Getting rid of established sweaty whiff in clothing - can it be done??

[GlomOfNit]

This is going to make me sound like a goblin, but I have a problem with smelly sweating. I've tried most deodorants out there, but very little will stop my pits smelling by evening. Michum, in particular, is useless! I shower rigorously daily and use soap and tea tree oil shower gel on my armpits.

So a lot of my favourite clothing has permanently whiffy armpit areas. I'm a reluctant binner of clothing because of the environmental impact of binning and buying again, but there are a few things I've had to retire because - fresj out of the wash - they smell as soon as my body heat has warmed up the arm pit area. I very seldom wear something I've had close to my armpits more than once before washing, which bugs me because it's not dirty as such, but I have to wash that often to try and stave off the inevitable permanent pit-stink. Some things take the smell worse than others. Fat Face Simone dresses, for instance (which I live in). Some cotton items but not everything made of cotton. Synthetic thermal vests (uniqlo and M&S) which I also live in, under pinafores and dungarees - they get really smelly though I wash after each use.

I have some lovely Seasalt PJs, the fine cotton lawn ones, which are pretty much unusable now (perimenopausal night sweats, not wholly controlled by HRT) and I'm really careful with new clothing, but it's really demoralising.

Is there anything that can be done to revive the things that I feel I've ruined? I wash at 40 for colours, use Bioleaf or similar 'eco' liquid detergent (I like using this because I buy refills at a local zero waste/fair trade shop and I like to support them, but happy to buy something else if it works) and an 'eco' fabric softener. My family's clothing doesn't come out with stinky pits so it's me, not the washing machine. :-( We currently dry things on radiators and a Lakeland heated airer, will dry outside when winter's buggered off.

Vinegar? Special sports wash?? Bicarb??

I wash all my running/cycling/gym kit with dettol laundry cleanser and it's a game changer!

Hi there, firstly it’s worth buying some under arm sweat pads, these will absorb the sweat and hopefully keep clothes fresher.
Secondly it’s best to never tumble dry clothes that have been washed at lower temperatures because the warmth of the dryer reactivates the bacteria that causes the smell.
Wash inside out and put out on the washing line.
Vanish or Pink Stuff Oxi Action powder is good too add to the detergent drawer.

Another vote for Halo sports wash!

Halo sports wash is brilliant for getting rid of sweat smells. I wash all our active wear in it and use it every few washes on mine and the kids uniforms x

I agree a stronger washing detergent I am afraid. I always go back to Percil as others don't seem to wash as well. You could use the eco one still for less smelly garments. Also powder better than liquid.

Turn the top inside out. Wet armpit with cold water. Rub with Dettol anti-bacterial soap (the bar sort), rub well into the fabric. Wash at min 40 degrees with a biological powder. Line dry if possible.

This sorts out my son's nylon football shirts.

Another one voting for Dettol Antibac laundry, also Just Pink in wash. I also use old-fashioned carbolic soap on DH shirts as he has the same problem. Grate some carbolic into the washing up bowl. Whisk it to form suds then scrub offending area and leave to soak while the darks / lights wash depending on the shirt colour, then into the machine with the just pink powder. If that doesn't work, just pink + dettol.

Ace laundry bleach has sorted out a running top that I nearly had to bin it was so bad

I know white vinegar is recommended but I don't know if I'm looking in the wrong places but could never find it in the supermarket.

I just put a capful in a washing up bowl amount of water, left my top to soak for a few hours and then put it in the wash.

Brilliant, thank you all! I knew MN would have some good suggestions.

I've ordered 5l of white vinegar from Amazon and will see if I can get a large tub of bicarb too (not wanting to use the stuff I buy for baking, it's an expensive way of cleaning). So vinegar - I should soak stinky things in a mix of that and water pre-wash AND put some in the fabric softener box?

I will also try:
-bar soap for my pits (any recs?? I use Simple soap for nethers (not inside!!) but perhaps need something better for armpits?
-washing powder not liquid.
-Dettol Laundry Cleanser
-Will consider washing hotter but the environmental impact is pretty important to me.

40 should be fine once you start using a powder that works a bit more effectively.
The bio ones are OK ish for things that aren't that smelly, but you need something robust for actual bacterial smells.

See how you get on with a spritz of vinegar. I wouldn't soak for long personally as it's a weak acid and might not help cotton things to last very long if they're bathing in it for ages.

It's just white malt vinegar that you put on your chips.

Biological washing powder (not liquid) on the longest eco wash your machine has, because that will include a long period of soaking. No fabric conditioner, it coats the fabric and makes it worse.

Rewash all your smelly clothes twice over as above, and dry on heated airer so they dry quickly, as bacteria breed in damp conditions. This will reset them. Second the wearing a bra only once before washing if you're having this issue. Underboob sweat can make bras bacteria harbourers. Wash bras with biological washing powder.

Do a clay face mask on your pits and underboob to draw out bacteria deep in the pores. Stop using clogging deodorant and switch to a pit rock style crystal deodorant. Do regular clay masks during the transition to help unclog your pores.

Bar soap is better than most shower gels as it removes more bacteria, but is usually very alkali. For some people this will sway their natural biome to more odour producing bacteria. Try a pH balanced soap or body wash. Sebamed bar soap is good. This is more acidic and reestablishes a better microflora.

Some people find lemon juice to be a good deodorant. If you do I think it's a good sign your armpits need to be washed with something pH balanced, or even use something like vagisil wash/femfresh which is slightly acidic. Double wash your armpits.

I find not shaving my pits helps too, and I think the biggest advantage is that the hair provides more surface area for sweat to evaporate rather than soak into clothes, and clothes aren't directly on the armpit. When I do shave I notice I feel more sweaty. Exercising has changed the structure of my armpit too - more shoulder and upper arm muscle creates a bigger 'well' and this also stops clothes resting in my armpit. Obviously choosing clothes styles that aren't right into the armpit also helps.

Best of luck.

Dettol laundry cleaner and as hot a wash as the fabric can stand.

Halo Laundry Liquid www.amazon.co.uk/HALO-PROACTIVE-SPORTS-LIQUID-LITRE/dp/B003WGL0C6

Good soak in vinegar, line dry post wash

Dr Beckmann do both an odour remover and a specific stain devils spray for sweat
Work really well on DHs work clothes which are rather sweaty (combination of sweaty man and very very hot hospital)
But also works on more delicate items such as DS1s beloved NUFC top.
Don't need to use it everytime but gets used quite a bit (I got in online)

When my clothes get this I save them up and once I have a few I run them all at 60 with a colour catcher and "sports" detergent, it always does the job and very rarely wrecks fabrics.

It does build up again and I have to do it again but it keeps it at bay for a few weeks/months.

It doesn't happen to anybody else including stinky teenage DS so I think it's just something hormonal perhaps? (Actually some of DH's primark t-shirts need this treatment occasionally).

I find this occasional 60 wash is a good compromise as does not use up as much as washing hot all the time.

I also chuck in bedding, towels, cleaning cloths, anything that could do with a "sterilise" every so often.

Bar soap - but get antibacterial soap. That is a smelly armpit game changer

Hydrogen peroxide for the sweat stains - spray it on or blot on and leave for 30 min then wash in as hot as your tags allow you

re washing powder - make sure that you are not using too much powder. Too much powder means the rinse cycle doesn't get a chance to clear away all the soap and residual powder will build up in the fabric. I don't think your eco powder would be effective. Try something else just for a while. Powders in boxes do not produce much waste - better than pods in a plastic box

Also make sure your deodorant is dry before putting on your clothes, do not spray more deodorant on yourself while wearing clothes, it just causes a layer to build up on the clothes trapping bacteria that create the smell.

Try using a pH neutral body wash rather than tea tree. I love tea tree but it is probably killing all the bacteria including the good ones that are on your skin allowing the bacteria that create the odour to proliferate. use warm water not hot as hot will strip all the natural oils in your skin making it dry, which again allows the bacteria to grow

99 times out of 100 you are going to be more sensitive to your body odour than anyone else.

Halo sports wash is amazing!

Thin stick on panty liners in your tops absorb the sweat.
Spray the under arm bits of the clothes with dettox antibac cleaner before washing.

Change in body odour and sweaty pits was a huge part of perimenopause for me. I suggest getting your HRT looked at as the dosage/combination probably isn't quite right.

In terms of washing clothing, I found soaking them in distilled white vinegar as a pre-wash and then washing as normal was enough to remove the odour.

Stick deodorants seem to work much better for me than sprays or roll ons. Sure 48 hour is good. Obviously I don't leave it 48 hours.

Echoing previous suggestions to use laundry cleanser - doesn't have to be Dettol, I have found the supermarket own brand ones to be just as effective and they are cheaper. I have a family member who is not able to use deodorant due to a skin condition, their clothes are usually very "heavily scented" after wearing (!) even with daily showers etc, and laundry cleanser gets rid of the smell with no issues at all.