How to Get Odor Out of Clothes: Sweat, Smoke, and BO

Why washed clothes still smell

Sweat on its own barely smells. The smell comes from bacteria on your skin and in the fabric breaking down sweat and skin oil. A quick cold wash removes the sweat but leaves some of the oil, and each wear adds more. After a while the fabric smells as soon as it warms up on your body.

Common reasons it builds up:

• Polyester and other synthetics. Researchers who tested shirts after a spinning class found polyester smelled stronger than cotton, because odor-causing bacteria grew better on it.
• Short, cold washes. They don’t dissolve skin oil well.
• Too much detergent or fabric softener. Residue coats the fibers and traps oil and smell.
• Overloading the drum. Clothes need room to move and rinse.
• Leaving sweaty clothes in a pile or a closed gym bag, where bacteria multiply.
• A smelly washing machine, which makes everything smell musty.

1. Wash sooner and inside out

Wash workout clothes within a day. Until then, hang them up to dry instead of balling them up in a hamper. Turn them inside out so the side that touched your skin gets the most water and detergent.

2. Soak them

For clothes that smell as soon as you put them on, soak them before washing:

• Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate): dissolve it in warm water as the pack directs and soak for 1 to 8 hours. It’s safe on most colors. Test on a hidden seam first.
• White vinegar: 1 cup in a basin of cool water for about an hour.

Use one or the other. Never mix chlorine bleach with vinegar or ammonia.

3. Wash it properly

• Use the warmest water the care label allows.
• Use an enzyme detergent. The enzymes (protease and lipase on the label) break down sweat proteins and skin oil.
• Measure the detergent. More soap doesn’t mean cleaner; it leaves residue.
• Skip fabric softener on workout clothes and towels. It coats the fibers and holds onto smell.
• Fill the drum about three-quarters full at most.

For underarms that still smell, rub a drop of dish soap into the fabric before washing. Dish soap cuts the oil and old deodorant that builds up there.

4. Air-dry, then check

Hang the clothes to dry, outdoors if you can, and smell them once they’re dry. If any smell is left, wash them again. The heat of a dryer can set the smell into the fabric.

Smoke smell in clothes

Cigarette and fire smoke leave residue in the fabric. Hang the clothes outside for a few hours first, then wash them with a cup of white vinegar or half a cup of baking soda added to the wash. For clothes you can’t wash, hang them outside for a day and ask a dry cleaner about odor treatment. If your whole house smells of smoke, see how to get cigarette smoke smell out of a house.

Musty or mildew smell

A damp, musty smell is mildew. It happens when clothes stay wet too long. See how to get the mildew smell out of clothes and towels.

If every load smells

If clean clothes come out of the machine smelling, the washer is the problem. Clean the door seal, detergent drawer, and drain filter, and run a cleaning cycle with a washing machine cleaner. Here’s how to get rid of washing machine smell.