aspinal of london

Smells are great because they can take us to another time and place.

Fabrics pick up a lot of smells because they can soak them up.

Both excellent and awful.

For instance:

When I was little, I loved going to my grandparents' house. We had to drive a long way to get there (it was in a different state), and I love how the smell of their house stayed on my clothes even after we got back home.

The smell of a campfire is another smell I love. When I was a kid, my family and I used to go camping. At night, we would sit around a campfire.

We'd hang out around the fire as a family or with friends, laugh, and roast s'mores. Even now, when I smell a campfire, it reminds me of very happy times.

Both of these smell good and make you think of warm things.

What are some of your favourite smells that remind you of a certain time in your life?

GOOD SCENTS: Your favourite perfume

The first guy you dated

Your parents' or grandparents' house, which you loved going to.

A flame

Your favourite restaurant

A campfire

But what if your clothes soak up bad smells?

A bad-smelling item of clothing stays with you all day. No matter what you do, it seems like you can't get rid of the smell.

BAD SCENTS:

Cigarette/cigar smoke

Basement odour

Musty basement smell

Dust balls

Gasoline

Used or thrift store smell

Mold/mildew

Garbage

Body odours

Garage odour

Nothing is worse than stinky or sour-smelling clothes.

I've worked in the fashion business for years and owned a store, so I've smelled a lot of stinky things.

DO I HAVE TO THROW AWAY GARMENTS THAT SMELL BAD?

No! Here are some of my favourite ways to clean clothes that smell bad.

With these tried-and-true methods, you'll be able to turn stinky clothes into clean ones.

You might have to try one or two different ways to find the one that works best for that garment.

My daughter, for example, loves to shop at thrift stores. When she finds old clothes, she can put together a unique wardrobe. But one of the worst things about thrifting is that sometimes the clothes smell bad. They might have been kept in an attic, a basement, or a box of mothballs.

She just bought a jacket that smells like one of those sour things. She hung it over a chair for weeks to try to get rid of the smell.

Not at all.

I finally decided to take care of the jacket and get rid of the smell. Since it can only be cleaned by a dry cleaner, I didn't want to take a chance and wash it. Instead, I got out my steamer, put water in it, and turned it to full steam. I put the jacket on a hook and used almost all of the water in the steamer to steam it.

The jacket smelled great the next morning, so my daughter put it on.

The steam method worked for this jacket, but it might not work for everything else. Here are the most effective ways to get rid of the smell of sour clothes.

HOW TO GET THE SMELL OUT OF SOUR CLOTHES

#1. WASH/LAUNDRY

This is the best place to start if the item can be washed in a machine. Use a detergent that gets rid of odours and fabric dryer sheets to wash and dry the item well.

Tip: To get rid of sour smells, add a little baking soda or white vinegar to the wash.

#2. HANG IN BATHROOM

If you can only hand wash or dry clean the item, you might want to hang it in the bathroom. The steam from the shower can sometimes get rid of a bad smell.

I've used this method on clothes made of silk, polyester, and rayon.

#3. HAND STEAMER OR STEAM IRON

If hanging the item in the bathroom doesn't work, I use a hand steamer, which is a step up from the bathroom.

You can buy a steam iron or a hand-held steamer. Both can be used to get rid of bad smells by steaming, but the steamer is easier to use for this purpose. I bought this Conair Fabric Steamer, and it does a great job. It's easy to use, doesn't weigh much, and does the job perfectly. Also, it costs much less than other steamers.

To steam clean an item, hang it on a hook or hang it over the back of a door. You can steam the garment by moving the iron or steamer over it lightly. Let as much steam as you can into the clothes. When I want to get rid of smells, I use almost all of the water in the steamer on just one piece of clothing.

Let the item dry overnight, and it should be ready to wear the next day.

#4 DRY CLEANER

Dry cleaning costs more, but the solvent that is used to clean the clothes should also get rid of any bad smells.

#5. FABRIC SPRAY

Fabric sprays make clothes smell fresh and get rid of smells with just a spritz. There are a lot of sprays for fabrics on the market right now. Fabreze Extra Strength Fabric Refresher is the one I use most often.

#6. FREEZER

Yep. My secret weapon is the fridge. I've gotten clothes that smelled like mildew, cigarettes, animals, moth balls, and even people. Almost always, freezing them seems to do the trick.

Just put the clothes in the freezer overnight to freeze them. If you don't want to put the clothes in the freezer right away, you can put them in a ziplock bag first.

The next day, when you take the clothes out of the freezer, they shouldn't have any smell.

#7. SACHETS

Go natural! After getting rid of sour smells, you can use sachets to keep your clothes smelling fresh.

Sachets that smell good can be made with essential oils or natural materials. If you put one sachet in a drawer or hang it in your closet, your clothes will smell great for months.

Lavender Balsam/Fir Lemon Bee Balm

Rose Petals from Rosemary

In fact, you don't have to buy sachets—you can make them yourself! Check out this simple step-by-step guide to making a sachet.

BAD SCENTS: Cigarette/cigar smoke

Basement smells musty; attic smells bad.

Dust balls

Gasoline

Used or thrift store smell

Mold/mildew

Garbage

Body scents Garage odour

Nothing is worse than stinky or sour-smelling clothes.

I've worked in the fashion business for years and owned a store, so I've smelled a lot of stinky things.

DO I HAVE TO THROW AWAY GARMENTS THAT SMELL BAD?

No! Here are some of my favourite ways to clean clothes that smell bad.

With these tried-and-true methods, you'll be able to turn stinky clothes into clean ones.

You might have to try one or two different ways to find the one that works best for that garment.

My daughter, for example, loves to shop at thrift stores. When she finds old clothes, she can put together a unique wardrobe. But one of the worst things about thrifting is that sometimes the clothes smell bad. They might have been kept in an attic, a basement, or a box of mothballs.

She just bought a jacket that smells like one of those sour things. She hung it over a chair for weeks to try to get rid of the smell.

Not at all.

I finally decided to take care of the jacket and get rid of the smell. Since it can only be cleaned by a dry cleaner, I didn't want to take a chance and wash it. Instead, I got out my steamer, put water in it, and turned it to full steam. I put the jacket on a hook and used almost all of the water in the steamer to steam it.

The jacket smelled great the next morning, so my daughter put it on.

The steam method worked for this jacket, but it might not work for everything else. Here are the most effective ways to get rid of the smell of sour clothes.we regularly shop at aspinal of london