Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Works for Me: Getting Out the Sweat Smell from T-Shirt Armpits

(Mmmm, yummy title, that!)

I assume I'm not the first to have experienced this problem:

I began noticing, as I was transferring clean laundry to the dryer, that the armpits of my husband's cotton t-shirts still smelled like...armpit...even after they'd just been washed. I tried soaking them in a number of products, but nothing worked. Wet or dry, they still smelled like...armpit.

Until I thought of soaking them in white vinegar, straight. It worked! Even on shirts that had been dried in the dryer; even on shirts that weren't 100% cotton, like his poly-blend running shirts.

I wonder if this solution might work on other odor challenges as well--smelly dishcloths?--but haven't tried yet.

Hope this helps somebody else--it works for me!

(Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.)

10 comments:

~Mary~ 4boys4me said...

gonna try this... but not on armpit smells b/c I could never admit to the whole cyber world that the love of my life has smelly armpits. ;)

Marcia (123 blog) said...

Oh WOW - thanks so much for this.

I'll confess... I have the odd armpit smell whiff on tight-ish t-shirts even after the clothes have been laundered

Anonymous said...

We have been struggling with this odor problem with my daughter's PE uniform. I end up washing them several times and sometimes, that still does not work. I will try your suggetion and be thrilled to see if it works!
Thanks for the suggestion.

SAHMmy Says said...

Just bought a gallon of vinegar to dye easter eggs--ready to try your trick! I've used ammonia and Borax to no avail. I have a very sensitive nose for that nasty leftover BO odor--I've tossed so many shirts because I couldn't get the stink out!

Loving Our Homeschool said...

Hmmm....I will have to give this a try. Not that any of my loved ones have armpit odor, mind you. ;o)

jen said...

Yup, it works on other smells too! I'd never thought to use it on armpit odor, but I've used it on diapers and all sorts of other smelly things! :)

Anonymous said...

Works on diapers!

Brea in Texas said...

If you add a quarter cup vinegar to all your laundry loads, it works wonders. I have a friend who does this, buying vinegar at SAM'S Club, and she absolutely swears by it. She says it makes her clothes last longer, too ...

~Brea

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this, it will help a lot!

Anonymous said...

Huh
Thanks I'll have to try that thanks for the help