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??

This stuff. trustproducts.co.uk/products/trust-long-lasting-aluminum-free-extremely-effective-deodorant-for-underarm-odour-protection
The usually have it in Boots or on Amazon

At night. wash under your arms with proper soap and water.
Apply a small amount of Trust under your arms.
It’s not a deodorant. It is zinc oxide and kills the bacteria under your arms that react with sweat and make you smell.
You’ll wake up with fresh smelling pits!
At first use it every couple of days, then eventually you’ll only need it once per week.

You can use deodorant as well in the morning, but you’ll get to point where you don’t really near to.

For washing I found Natures Miracle works well. I bought it to deal with pet smells on fabric, but it also works on sweaty gym clothes.

Put cheapo vodka in a spray bottle and really soak the pits- kills bacteria. Anti-bac cleanser also does wonders on machine washable stuff (dettol, whizz). My son has reached the whiffy years, so I rinse the really smelly stuff like sports clothes through again after the wash cycle has finished, it’s interesting to see how cloudy the water still is at the point I’d have previously taken it out and hung it up🤢

I’ve tried dettol laundry cleanser and didn’t find it made any difference.
have washed with bio washing powder as well. Will try white vinegar next as I have the same problem. No deodorants work anymore for me. Suspect it’s a peri menopause issue. Husband also has a lot of sweaty workout gear to deal with

This is what I spray on the armpits of my workout gear

Honestly I would try a more effective detergent and longer washes - hotter if you dare

I've been using Napisan when I wash DSS's clothes. Seems to work quite well

The only thing I’ve found works on very smelly teenager’s BO tops is to spray liberally with flash with bicarb (or the wilko equivalent) and to do a full length cycle at 40 with biological powder. Honestly I was on the verge of throwing away half their clothes until I tried this

Oh yes and no softener as it seals the smells in

Ensure your detergent drawer on the machine is super clean.

I've also been told by 3 different appliance engineers to not use the drawer as they clog up with detergent and you are rising your clothes in soapy water.

Detergent straight in the drum.

You should do an occasional at least 60 degree wash to give it a good clean - so perhaps towels on that?

Try only using a biological powder and soda crystals, maybe white vinegar instead of softener, but no liquid products at all - I feel they just coat fabrics. I'm in a soft water area but may be worth looking at hard water solutions if you're in a hard water area (although soda crystals should help with that).

Re the environmental impact - weigh up doing a hot wash once a week or so vs rewashing clothes or even chucking them out. I've never had an item of clothing that couldn't be rescued in terms of smell at least, by a hot wash and biological powder, caveat being that it might fade colours a lot quicker. I wash even my gym kit at higher temps every so often - none of it is expensive enough that I'd be distraught if it was ruined, but none of it has actually been ruined yet!

I'd also hang laundry outside (or by an open window) whenever you can - even if things don't get dry and need to be finished off indoors, at least they'll get a good airing. Sunlight can remove stains so maybe a bit of time in the sun will help with the smell too.

For soap, make sure it's actually plain old soap and not something like Dove with moisturisers etc. TK Maxx sells a huge variety of fragranced fine-milled soaps which are lovely, but even the cheap value soaps in the supermarket should do the job.

As well as using the laundry disinfectant, you should avoid using fabric softener - you don't need it, and it can clog up the fibres and hold in the smell.

And the thing that helped me to stop sweating in the first place (I was extra sweaty while breastfeeding my oldest but have always been quick to overheat) was changing the cut of clothes. Tight clothes of any fabric just make me sweat, if I go for looser cuts and styles it makes a world of difference. The fabric isn't touching the armpit in the same way!

Costume departments in the theatre spray vodka on the affected areas, good for dry clean only clothes. I use white vinegar in Place of fabric conditioner in the washing machine.

Make your own deo with bicarb, coconut oil and essential oil of your preference. Recipes easily found online, but very simple.
Have been using Lidl's own brand non biological powder. Is well priced, effective and zero plastic.

I get this with Heattech tops and find that a good soak with soda crystals gets them good as new.

White vinegar and bicarb paste.

Also dry dove creme deodorant. Once I switched to that it stopped overnight

Bio powder (Persil/Ariel) and a hotter wash sorted out my DD's horrible smelling clothes when she was going through puberty.

For your arm pits have you tried good old fashioned talcum powder ?

Nappisan

White vinegar i use it to clean out my washing machine but its great to add some when you do a wash as it takes all smells out.Great for cleaning windows and mirrors as well add some to a wet shammy leather 😉

@stinkfaceison I think talc is suspected to be carcinogenic

Much experience of this sadly! I find wool clothing is best, fineness/weight dependent on the weather, in the UK I can wear fine merino apart from on very hot days. It wicks moisture and is naturally bacteria resistant. I find even if my armpits smell the wool jumpers etc I have been wearing do not. It also makes me feel better that if cared for, including needing less frequent machine washing, it can last for years and is recyclable when it reaches the end of useful life.

Also suggest regularly airing your clothes on the line, even if they haven't been washed. Fresh air just improves smell, I don't like clothes that smell strongly of detergent, and sunshine (if there is any) can work wonders on killing off bacteria and lightening yellow stains on white clothing. You could try using soap flakes for laundry instead of modern detergents, which I find often cause a build up on fabrics and contribute to unpleasant armpit whiff, even if it seems to be gone after the initial wash.

Vinegar is my only solution for unavoidable synthetic sports clothes. As a family of sweaty beasts not only did it remove old sweaty smells but they haven't returned either.

Good luck OP!

Have you tried freezing your clothes to kill the bacteria that causes the smell?

This was suggested to me for smelly shoes and it worked - I would think the same principle would apply to clothes too. I think it needs 24 hours inside

@Brieandbeetroot how did you manage to ban smell permanently with vinegar? Soak overnight, use always...?

@thesunday sorry I forgot to mention, yes I put vinegar in with the wash and the sort of musty old sweaty smells didn't come out once they got newly sweaty if that makes sense, I use vinegar in a wash once in a while for sports stuff now. But the thing I think actually clinched it which I only just remembered, is it coincided with me going back to using laundry powder instead of liquid detergent which I find is easier to overuse and doesn't wash out as well, and I think part of the problem was detergent clinging to fabrics.

These helped with a house full of teens:

• Soap instead of shower gell
• White vinegar spray by the laundry basket to spray sweaty areas as clothes go into the basket.
• Periodic soak for susceptible clothes in biotex or similar
• Biological powder (not liquids) in the machine on the hottest/longest wash the clothes will tolerate at least every few washes.