes as usual on the line or in a tumble dryer. The same technique works equally well with lemon juice: dilute the juice of one lemon in a bucket with two litres of water. Leave this be for half an hour, rinse it out and let it dry. Especially with dark clothes you should take care to rinse out all of the lemon juice very well. This is in case you let it dry outside, as lemon juice has bleaching properties.

Remove smoke smell from clothing

Whether you've had a barbecue, smoked or the predecessor of your second-hand clothes was a smoker: the smell of smoke is a bothersome side effect of it. It can be a pretty persistent smell that sometimes seems to withstand the washing machine. You can basically try the tips just mentioned to combat sweat odours. If you are afraid that they won't work, then you can use the following washer-safe tips that have been specifically devised for removing a smoke odour.

The first option is to use baking soda and fabric softener in the form of wipes. Take a plastic bag and add 3 to 5 items of clothing to it. Then add two tablespoons of baking soda and two of the fabric softener wipes. Shake the bag to distribute this evenly over the clothes. The next day, shake out the clothes and throw them in the washing machine.

The second option is to use coffee. First, you add a good amount of ground coffee to a paper bag. You wrap the garment in tissue paper and then add it to the bag. Then you roll up the bag and let it sit for one or two days. The coffee will have absorbed the smell and you will no longer be bothered by it.

Removing smoke from leather jackets or belts

Unfortunately, leather garments cannot go through the washing machine. So what can you do to get rid of the smell? This is where your old newspapers come in handy. Wrap your (dry) garment in a bunch of newspapers and put it in a box. Close the box tightly and leave it alone for a few days. Then you will see that the smell of smoke is as good as gone. If you don't have a few days to spare, you can treat the garment in question with a leather cleaner or mild vinegar solution for fast results.

Removing chemical odours from clothing

Depending on what the source of the chemical smell was, the odour can be even stronger and more aggressive than that of sweat or smoke. In this case, some heavier artillery is often needed to remove it. Also, new clothes often carry a chemical smell on them. So how do you get rid of that once and for all?

To start with, place the garment in a bucket with a lukewarm mixture of water and two cups of (baking) soda for a few hours. Then you move it to a bucket with a wool detergent for an hour. Rinse well and then dry the garment. In the case of fragile fabrics, choose to hang it outside. If all goes well, the smell should be gone by now.

If you want to wash the smell out using the washing machine, it is better to put the garment in on its own. This is so that the smell is not transferred to your other clothes and so that it has plenty of room to get clean. Add a cup of baking soda to the soap drawer and wash at the highest temperature allowed, according to the instructions on the label. Depending on how strong the smell is, you may need to repeat the process once or twice.

How can you get rid of musty smells after washing clothes in the washing machine?

Many of our solutions to the unpleasant odours mentioned above include making use of the washing machine as the final step. But what if the washing machine seems to be what is causing the problem? When you take newly washed clothes out of the washing machine and it smells musty, chances are that the smell is coming from the machine itself. When the door is open and a musty smell comes out, you can be sure of this. You can usually smell this just after washing when the washing machine is still damp inside. Before we start we'll give you one important tip: hang your clothes up as soon as possible after you take them out of the machine or put them in the dryer. Leaving wet clothes in the washing machine for too long is guaranteed to make them smell!

Nowadays we wash our clothes at ever lower temperatures. This is better for the environment as well as your clothes. Unfortunately, this is not true for the hygiene of the washing machine. This way the dirt that has accumulated isn’t washed away. The best thing you can do for your clothes and for your washing machine is to service it. Make sure you thoroughly clean the rubber edges and the lint filters. You can take the soap tray out of the washing machine to clean it thoroughly from all sides as well as from the spot where it came out. If you feel that the washing machine is still very dirty, you can put a dishwasher tablet in the drum and run a boil at 90 degrees. Then your washing machine, and therefore also your laundry, will smell fresh again!

In principle, the washing machine does not need much maintenance after such a major overhaul: if you run a boiling wash once a month, you can already prevent dirt from accumulating. Also make sure that you never add too much detergent: this has the opposite effect of what the desired outcome is.

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