Smelly husband

[Smarshian]

DH works long hours in a stressful job. He wears a uniform which consists of polo tops. He absolutely stinks when he gets home. He sweats in meetings a lot. His tops often still smell when they come out of the wash, the under arm bits almost retain the deodorant/ sweat.
He showers twice a day, wears a clean top and Mitchum antiperspirant deodorant.
Any tips on either how to reduce the sweat/smell in the first place or how to get rid of the smell in the tops gratefully received. It’s really impacting his confidence.

Has he seen his GP about this? This level of sweating sounds quite extreme.

For his clothes try Halo, it's used mainly for sports clothes. Best thing I've found to get rid of body odour from my husband's running gear.

Dettol laundry liquid or a sports wash for gym clothes. I use dettol laundry and it works well for us.

If you can start with new polo shirts it would work better to start from the first wash of them but otherwise try the Dettol. It is in all supermarkets or their own brand version of it.

groceries.asda.com/product/laundry-cleansers/dettol-antibacterial-laundry-cleanser-sensitive/910001429741

I use this one, it doesn't have a fresh smell to it, doesn't really smell of anything. As it goes in the softner compartment I use half dettol and half softner as I live in a hard water area.

Re the sweating there are products he can try like Driclor available in Boots that you roll on at night before bed. Can be a bit stingy. Some people just sweat more than others.

White vinegar works! Soak in that before you wash them

He hasn’t seen a GP. I think he’s quite embarrassed about it, although I will try to encourage him again.
Ok will look at those washing options.
Any deodorant recommendations?

my husband is similar in that he wears polo shirts and they flippin STINK when he comes home. I have found I had to increase the wash time on the washing machine so they smell fresh when coming out. Also try in scent boosters

Seconding Halo sportswash, I buy mine from amazon in bulk. Always gets my husbands running and spinning clothes clean and no lingering smell even when they get warmed up again

Has he tried using roll on? Perspirex is amazing, apply a few times a day. (Not on freshly shaven armpits though)

How long does he wash the clothes and at what temp? I’d be using a hot long wash, at least an hour!

Can he wear a light t shirt underneath to stop the main top getting so sweaty

Driclor is very effective at reducing seating. It’s not a daily deodorant though, more a treatment. Try adding napisan in the wash?

Clothes get washed usually for around 1hour 30, on 40 degrees. The Mitchum is a roll on that he uses. Maybe a hotter wash?
I will have a look at driclor too.

Is he using mitchum spray/roll on? I had a bad period of very smelly sweating a while back. The only thing that worked for me a was wax deodorant sticks they are amazing - the mitchum one especially.
I also read a lot about 'stress sweat' as I didn't understand how my sweat at the gym wasn't as bad as at work. Stress sweat is strong smelling sweat that is induced by our flight or fight roots and caused by stress/panic. It smells very differently to normal sweat and it's full of hormones. The more stressed I was about about my sweat the worse it was! Stress management and relaxation techniques helped a lot!
I also took a fresh top so I would wash after my morning meeting which is normally when it happened as the smell stuck in the clothes all day.

Is he applying his antiperspirant at night? Definitely try that if he isn't. It has time to work better when the skin is less likely to sweat. My son found triple dry applied just before bed stopped the stress odour he was getting during the day completely.

You can get ‘cooling’ baselayers which can help slightly, and if nothing else provide a layer between him and the polo shirt. DH wears these and it seems to make a difference.

Has he waxed his armpits?

I use dettol laundry liquid on my dc's sports kits and school shirts and it's definitely made a difference.

He doesn’t apply antiperspirant at night. Would that make a difference when he washes in the morning anyway?
And he definitely hasn’t waxed his armpits - I’m not sure I could convince him even if it helped.

Sure Maximum is a really good deodorant, I switch between this and Mitcham.

www.boots.com/sure-men-maximum-protection-anti-perspirant-cream-stick-clean-scent-45ml-10085747

40 degrees is too low imo.
Persil on at least 60.
Under fill the machine - just his work gear with a towel or two or some of his underwear. Maybe an extra wash cycle?

Biological powder for the wash with dettol antibacterial laundry liquid. You need the full on power of actual biological (not non-bio.)

For sweating generally I've seen washing with bar soap suggested on here. I'd say if he can trim any armpit hair shorter, wash at night with bar soap then apply the Mitchum wax stick (or driclor or triple dry - there are loads of treatments available OTC at a pharmacy)

For the clothes I'd (ask him to) apply laundry detergent to the armpit areas and really scrub it in, then wash with biological liquid at 40 degrees.

More breathable top? If they smell after washing how long are you washing them for?

They need a soak first, then a long 3 hour cycle, high temperature wash with washing powder in the drum and the drawer, plus good quality fabric conditioner and maybe even zoflora too.
Is he showering before he gets dressed? fresh sweat shouldn’t smell. If it’s excessive he may have hyperhidrosis. Hope he’s ok.

Definitely avoid any fabric softener as that tends to coat fabrics and lick in odours. Put some white vinegar in the softener compartment instead. If you're using biological washing powder, don't wash too hot as I think anything over 40 kills the useful enzymes. Dettol or Milton will help hugely, too. Poor guy!

*lock in!

What are you washing with. Of you're using gel or liquid, it's better to change to powder, first, before trying more expensive opt nd