Odors appear in fabrics for a number of reasons. If a person sweats profusely in a T-shirt, that shirt can hold the odor of the sweat. In certain workplaces, there are a variety of chemical odors, food odors or other scents that seem to weave their way into the fabric of a T-shirt and stay there. There are even times when you buy a T-shirt and notice a chemical odor on it that worries you. Unfortunately, you can wash these items over and over but still smell the offending odor, especially when the T-shirt is dry.
Therefore it is very important to many people to be able to remove odors from T-shirts. Luckily there are a variety of techniques that you can try in order to accomplish this goal, all of them being rather easy to do and inexpensive. These techniques however are much more than simply using a nice smelling detergent and fabric softener. Removing odors from T-shirts can take time and multiple steps like when you are removing stains.
When you first discover that your T-shirts have an odor, hang them outside to air out. Just doing this alone can make a huge difference to the smell of your clothes. This is also a good technique to do with new clothes that have a chemical smell. Afterwards, wash them with a cup or more of vinegar added to the wash water in addition to the laundry detergent. To dry, hang them outside again. A pre-soak in sodium bicarbonate and water is also another good odor remover. Another odor booster to add to your wash cycle is a cup of Borax and regular washing soda. Let the clothes sit for several hours or even overnight before washing. This is great on odors but not on the stains that are often the cause of them.
Sodium bicarbonate and vinegar are very effective at getting rid of odors because they do not mask the odor, as a scented laundry detergent might. The chemical reaction caused by their use actually neutralizes the odor. You may use either of these laundry boosters to deal with odors or you may use one at the beginning of the wash cycle and the other during the rinse cycle. However, if you try to use them both at the same time, they will counteract each other.
If you happen to be unlucky enough to get an unpleasant odor in your T-shirt that you cannot get out, the best thing to do is to toss out the shirt and get a new one. If you order a custom-made T-shirt you can get one identical to the one that you cannot get clean. People will never know the difference. They’ll just think you managed to get the funky odor out of your shirt. If you happen to have a job where you are cursed with fabric-permeating odors, use it to your advantage and have a funny T-shirt made up that says “This T-shirt smells just like my workplace.”
Get your custom-made T-shirt today for the optimum odor removal altogether.