How to Remove Body Odor from Clothes

Co-authored by Susan Stocker

Let's face it, sometimes your favorite old sweatshirt stinks and basic washing just won't eliminate the smell. If normal washing doesn't do the trick, you may need to take a different tactic to eliminate difficult body odor. Use one of these methods to get the bad smells out of your clothes once and for all.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Soaking Your Clothes

1
Sort clothes normally. Remember to separate lights and darks and to keep delicate fabrics separate from tougher fabrics. This method will require you to use warm water, so if some of your clothes can only be washed in cold, you may want to use a different method to eliminate the smell of body odor from your clothes.
2
Soak clothes in warm water and baking soda. Put clothes in a laundry basin, bucket, sink, or tub. Add enough warm water to that they are all completely submerged. Add two cups of baking soda to the basin. Stir it around a bit so that the baking soda is dispersed into the water. Let sit for at least several hours, if not overnight.
- You can also soak your clothes in a washing machine. Add your clothes to the machine and turn it on, so the basin of the machine begins to fill with water. Once the basin is filled, add two cups of baking soda to the basin and stop the machine. You should then let your clothes sit in the water and baking soda for a couple hours.
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3
Wash clothes by hand, or restart your washing machine. It's necessary to wash the baking soda out of your clothes after they have soaked. If washing by hand, use a normal amount of laundry detergent. You may need to change the water several times to get all of the soap and baking soda out. If using your washing machine, just turn it back on and add laundry soap, as usual.
- You can also try this method with vinegar. Add one cup of vinegar to your laundry and allowing it to soak for several hours, however, after soaking your clothes in vinegar water, you will need to wash them with bleach-free detergent. Combining bleach and vinegar will create toxic fumes that are hazardous to your health. ^{[1]
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4
Hang outside to dry, if possible. If that is not possible, you might consider laying your clothes out on a towel to dry. Wring the clothing out so that it is not dripping wet and lay it flat on a towel. Leave the clothing to dry for 24 - 48 hours.
- Hanging or laying your clothes out to dry will help your energy bill as well as your laundry. If you have not gotten all of the body odor out of your clothes during washing, dryers tend to lock the odors in place.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Pre-Treating Your Clothes

1
Assess where the odor is coming from on your clothes. This method of treating body odor on clothes is a spot treatment, so you should focus your work on specific areas. In most cases, the smell is usually coming from the underarm area of shirts or the crotch of pants.
2
Apply a spot treatment to the odorous area. There are many commercial products that you can buy at the store but using a bit of your own laundry detergent may very well do the trick. ^{[2]
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- You can also try mixing a paste of baking soda and water. Make it thick, but not so thick you can't spread it. Apply the paste onto the area where the odor is most pungent.
- Some suggest crushing up uncoated aspirin and rubbing it onto the odorous areas of clothes. ^{[3]
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  Research source} The salicylic acid in the aspirin should help eliminate body odor smells.
3
Launder as usual. Remember to keep your colors and types of fabric separate. A warmer wash cycle will probably help get the smells out more effectively but always remember to follow the wash instructions on the labels of your clothes.
4
Hang outside to dry, if possible, or lay out on a towel to dry. Try to avoid using the dryer if you are not sure whether the odor is gone. Dryers can lock in the odor, making it even harder to remove next time you was your clothes.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Treating Odors Without Laundering

1
Figure out where the smell is located on your clothes. This method of treating body odor on clothes is a spot treatment, so you should focus your work on specific areas. In most clothes this is usually the underarm area of shirts or the crotch of pants.
2
Spray a treatment of vodka on the smelly spots. Simply put undiluted vodka into a spray bottle and spray the affected area directly. You will need to saturate the area completely, as a light misting will not do the trick.^{[4]
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- This is an especially good method for getting rid of odors in dry clean only clothing. You don't always have time to take your clothes to the cleaners and that can get really expensive. Spraying spots may allow you to launder your nice clothes less often.
- You can also use isopropyl alcohol, vinegar, or hydrogen peroxide, but vodka has been used for removing a variety of smells from fabrics. It is odorless and evaporates quickly from your clothing, so you will not necessarily need to launder your clothes after using it, as you probably would with vinegar.
3
Let the area dry before putting the clothes back on. Once dry, the odor should be gone. If it's not totally gone, try soaking the area again with the vodka treatment. It may take a few treatments to get rid of a very strong smell.

Expert Q&A

Question

Can I use tea tree oil to remove body odors from clothes?

Susan Stocker
Green Cleaning Expert
Susan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.

Susan Stocker

Green Cleaning Expert

Expert Answer

Yes! Try adding several drops of tea tree essential oil to your laundry detergent. It is amazing at killing bacteria and germs, and it's also a natural anti-fungal.
Question

How can I use vinegar in the washing machine to get rid of bad odors?

Susan Stocker
Green Cleaning Expert
Susan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.

Susan Stocker

Green Cleaning Expert

Expert Answer

For mild odors, add vinegar directly to the washing machine basin during the rinse cycle. For strong odors, use vinegar in place of detergent in the wash cycle, and then add more during the rinse cycle.
Question

Will baking soda damage my clothes?

Susan Stocker
Green Cleaning Expert
Susan Stocker runs and owns Susan’s Green Cleaning, the #1 Green Cleaning Company in Seattle. She is well known in the region for outstanding customer service protocols — winning the 2017 Better Business Torch Award for Ethics & Integrity —and her energetic support of green cleaning practices.

Susan Stocker

Green Cleaning Expert

Expert Answer

Absolutely not—that is a myth. Baking soda brightens clothes and also removes odors. In the house cleaning business, we use to remove odors all the time.