How to get smell out of clothes: body odor, musty, smoke and more

Step by step: how to get smell out of clothes

1. 1

   Identify the smell

   Sniff the clothes dry and again when wet. A sour or onion smell that comes back when you sweat is body oil and bacteria. An earthy, damp smell is mildew. A stale, ashy smell is smoke. If everything from the washer smells the same, the washer is the problem.

2. 2

   Turn clothes inside out

   Sweat and skin oils collect on the inside of clothing, so turn shirts, leggings and socks inside out. This lets the water and detergent reach the dirtiest side.

3. 3

   Soak in oxygen bleach

   Dissolve oxygen bleach in warm water as the package directs and soak the clothes for 1 to 6 hours, weighing them down with a white towel. Do not use it on wool, silk or leather. For a mild smell, a 1 hour soak is often enough.

4. 4

   Wash warm with room to move

   Wash on the warmest temperature the care label allows with a full, measured dose of a good liquid detergent. Fill the drum no more than about three quarters so clothes can move; overloaded washers leave body soil behind.

5. 5

   Smell before drying

   Pull one item out and smell it while wet. If the odor is still there, repeat the soak and wash. Dryer heat can lock body oil smells in.

6. 6

   Dry completely and quickly

   Move clothes to the dryer or a line within an hour of the cycle ending. Dry in sun and breeze if you can. Never fold or store anything that is even slightly damp, which starts a mildew smell overnight.

7. 7

   Air out what cannot be washed

   For dry-clean-only jackets and coats, hang them outside in shade for a day, or seal them in a bag with an open box of baking soda for a few days. Take strong or lingering odors to a dry cleaner.

What works on each kind of smell

Match the treatment to the cause: oil-based odors need warmth and detergent, mildew needs drying and a soak, and smoke needs airing as well as washing.

Each has its own guide: sweat smell, mildew smell, smoke smell, perfume smell and gasoline smell. Never put gasoline-soaked clothes in a dryer.

Why clothes still smell after washing

Clothes usually still smell after washing because body oils were not fully removed, because they sat wet too long, or because the washer itself smells.

Tide’s odor guide notes that synthetic fabrics are the hardest to deodorize, that soils and residues are harder to remove in cool washes, and that dirty clothes waiting in a hamper for big, infrequent loads give odors time to set. Its workout clothes advice is to turn gear inside out, use the warmest water the label allows, not overload the machine, let sweaty clothes air dry before they go in the hamper if you cannot wash them right away, and dry everything completely before storing.

Check the washer too. Tide recommends a hot, empty cleaning cycle once a month, wiping the drum and door each month, leaving the door and dispenser drawer slightly open between loads, and taking clothes out as soon as the cycle finishes. Our washing machine cleaning guide walks through it.

Do vinegar and baking soda remove smells from clothes?

They help a little, but they are not a replacement for detergent, and using both together cancels them out.

Tide explains that baking soda and vinegar neutralize each other when combined, that vinegar’s low pH can weaken cotton, linen and some synthetics and alter pH-sensitive dyes, and that baking soda’s high pH can damage wool, cashmere and silk. A cup of baking soda in a soak, or a splash of vinegar in the rinse now and then, is fine for sturdy cotton. For real odor removal, the soak in oxygen bleach and a good detergent does more.

Mistakes to avoid

• Covering the smell with scent boosters or extra fabric softener instead of removing the cause.
• Overloading the washer so detergent and water cannot reach every item.
• Leaving clean, wet clothes in the washer for hours.
• Putting damp gym clothes straight into a closed hamper.
• Mixing vinegar and baking soda in the same load.
• Drying smelly clothes before checking whether the odor is gone.