How can I remove lingering sweat odour from school shirts?

[LittleBird74]

DS 14 wears short sleeved shirts to school. I’ve noticed after washing recently that they still have a faint sweat smell - seems worse after drying on the line rather than tumble dryer and I notice it while ironing.
He wears a clean shirt daily, showers or baths every day, deodorant and I never really notice any sweaty smell on him. I wash/dry/iron all shirts at the weekend and use fairy.
I’ve tried white vinegar spray under the arms, laundry disinfectant, special underarm spray for sweat smells and marks. I hang them open on the line for plenty of sun and fresh air.
Any idea what else I can try to get rid of this odour?

On dry armpits once out of the shower and allowing it to dry before getting dressed.

I would just wash on a cotton wash minimum 60 degrees, or 90 with sheets etc. With a bit of Oxy stain remover added to bio detergent.

Of course if they’re unsalvageable I will get him new ones.
They don’t smell when on him, he always smells lovely.

It's unlikely that the stench from the shirts isnt following him around if it is embedded in his clothes.

I found dettol laundry sanitiser got rid of any smells from my gym gear. It kills the bacteria that can survive a 40 degree wash.

Also, if you could get him to try washing with actual soap rather than just shower gel that can really help.

If they are white shirts try Ace mousse spray for white clothing. It is bleach based and should shift stains and smells. Also use bio powder

Buy a bottle of thin bleach (not thick bathroom bleach - that has soap and thickeners). Tesco Savers this bleach costs about 50p. Dilute 100ml bleach in 10l water in a bucket. This is now 0.05% bleach. Leave the shirts to soak for 5-10 mins in there. Wash straight away on a long 60 degree cotton cycle with a fully loaded washing machine. Add tea towels or flannels if the machine is not full - small items will improve agitation. It is the physical rubbing of cloth against cloth that provides scrubbing action. Use a biological washing powder as pp have said. Its terrible that we have such a throw away culture when it is quite possible to refurbish items well with low cost solutions. Bleach gets a lot of negative views but it is safe and effective at low concentrations - Milton's solution is used to sterilise baby bottles. From an environmental perspective bleach is not a stable compound and breaks down to salt, water and oxygen and therefore is much less problematic than other chemicals. The likes of Dettol laundry sanitiser contain longer lasting pollutants. Benzalkonium chloride is toxic to aquatic life, it takes a long time to break down, and may contribute to the wider problem of antimicrobial resistance. These products should be banned, they are awful. Hopefully you get some more wear out of those shirts.

Agree, pre- soak with dilute vinegar. Does the trick! 10 mins will do it. I've been known to keep a bucket near the washing machine for this.

Dettol laundry sanitiser and take out to dry as soon as it’s washed.

I’d also just buy more even if for a few weeks. If they are cheaper supermarket ones. Don’t want to be scruffy and smelly at that age

Add a scoop of napisan in the powder drawer. No fuss, smells and stains gone.

For the economy approach, soak in old fashioned washing soda over night. A 1kg bag should cost £1. Works perfectly.

Plus when you pour it down the sink afterwards, it cleans your drain.🙂

Do you mean soda crystals? They are about £2 a bag now!

He didn’t dry his hairy arm pits. You need to put it on when you are dry not soaking wet from the shower

This and wash on hot wash.

I had this issue with some of my own t shirts. It was washing them with non bio on too short a cycle that was the problem.

I soaked them in bucket of warm water with a big glug of zoflora for a couple of hours and then washed them and that did the trick. I now wash everything with bio laundry detergent and half a scoop of oxi powder in every wash and use the longer 40c eco cycle (or 60c cottons cycle for bedding and towels.)

The only items I don't use biological detergent are wool and silk, I use an eco egg on the hand wash cycle for those.

Agree with lots of these but would also add don't wash at low temps (30 or 40) - it simply doesn't kill the germs. Always wash at at least 40c.

@SuffolkBargeWoman so what temperature do you recommend please so that the enzymes can still work?

40⁰C should be ok for bio detergent

Rubbing alcohol, or vodka! It works- they use it in theatres to eliminate smells from costumes.

Always use bio detergent for sweat. Non bio just won't touch it.

Try soaking them in a sink of warm water with a generous scoop of bicarbonate of soda for an hour before washing. It completely neutralizes the trapped bacteria that standard detergents miss! White vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer also works absolute wonders.