How to Get Musty Smell out of Clothes -My Custom Scent

What is a musty smell?

Musty is used to describe an unclean, dirty, and moldy smell. If someone says that the cloth smells musty, it means maybe the fabric did not get expose to air or sunlight for a long time and stayed in a wet corner. This smell takes time to develop.

For example, after getting wet in the rain, if you keep your damp cloth in a corner instead of drying it in the air, the musty smell can grow gradually. At one point, you will not be able to wear the cloth again because of the heavy lousy smell. So the wet cloth needs to be either wash and dry in the sunlight or the air without washing.

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Smell Solutions Without Washing

When covering up sheet odors, there is often not enough time to place them within a complete washer and dryer cycle. In such a pinch, it is important to have the following solutions to use on a moments notice.

1 Vodka

This party drinks does more than deliver an enjoyable buzz.The alcohol within the mixture gets within the fiber of sheets and quickly neutralizes odors as it evaporates away. Fill a spray bottle with vodka and spray down the sheets on the bed, providing 20-30 minutes for the alcohol to drying away and leave the sheets smelling fresh.

2 White Vinegar Spray

This compound can be used on a short notice. Fill a spray bottle with one part white vinegar and four parts water, and spray down all of the sheets on the bed. Provide 30-60 minutes for the solution to evaporate. Windows can be opened and a fan can be run within the room to expedite the evaporation of the moisture.

3 Febreze

This product is highly effective on when you need to quickly deodorize your sheets. Spray down the sheets on the bed and allow for them to air dry over the course of 20-30 minutes.

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Sweepstakes

Consider adding vinegar to the rinse cycle

While this may be redundant if you’ve already donethe pre-wash vinegar soak, when you’re trying to get rid of the smell of an animal’s undercarriage, can one really be too thorough? Adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar to your machine during its rinse cycle (or to its fabric softener compartment) can further lift less-than-savory smells and—get this—actually soften your clothes! Who knew?

Your Bedding

“We’ve all heard that we can’t smell our own home, and that is because it smells like our bodies,” says Snyder. Gross, right? One particular offender in this case is your sheets, which become steeped in your own body oils and dirt when you don’t wash them regularly. Snyder’s recommendation: Wash your sheets weekly if you shower in the morning, and every two weeks if you shower at night.

Control Musty Smell in Basement

Temperature control Our first parameter is controlling the heat in your basement. Mold thrives in warmer temperatures, especially if it is wet. If you can keep it cooler, the musty smell won’t be as likely to grow. This isn’t going to work if you have someone living in your basement, which means you’ll just have to keep it drier.

Humidity control Another parameter to control is our moisture level. As we have discussed, mold requires a certain level of moisture to be viable. It seems like even if there isn’t any mold, there is still a musty smell if things get humid. It is as if the wetness reactivates the smell. Getting rid of humidity is easy with the use of an air conditioner or a dehumidifier. Something like the Eva-dry at Amazon may work, but you’ll want to probably get something a bit larger if you’re going whole-home instead of closet or bathroom.

Ventilation control The third parameter to controlling mustiness in your basement is airflow. Proper ventilation and air movement will do a lot to control the first two parameters. One element of mustiness is the stale quality of the air when it hasn’t been moving around much. Vent to the outside if you can, but even just having an oscillating fan blowing can do wonders.

How to Get the Musty Smell Out of Clothes

Method 1: Vinegar Bath

If you only have a few pieces of clothing that are musty, fill up your sink with warm water and add half a cup of vinegar. Submerge your clothes overnight and then dry them in your dryer or over a clothesline. When the vinegar is dry, the smell will be gone.

Method 2: Vinegar in the Washer

For larger loads of musty clothes, run them through the washing machine. Use a standard amount of detergent and one cup of vinegar. For extra-large loads, use a cup and a half. You really can't use too much vinegar. Then dry in your dryer.

Method 3: Baking Soda, Lemon, and Salt

If your clothes have visible mold or mildew on them, make a paste of lemon juice and salt and rub it over the affected area. The lemon is an acid that will kill off the mildew and clean the area. Be careful to test a patch on the clothing first, as lemon juice can have a bleaching effect. Rub baking soda on the area to help pull out the smell. Then launder as usual. Bam! No more musty smell in your clothes.

Note: There are commercial products out there that will pull smells out. (Febreeze, for example.) I have chosen not to include those because they don't work any more effectively than what you already have in your home.

My Clothes Got Musty in Storage

You pulled your summer clothes out of the storage closet, and they smacked you in the face with that terrible musty smell. You could have sworn that you put them away dry, but that's all water under the bridge now. You can use the methods above to get the musty smell out of the fabric.

Here's what you can do to prevent it from happening again:

Wash your clothes in the hottest water that they will tolerate. This will kill off many of the bacteria that thrive in storage locations.
Add a cup of vinegar to the wash to help remove any lingering odors that could multiply during storage. (Some people prefer baking soda.)
Dry your summer clothes outside if at all possible.
Add desiccant packets to the storage area. If you are using large zipper seal bags, this one is a must. They will absorb the moisture from the clothing and prevent any mold growth.

Put a desiccant pack in here to stop mold and mildew.

Mildew Smell Solutions

When sheets have become wet and are not dried immediately after, they have the potential of developing a distinct mildew odor within the fabric’s fiber.

1 Bleach or Color Safe Bleach

This solution is highly effective at cutting through odor producing mold spore to eliminate musty smells found within sheets. Allow the wash cycle to fill with water and add in a cup of bleach within the wash. Depending upon the color of the sheets, you may want to consider the use of color safe bleach to maintain the fabric hue.

2 White Vinegar

Similar to bleach, the acid within white vinegar works well at striping mildew odors from sheets to have them smelling fresh. Within a normal detergent wash, measure a full cup of white vinegar and add within the wash cycle. While this substance may seem potent, it will become completely odorless once placed within the dryer.

Tips To Keep Your Sheets Clean

Wash and change your sheets once a week.
Wash sheets separately. If unavoidable, make sure other items are of the same color.
Always check washing instructions before washing sheets.
To prevent darker sheets from fading, use cold water and dry them in the shade.
Pre-treating helps in removing minor stains.
Follow the dryer temperature provided in the label.
Iron and store your sheets properly.

How to Get Dried Blood Out of Sheets in Easy Steps

If the stain was fresh there are chances you might have dealt with it calmly. But, how to get blood out of sheets if it has dried? Follow the steps below to get rid of dried blood stains:

You have to soak the sheet in cold water for a night. This loosens the dried blood, making your next steps easier.
The next step is to pour hydrogen peroxide into the bloodstain. Use a soft brush to pat it. Dab the stain with a cloth after 10 minutes.
Machine wash the sheet in a regular washing cycle.
Let your sheet dry naturally.

The stain may not come out in one go. Don’t worry, you can repeat the process by using one of the stain removers mentioned below.

How to prevent your clothes from picking up a stale musty smell

When storing your clothes away – especially if you’re packing them away for the season or just storing kids clothes away maybe to hand down to the next kid in a few years – just take a little extra time and care and follow these steps to keep clothes as fresh as possible.

Only store away freshly washed – clean and properly dried and aired clothes.

You can use little deodoriser sachets or lavender or herb bags in amongst the clothes to keep them smelling fresh.

Fold tumble dryer sheets tucked in amongst your clothing for a fresh scent.

Be sure to store clothes away from where they’ll get really cold or damp.

To help avoid musty smelling clothes always make sure your washing machine is clean and fresh – here’s how to clean the washing machine with bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar.

How to clean wooden drawers

If the drawers of a dresser have become stained or smell musty, you’ll want to clean them by not only disinfecting them, but also deodorizing them. You don’t want to saturate the wood, so the key is to not use too much liquid. You can disinfect the drawers with a combination of one fourth cup of borax to one quart of warm water or two tablespoons of vinegar to one quart of warm water. After cleaning with one of these solutions, let the dresser dry, at least overnight.

The next step is to deodorize the dresser. This will help remove any lingering odors. Use one of the following four furniture deodorizers.

Borax — sprinkle in the drawers and make sure it is spread evenly over the surfaces. Let it sit overnight, then run the vacuum over the drawers to remove the borax.
Baking soda — same as with the borax, sprinkle baking soda evenly over the surfaces of the drawers. However, this time, leave the baking soda in for several days before removing it with the vacuum.
Charcoal — place several pieces of activated charcoal in a container and put in each drawer. Leave this in for several days. However, do not use the charcoal briquettes you use in your grill.
Kitty litter — place some unscented kitty litter in disposable containers and place in each drawer for several days.

The baking soda, charcoal, and kitty litter can all be placed in semi-permanent containers and left in the drawers, along with your clothes, to work on odors on an ongoing basis. You’ll just need to freshen the supply every month.

How to Get Rid of BO Smell in Leather Jacket

If you want to know how to get rid of BO smells in leather jackets, it’s important to clean it from the inside out. Any previous body odours that are clinging to your leather jacket will need to be deodorised from the inner liners.

The below methods involve using water and/or mild laundry detergent. Please check that your leather jacket liner can be washed before trying these methods.

Wash with mild detergent

Before committing to this method to remove BO smells from leather jackets, it is important to do a test patch first to ensure the jacket liner isn’t colour-fast:

Mix four cups of water with one tablespoon of mild liquid or powder laundry detergent in a bowl
If using mild laundry powder, mix the solution until the powder is fully dissolved
Dip a clean, soft sponge (no abrasives) into your mixed solution and squeeze out any excess
Turn your leather jacket inside out
Wash the lining with the damp sponge, paying attention to areas like the armpits that collect the most BO (body odour)
If you get any solution on the leather, wipe before it dries and stains
Once satisfied that you have cleaned most of the odours, clean the sponge and bowl out of any solution
Fill the bowl with clean water
Dip the now clean sponge in the water and use this to rinse the laundry detergent solution from the leather jacket lining
Hang the jacket to dry, ideally outside and avoiding any direct heat sources

Baking soda and water

Mixing water with baking soda helps kick up its deodorizing properties up a notch. Follow the below method if you do not want to use mild laundry detergent to remove BO smells from leather jackets:

Turn your leather jacket inside out and lay it out a clean, dry surface
Sprinkle baking soda on your leather jacket lining, paying attention to areas like the armpits that collect body odour (like armpits)
Fill a small spray bottle with warm water and lightly mist over the baking soda
Be careful not to drench the jacket lining
Allow the baking soda to sit for 15-20 minutes
Once dry, you can wipe the baking soda off with a clean, lightly damp cloth
Hang the jacket to dry, avoiding any heat sources (such as radiators) and ideally outside

When you find a leather jacket that suits you and your lifestyle, it becomes a staple piece of clothing that you want to wear every time you go outside. That’s the beauty of investing in a quality leather jacket! They’re so versatile and can be worn practically anywhere; from nights out to barbeques to work.

Better yet, taking care to remove smells from your leather jacket and not buying fast fashion jackets that you throw away once it smells bad will help reduce the amount of waste that you send to landfills. With care and easy maintenance, you can easily remove musty smells from your leather jacket so it can last through the years.

Conclusion

I hope so you have found your answer on how to get musty smell out of clothes. Now you can solve your problem on your own and also can help others.

It is essential to know everything related to your clothes because a person is always judged by his./her outfit. If your dress is clean and proper, everyone will try to follow you. But if you are not in suitable attire, then nobody will even talk to you.

It is also very much important to step out of the house neatly and cleanly. Whenever you go out in a public place, office, or program, apply some strong fragrance to avoid the growth of musty smell.

How to Get That Funky Smell Out of Your Sheets

What is a musty smell?

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