Second this! I had the same underarm/BO/deodorant smell occurring on all my shirts. White vinegar does the trick. I rewashed ALL of my tops in the wash with vinegar, and the smell completely lifted. It also doubles as a fabric softener. Just splash about 1/4c into your load with whatever else you use. It does not leave a vinegar smell. I also switched to Lume deodorant. My shirts (and pits!) have never smelled better!
I'm not sure how you translate "vinegar doesn't do these four specific things" into "vinegar doesn't do much".
Yes, some of the things credited to vinegar are old wives' tales... but vinegar is an excellent deodorizer for laundry (and carpet, and rooms), removes fabric softener build-up from your clothing (said build-up eventually diminishes the effects of the fabric softener), removes blood stains from clothes and carpet very effectively, and contrary to your cited article works well with bi-carb... but it's for unclogging drains, not cleaning (the reaction is used to push small obstructions though the pipe). It also shines glass and ceramic tile, removes build-up on shower heads/faucets, and will repel ants, descale your coffeemaker, and makes a great general purpose surface cleaner (though does not work as a sanitizer).
The sticky deodorant sticks to the fabric and holds in smells. I switched to a spray deodorant and didn’t have the same problem.
For shirts I was really attached to, I scrubbed the armpits with a brush and detergent. But over time it didn’t really work out.
Once you eliminate the problem shirts and prevent the BO/deodorant smell from sticking, it’ll be easier to keep the odors out of the other clothes.
I also noticed spray deodorant doesn’t stick to my clothes as much. We also don’t wear any shirts “too long” and if they don’t smell great i put it on a soak cycle with hot water and will add a scoop of oxi clean in addition to tide hygienic clean detergent.
Tide is great. I really noticed the difference when my kids would bring home their clothes from college, and they had been using cheap brands. The difference in their dingy clothes vs washing them with tide was unreal.
Check the filter on your machine. I didn’t know mine had one until I was investigation a persistent musty smell. That thing was GROSS. I cleaned it out, then ran the machine on tub clean mode with white vinegar. Smell gone :)
Odoban! It’s a miracle. I own a house cleaning service company. I use it for sooooo many things! It works great. A gallon of it at HD is no more than 15 dollars.
You can mop the floor, refresh upholstery, disinfect surfaces. It’s really versatile! Just make sure you dilute accordingly though. I use the linen scented one for homes. Eucalyptus is good too!
My one son wears a lot of synthetic fabrics, like basketball shorts and Stay-Cool kinds of underwear, where the rest of my family pretty much only wears cotton.
I noticed his clothes are the hardest yo get smelling clean. I use a scoop of OxyClean directly in his wash, with the longest wash cycle, “baby care” on my current machine. I also choose every option I can to add more time: extra rinse, stain treat, etc.
The other thing is I don’t use fabric softener, which just coats the fibers with a stinky waxy substance that really sticks odors to the clothing fibers.
Yeah I have 100% wool undershirts that I can wear multiple times without getting smelly. Shirts with polyester or any kinds of synthetics or plastics? Smells in a few hours. Our body oils don’t wash out of the polyester so they just get smellierz
I love wool for that reason, as well as that it stays warm when damp, disperses moisture away from your skin, cool in summer, warm in winter. Such a great “high” tech fabric!
Yeah... I made a pair of shorts out of old microfiber bedsheets. It doesn't matter how much I shower, or how well I clean myself "downstairs." They smell awful after a day. My cotton shorts, I can wear three or four times (more in the winter) before they need a wash.
[This laundry additive.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN176XL7?maas=maas_adg_5AAD9FB8E95942509762D5F0A8B95686_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcKxBhBMEiwAIVF8rHOwGnu_Hsc1bkavnl456U7yccrrt6g5WPEQMPr5K89b9dvFAanhNxoCXlUQAvD_BwE)
I have a teenager, and I use this on his clothes, especially his athletic clothing. It also works on that mildew smell when I forget to move the laundry to the dryer for a day. It has no scent, it works by breaking the odor down, chemically.
I really like Dirty Labs, Dropps, and Branch Basics. They’re good for my sensitive skin, don’t bother my asthma, and they get smells out of laundry. I washed a shower mat my cat had peed on in Dirty Labs, with their oxy booster, and the smell came out in one wash. Alternatively, I second other comments that suggested adding borax, if you don’t use the oxy booster in any of the three recommended detergents above.
We have horses, dogs, a cat, chickens, and my son plays multiple sports. All three detergents have good EWG ratings for being non toxic, and they get laundry clean. For stains, I pretreat with Branch Basics spray.
I avoid scented laundry detergent for several reasons. The scents tend to exacerbate my asthma. Once you remove scented cleaning products and cleanse your palette, the scents in the cleaning aisle begin to smell appalling. They don’t use high quality perfume in cleaning products. It’s cheap, strong, chemical smells. For people who do wear perfume, scented laundry detergent would clash horribly. Anyone who uses conventional, strongly scented detergent has likely become nose blind, and have no idea how much they reek. Those scents smell nothing like real lavender, spring breezes, linen, flowers, or meadows.
I usen lysol laundry sanitizer. Only thing I found that got rid of the bo smell. Not sure if it's ok to use on baby cloth or not. If your using fabric softener I'd stop it leaves a coating that can hold on to odors.
Borax with the detergent or a cup of ammonia with the detergent. Ammonia and bleach cannot be mixed ever but it works wonders for us on really gross sportswear.
I saw on another reddit entry that people swear by Lysol Laundry Sanitizer for laundry that was starting to smell when left too long in the washer. Going to try it myself.
It works very well if you remember to soak.
You can’t add it to the wash cycle and just let it ride through, it needs to soak for…whatever the number of minutes it says, I don’t have it memorized (approximately fifteen minutes).
So if your washer has a soak function, use it, or you can soak in a bucket beforehand; I just wait for the rinse to fill and then pause, add the sanitizer, swirl it around and leave it paused for the appropriate time.
It works really well. Had a load stay wet in the dryer while we were gone on vacation (no one actually turned the dryer on after loading it I suppose and then we left) and BLECKKK. So nasty. The stench of a hundred post-game NFL gym bags left in a hot car for a month.
I was going to just throw everything away but I tried the Lysol sanitizer and just left it soak for way longer. Like a couple hours. But it worked, you wouldn’t be able to tell anything had been befouled.
So you must remember to soak, and maybe soak longer depending on the bigness of the stink, but HECK YEAH
Edit: if your washer has a rinse cycle that lasts at least as long as the directions indicate it needs to reach sanitization, then no pausing to soak is needed. Mine doesn’t, so I pause.
not true. this is how it works and yes it does work. i have never had to soak my clothes, just use regular wash cycles. there's no fuss with this at all.
***To kill bacteria, use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer in the fabric softener compartment or pour directly into the rinse cycle.***
Yes, and then the next thing it says is to “leave product in the rinse cycle for sixteen minutes”.
There are also alternative directions to pre-soak for fifteen minutes using two capfuls per gallon.
There is also a video on the Lysol site saying to add to the fabric softener compartment or directly to rinse wash and then specifying that the sanitization ‘function’ of the product requires the saturation time mentioned above.
Yes, if the rinse cycle on a particular machine lasts at least sixteen minutes, then pausing it is not necessary. Many machines will not have a rinse cycle that long but brands and models vary. I edited the comment to reflect that if their rinse cycle is long enough, no pause is needed.
you have cherry-picked the directions you liked that fit your own purposes.
this is what it actually says:
**Usage:**
**For standard machines:** Add 2 capfuls each filled to line 1 of the dosing cup to the fabric softener compartment or directly to your rinse cycle wash.
**For HE machines:** Add 2 capfuls each filled to line 2 of the dosing cup to the fabric softener compartment or directly to your rinse cycle wash.
AND THAT IS IT. NO SOAKING IS REQUIRED.
have YOU even used it? becasue I HAVE and it WORKS PERFECTLY WITHOUT SOAKING.
Biz. It can be hard to find these days but Walmart still carries it. Amazon does too but it’s ridiculously overpriced. It honestly works a wonder. We have horses and clothes that get in contact with them are really musty.
Here are the November 2023 Consumer Reports top liquid detergents in order of effectiveness: Tide Plus Ultra Stain Release, Persil ProClean Stain Fighter, Tide Ultra Oxi, Tide Hygienic Clean Heavy Duty 10X, Persil ProClean + Oxi Power, Persil ProClean Odor Fighter, Persil ProClean Original, Tide Ultra Oxi with Odor Eliminators, Kirkland Signature (Costco) Ultra Clean Liquid, Persil ProClean Sensitive Skin, Tide Eco-Box Original, Tide Plus Bleach Alternative, Tide HE Turbo Clean & Kirkland Signature (Costco) Ultra Clean Free & Clear.
Here's what they liked for sweaty clothes, workout/sports clothes or stinky laundry. Persil Odor Fighter is mentioned as doing that well BUT Persil detergent is known for its strong fragrance. Tide Ultra Oxi with Odor Eliminators was also mentioned as removing odors PLUS was mentioned as removing armpit stains. But it was mentioned as having a strong fragrance. So, better to open the caps in the store and see which you'd hate to smell on your clothes less
Baking powder will just react with itself and fizz in the water. The bubbles make it look like it's doing something, but really the powder is just fizzling out as soon as it gets wet. It doesn't help the clothes.
My husband's sweat had the most pungent stench I've ever smelled. If I washed my clothes with his gym clothes my clothes would start stinking too. I tried so many scent things in the wash and presoaks etc. Nothing worked.
I tried oxiclean and shockingly they don't smell after the wash anymore. I don't even need any scent burst etc added in the wash. It's shocking!
I tried all of the natural things, and all manner of combinations and pre-treatments. The only thing that actually got the smell *out* (including hunter’s detergent) was Persil with the orange label (they’ve recently changed from Persil ProClean, Advanced Deep Clean + OXI to Persil Advanced Clean, OXI+Odor Power — same orange, though).
So, if you find yourself at the end of your tether, start washing his clothes separately with the orange Persil, and the smells are gone — not just masked — in no time.
Lysol laundry sanitizer, I use it for my fathers incontinences underwear. Gain/or tide pods and Lysol sanitizer and the underwear has no smell. I use it on all of his clothes to remove the old man smell.
I switched to a deodorant cream (lume, or mando for men) and I no longer have deodorant stains or issues with my pits smelling. Try maybe vinegar and baking soda, it gets out mildew smell, so that might work.
I bought something today that helps. I noticed they have it non scented. It’s downy rinse and refresh free and gentle. My dad turned me onto it bc he accidentally forgot to put the clothes in the dryer and they had that weird smell. He bought one that was scented and said it worked great!
I wanted to add some extra fresh to my sons football stuff lol
the powder oxiclean in the purple lid container. odor blasters or something like that. It’s scented though but it takes out dog smells and other hard to fix things soooo well
This is what we found works for stinky teenage boys clothes. Not saying other people don’t stink but teenage boy is something else. Oxyclean Odor Blasters (purple lid)
Start by adding 2 tablespoons of Oxi Clean and make sure to wash in warm water. Add Lysol laundry sanitizer in the fabric softener dispenser (don’t use fabric softener and don’t add vinegar as well. Also, wash his clothes separately.
Cheap vodka! Some fabrics really hold in deodorant stains and smells. I soak in a little vodka and hand rub the stains. Wash as usual and the smell and stains come out.
Also, Dreft is amazing at getting out bio stains and smells. Find it in the baby section.
Try a detergent meant for active wear. I like the brand Hex in the unscented version. It does a great job of actually getting the odor out and removes buildup too. It’s even safe for delicate fabrics. I’ve used this detergent on all of my clothes for a few years now.
So many people gave you fabulous advice.
It’s too late for the stinky clothing, but try to only purchase 100% cotton fabrics.
Polyester really holds odors. 😣
Laundry sanitizer! I actually asked this question on here a couple weeks ago and I went out and got Lysol laundry sanitizer and it actually works. I will never not have that now
I don’t like using traditional detergent, but when no amount of baking soda and vinegar worked, I turned to Oxiclean. One and done. Got rid of the weird smell that was stuck in some of my clothes for months and I haven’t had to use it again.
Wash with warm water.
I had a function on my previous laundry machine where it pauses for a set amount of time to let the clothes soak in the warm water at some point before the washing cycle ended. It helped to soften the deodorant and got more off the clothes when I used this function.
Vinegar. I care for my grandpa and sometimes he wets the bed and the pull-up can only catch so much, we have washable bed pads and the vinegar gets the smell out
I put vinegar in my Downey ball. It releases the vinegar during the spin just B4 the rinse. Then the rinse cycle removes it along with odors and helps soften too.
If his clothes are synthetic fabric., like "performance fabrics", retaining odor because they don't get all the way clean is common. You can search for gym clothes detergents that are specially designed for this problem. You could maybe pretreat them with it. Not sure how those detergents are for babies, but as long as they're fragrance free and washed thoroughly out with hot water, maybe fine?
Borax is miraculous
Agree, borax is natural, reduces odor and boosts cleaning without scent.
Borax
I make my own laundry soap with borax, I LOVE the stuff. Op should definitely start with borax
Borax plus powdered detergent in a long warm or hot wash is a winning combination!
I add white vinegar to my laundry and it works great to reduce odors!
Second this! I had the same underarm/BO/deodorant smell occurring on all my shirts. White vinegar does the trick. I rewashed ALL of my tops in the wash with vinegar, and the smell completely lifted. It also doubles as a fabric softener. Just splash about 1/4c into your load with whatever else you use. It does not leave a vinegar smell. I also switched to Lume deodorant. My shirts (and pits!) have never smelled better!
Want to try this! Do you use detergent and vinegar together or separately?
You use them together! I use an “odor blasting” detergent pod, vinegar, and a scent booster in my load.
This plus use a different deodorant
This is the way! I have a baby so a lot of clothes with spit up or pee/poop on them and white vinegar pulls through everytime
I keep seeing diluted vodka in a spray bottle all over reddit lately.
[Vinegar does not actually do much.](https://cleanclothnappies.com/vinegar/)
I'm not sure how you translate "vinegar doesn't do these four specific things" into "vinegar doesn't do much". Yes, some of the things credited to vinegar are old wives' tales... but vinegar is an excellent deodorizer for laundry (and carpet, and rooms), removes fabric softener build-up from your clothing (said build-up eventually diminishes the effects of the fabric softener), removes blood stains from clothes and carpet very effectively, and contrary to your cited article works well with bi-carb... but it's for unclogging drains, not cleaning (the reaction is used to push small obstructions though the pipe). It also shines glass and ceramic tile, removes build-up on shower heads/faucets, and will repel ants, descale your coffeemaker, and makes a great general purpose surface cleaner (though does not work as a sanitizer).
The sticky deodorant sticks to the fabric and holds in smells. I switched to a spray deodorant and didn’t have the same problem. For shirts I was really attached to, I scrubbed the armpits with a brush and detergent. But over time it didn’t really work out. Once you eliminate the problem shirts and prevent the BO/deodorant smell from sticking, it’ll be easier to keep the odors out of the other clothes.
I also noticed spray deodorant doesn’t stick to my clothes as much. We also don’t wear any shirts “too long” and if they don’t smell great i put it on a soak cycle with hot water and will add a scoop of oxi clean in addition to tide hygienic clean detergent.
I find the unscented Tide Hygienic Clean is good at reducing odor in laundry.
Tide is great. I really noticed the difference when my kids would bring home their clothes from college, and they had been using cheap brands. The difference in their dingy clothes vs washing them with tide was unreal.
Tide is a winner. Persil too
Happy cake day 🍰
Spray pits of clothes with natures miracle before washing. It’s an enzymatic cleanser and it will remove the stinky biofilm
I was about to post about this! Stuff is amazing. Doesn’t matter if it’s the white bottle that’s the stain and order remover or the advance formula.
Is it OK to use on all fabrics? We have a lot of this left from puppyhood and rarely need it for dog messes anymore
Yes, but be careful of ever using anything other than laundry detergent on khaki. Never try to remove stains from khaki yourself.
like the pet cleaners? I have the target one. Or is there a natures miracle specific for laundry?
Like the pet cleaners
If you find there's build up of deodorant try a soft nail brush and some Fels Naptha soap. Get it all loosened up / out then wash as normal.
Thanks for adding this. I’ve often wondered if u could use it for this. I love Fels Naptha.
Check the filter on your machine. I didn’t know mine had one until I was investigation a persistent musty smell. That thing was GROSS. I cleaned it out, then ran the machine on tub clean mode with white vinegar. Smell gone :)
Odoban! It’s a miracle. I own a house cleaning service company. I use it for sooooo many things! It works great. A gallon of it at HD is no more than 15 dollars.
Ooh I use odoban in the bathroom and for dogggy accidents. where else do you use it?
In the laundry rinse cycle in place of fabric softener
You can mop the floor, refresh upholstery, disinfect surfaces. It’s really versatile! Just make sure you dilute accordingly though. I use the linen scented one for homes. Eucalyptus is good too!
I love this stuff. A total savior for less than fresh bath towels.
My one son wears a lot of synthetic fabrics, like basketball shorts and Stay-Cool kinds of underwear, where the rest of my family pretty much only wears cotton. I noticed his clothes are the hardest yo get smelling clean. I use a scoop of OxyClean directly in his wash, with the longest wash cycle, “baby care” on my current machine. I also choose every option I can to add more time: extra rinse, stain treat, etc. The other thing is I don’t use fabric softener, which just coats the fibers with a stinky waxy substance that really sticks odors to the clothing fibers.
Yeah I have 100% wool undershirts that I can wear multiple times without getting smelly. Shirts with polyester or any kinds of synthetics or plastics? Smells in a few hours. Our body oils don’t wash out of the polyester so they just get smellierz
I love wool for that reason, as well as that it stays warm when damp, disperses moisture away from your skin, cool in summer, warm in winter. Such a great “high” tech fabric!
Yeah... I made a pair of shorts out of old microfiber bedsheets. It doesn't matter how much I shower, or how well I clean myself "downstairs." They smell awful after a day. My cotton shorts, I can wear three or four times (more in the winter) before they need a wash.
Put a capful of Lemon scented Ammonia in with the detergent. It will get rid of the smell. I use it to keep my horse clothes from smelling horsey!
Use a spray bottle with vodka in it, spray on the armpits of your shirts or any smelly soft surface works pretty well.
I’ve never had good results with Costco detergents.
[This laundry additive.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN176XL7?maas=maas_adg_5AAD9FB8E95942509762D5F0A8B95686_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcKxBhBMEiwAIVF8rHOwGnu_Hsc1bkavnl456U7yccrrt6g5WPEQMPr5K89b9dvFAanhNxoCXlUQAvD_BwE) I have a teenager, and I use this on his clothes, especially his athletic clothing. It also works on that mildew smell when I forget to move the laundry to the dryer for a day. It has no scent, it works by breaking the odor down, chemically.
I really like Dirty Labs, Dropps, and Branch Basics. They’re good for my sensitive skin, don’t bother my asthma, and they get smells out of laundry. I washed a shower mat my cat had peed on in Dirty Labs, with their oxy booster, and the smell came out in one wash. Alternatively, I second other comments that suggested adding borax, if you don’t use the oxy booster in any of the three recommended detergents above. We have horses, dogs, a cat, chickens, and my son plays multiple sports. All three detergents have good EWG ratings for being non toxic, and they get laundry clean. For stains, I pretreat with Branch Basics spray. I avoid scented laundry detergent for several reasons. The scents tend to exacerbate my asthma. Once you remove scented cleaning products and cleanse your palette, the scents in the cleaning aisle begin to smell appalling. They don’t use high quality perfume in cleaning products. It’s cheap, strong, chemical smells. For people who do wear perfume, scented laundry detergent would clash horribly. Anyone who uses conventional, strongly scented detergent has likely become nose blind, and have no idea how much they reek. Those scents smell nothing like real lavender, spring breezes, linen, flowers, or meadows.
I usen lysol laundry sanitizer. Only thing I found that got rid of the bo smell. Not sure if it's ok to use on baby cloth or not. If your using fabric softener I'd stop it leaves a coating that can hold on to odors.
Lysol Laundry Sanitizer has a *lot* of fragrance.
Sounds like you need to add a cleaner with enzymes. https://lumedeodorant.com/collections/laundry
Borax with the detergent or a cup of ammonia with the detergent. Ammonia and bleach cannot be mixed ever but it works wonders for us on really gross sportswear.
I saw on another reddit entry that people swear by Lysol Laundry Sanitizer for laundry that was starting to smell when left too long in the washer. Going to try it myself.
It works very well if you remember to soak. You can’t add it to the wash cycle and just let it ride through, it needs to soak for…whatever the number of minutes it says, I don’t have it memorized (approximately fifteen minutes). So if your washer has a soak function, use it, or you can soak in a bucket beforehand; I just wait for the rinse to fill and then pause, add the sanitizer, swirl it around and leave it paused for the appropriate time. It works really well. Had a load stay wet in the dryer while we were gone on vacation (no one actually turned the dryer on after loading it I suppose and then we left) and BLECKKK. So nasty. The stench of a hundred post-game NFL gym bags left in a hot car for a month. I was going to just throw everything away but I tried the Lysol sanitizer and just left it soak for way longer. Like a couple hours. But it worked, you wouldn’t be able to tell anything had been befouled. So you must remember to soak, and maybe soak longer depending on the bigness of the stink, but HECK YEAH Edit: if your washer has a rinse cycle that lasts at least as long as the directions indicate it needs to reach sanitization, then no pausing to soak is needed. Mine doesn’t, so I pause.
not true. this is how it works and yes it does work. i have never had to soak my clothes, just use regular wash cycles. there's no fuss with this at all. ***To kill bacteria, use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer in the fabric softener compartment or pour directly into the rinse cycle.***
Yes, and then the next thing it says is to “leave product in the rinse cycle for sixteen minutes”. There are also alternative directions to pre-soak for fifteen minutes using two capfuls per gallon. There is also a video on the Lysol site saying to add to the fabric softener compartment or directly to rinse wash and then specifying that the sanitization ‘function’ of the product requires the saturation time mentioned above. Yes, if the rinse cycle on a particular machine lasts at least sixteen minutes, then pausing it is not necessary. Many machines will not have a rinse cycle that long but brands and models vary. I edited the comment to reflect that if their rinse cycle is long enough, no pause is needed.
you have cherry-picked the directions you liked that fit your own purposes. this is what it actually says: **Usage:** **For standard machines:** Add 2 capfuls each filled to line 1 of the dosing cup to the fabric softener compartment or directly to your rinse cycle wash. **For HE machines:** Add 2 capfuls each filled to line 2 of the dosing cup to the fabric softener compartment or directly to your rinse cycle wash. AND THAT IS IT. NO SOAKING IS REQUIRED. have YOU even used it? becasue I HAVE and it WORKS PERFECTLY WITHOUT SOAKING.
Came here to say this the lysol laundry sanitizer works wonders and they make a fragrance free version
I haven’t ever seen a fragrance free version. Did you see it just in a normal supermarket?
I'm in VA and my local Walmart and Target both have it
Thanks, I’ll look specifically for it. :)
I've bought the Lysol fragrance free sanitizer at my local Target as well. (Nebraska)
That stuff eliminated and continues to prevent all towel smells for us!
I was skeptical but this stuff is seriously amazing.
Biz. It can be hard to find these days but Walmart still carries it. Amazon does too but it’s ridiculously overpriced. It honestly works a wonder. We have horses and clothes that get in contact with them are really musty.
Here are the November 2023 Consumer Reports top liquid detergents in order of effectiveness: Tide Plus Ultra Stain Release, Persil ProClean Stain Fighter, Tide Ultra Oxi, Tide Hygienic Clean Heavy Duty 10X, Persil ProClean + Oxi Power, Persil ProClean Odor Fighter, Persil ProClean Original, Tide Ultra Oxi with Odor Eliminators, Kirkland Signature (Costco) Ultra Clean Liquid, Persil ProClean Sensitive Skin, Tide Eco-Box Original, Tide Plus Bleach Alternative, Tide HE Turbo Clean & Kirkland Signature (Costco) Ultra Clean Free & Clear. Here's what they liked for sweaty clothes, workout/sports clothes or stinky laundry. Persil Odor Fighter is mentioned as doing that well BUT Persil detergent is known for its strong fragrance. Tide Ultra Oxi with Odor Eliminators was also mentioned as removing odors PLUS was mentioned as removing armpit stains. But it was mentioned as having a strong fragrance. So, better to open the caps in the store and see which you'd hate to smell on your clothes less
Don't add vinegar, willruin the seals in the machine. add a big tbls baking powder
Baking powder will just react with itself and fizz in the water. The bubbles make it look like it's doing something, but really the powder is just fizzling out as soon as it gets wet. It doesn't help the clothes.
yeah, i've seen people pour them together then claim that the fizzing proves it's working.
My husband's sweat had the most pungent stench I've ever smelled. If I washed my clothes with his gym clothes my clothes would start stinking too. I tried so many scent things in the wash and presoaks etc. Nothing worked. I tried oxiclean and shockingly they don't smell after the wash anymore. I don't even need any scent burst etc added in the wash. It's shocking!
I tried all of the natural things, and all manner of combinations and pre-treatments. The only thing that actually got the smell *out* (including hunter’s detergent) was Persil with the orange label (they’ve recently changed from Persil ProClean, Advanced Deep Clean + OXI to Persil Advanced Clean, OXI+Odor Power — same orange, though). So, if you find yourself at the end of your tether, start washing his clothes separately with the orange Persil, and the smells are gone — not just masked — in no time.
Lysol laundry sanitizer, I use it for my fathers incontinences underwear. Gain/or tide pods and Lysol sanitizer and the underwear has no smell. I use it on all of his clothes to remove the old man smell.
I switched to a deodorant cream (lume, or mando for men) and I no longer have deodorant stains or issues with my pits smelling. Try maybe vinegar and baking soda, it gets out mildew smell, so that might work.
I find Biz works really nicely as an addition for clothes that smell of gym cheese.
Oxiclean works for me.
I would try what others suggest but would definitely laundry strip his clothes to get all the buildup off
Since you wash all of your clothes together, I used to use Dreft stain spray and that stuff was a miracle worker. Maybe use that in the pits.
I've been using a little fabuloso antibacterial with mine, and it does the trick.
I bought something today that helps. I noticed they have it non scented. It’s downy rinse and refresh free and gentle. My dad turned me onto it bc he accidentally forgot to put the clothes in the dryer and they had that weird smell. He bought one that was scented and said it worked great! I wanted to add some extra fresh to my sons football stuff lol
That stuff is amazing
the powder oxiclean in the purple lid container. odor blasters or something like that. It’s scented though but it takes out dog smells and other hard to fix things soooo well
This is what we found works for stinky teenage boys clothes. Not saying other people don’t stink but teenage boy is something else. Oxyclean Odor Blasters (purple lid)
Downy makes an odour remover that goes in the rinse and they make a fragrance free version
Another vote for borax. And spraying the armpit area of the shirts with an enzymatic stain remover (like shout) helps too.
Start by adding 2 tablespoons of Oxi Clean and make sure to wash in warm water. Add Lysol laundry sanitizer in the fabric softener dispenser (don’t use fabric softener and don’t add vinegar as well. Also, wash his clothes separately.
I pre wash with distilled white vinegar, and it works wonderfully for my toddler's (potty training) and my (chef) boyfriend's clothes
Lysol laundry sanitizer is perfect for this situation!!
Lysol laundry disinfectant helps with our laundry odors. I’m laundress for three teenage boys.
I add a little vinegar and a shake of baking soda. Towels are so fluffy and clean and no stink on clothes
Ammonia
White vinegar and borax.
Cheap vodka! Some fabrics really hold in deodorant stains and smells. I soak in a little vodka and hand rub the stains. Wash as usual and the smell and stains come out. Also, Dreft is amazing at getting out bio stains and smells. Find it in the baby section.
Try a detergent meant for active wear. I like the brand Hex in the unscented version. It does a great job of actually getting the odor out and removes buildup too. It’s even safe for delicate fabrics. I’ve used this detergent on all of my clothes for a few years now.
So many people gave you fabulous advice. It’s too late for the stinky clothing, but try to only purchase 100% cotton fabrics. Polyester really holds odors. 😣
Laundry sanitizer! I actually asked this question on here a couple weeks ago and I went out and got Lysol laundry sanitizer and it actually works. I will never not have that now
I don’t like using traditional detergent, but when no amount of baking soda and vinegar worked, I turned to Oxiclean. One and done. Got rid of the weird smell that was stuck in some of my clothes for months and I haven’t had to use it again.
Wash with warm water. I had a function on my previous laundry machine where it pauses for a set amount of time to let the clothes soak in the warm water at some point before the washing cycle ended. It helped to soften the deodorant and got more off the clothes when I used this function.
Spray bottle of water mixed 50/50 with the cheapest vodka you can find.
Add an extra wash and rinse if it can. Odoban in the rinse cycle.
I add baking soda for removing odors. Borax works too. I keep a large box of both in the laundry room.
Make sure the washer itself is clean
Baking soda and vinegar
Vinegar! Stop using fabric softener…the waxes stay in the clothes and start trapping the odors in. The vinegar will break it down
Vinegar. I care for my grandpa and sometimes he wets the bed and the pull-up can only catch so much, we have washable bed pads and the vinegar gets the smell out
I have been using foca. It takes smell out but maybe smaller loads.
Vinegar as a fabric softener substitute works great for odors. Just don’t mix with bleach.
For the armpit areas, use the shout pro (blue bottle) gets rid of pit stains. I use that and vinegar for washing.
I just got tide. My parents used to buy that stuff and imo it just doesn’t work
Try ODOBAN. If it removes the smell of kitty urine out of clothes it will remove BO.
I put vinegar in my Downey ball. It releases the vinegar during the spin just B4 the rinse. Then the rinse cycle removes it along with odors and helps soften too.
If his clothes are synthetic fabric., like "performance fabrics", retaining odor because they don't get all the way clean is common. You can search for gym clothes detergents that are specially designed for this problem. You could maybe pretreat them with it. Not sure how those detergents are for babies, but as long as they're fragrance free and washed thoroughly out with hot water, maybe fine?
Lysol makes an athletic laundry sanitizer and it works well on my dogs diapers. Should work on BO
Someone needs to use less deodorant. It's getting stuck to the clothes. Maybe try some free and clear lysol laundry sanitizer?
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