Taking care of the T-shirts and clothing we wear is something we all have to do. For many people clothing care is simply nothing more than tossing clothes in the washer and dryer with some laundry detergent and fabric softener and hanging them up or folding them when they are dry. Occasionally there will be the need to do a little stain pretreatment, if an item of clothing gets something on it that is hard to get off. So all in all, it seems a pretty easy process. However, some things that get on clothes can not be seen but they can easily ruin the impression of a clean T-shirt. Such offenders are odors, like hard to remove cigarette odors. If smoke has permeated your clothing you may even be able to smell it after you’ve laundered it.

If you are not about to wash the clothes in question you can remove the odor by hanging your odorous item of clothing in the bathroom. Put about an inch of very hot water in the bathtub with 4 cups of vinegar added to the water. Leave the T-shirt or other smoky item hanging there with the door closed until the item smells fresh again. This is the best way to get rid of smoke odors without actually washing.

If you’ve come back from a night out and your clothes need to be washed anyway, you can remove the odor of smoke by adding vinegar to the wash. Simply fill the washer with water, add the laundry detergent and a cup of vinegar; then add the clothes. Never pour vinegar straight onto your clothes and never leave your clothes sitting in water with vinegar in it. Vinegar has a natural bleaching effect and while this is great for white clothing, it will fade darker clothing. When the wash cycle is done, dry the clothes as usual.

Adding baking soda to your laundry detergent or using a detergent with baking soda in it will also do an effective job of removing cigarette smoke from clothes. Mixing washing soda, borax and ivory bar soap flakes together in your washer will also make a great homemade remedy for removing smoke odors. Another suggestion is to use heavily perfumed laundry detergent in hot water and dry the clothes in a hot dryer to rid your clothes of cigarette smells.