Kitchen pantry products not working to get the sweat smell out of clothes? Check out these highly effective products that go easy on your clothes and work every time!

Overview

• Sweat smell is caused by bacteria on our skin, which break down butyric acid into odorous compounds. Butyric acid is a chemical that our bodies secrete when we perspire or sweat.
• If the butyric acid and its by-products are not removed from clothes during washing, they can release their characteristic stinky smell when the clothes warm up.
• Musty smells can also emerge when wet, sweaty clothes are piled up or sit in a laundry basket too long, causing mildew to grow.
• Standard laundry detergents often work for lighter odors. Adding either baking soda, vinegar, or laundry boosters like Borax can help.
• To remove stubborn sweat smells, we recommend products in this post that are safe, easy to use, and made especially for odor removal.

Related: How to get rid of bad odors in your home.

How to Get The Sweat Smell Out of Clothes

If you’ve already tried adding baking soda and vinegar to your laundry wash cycle and the odor still comes back, then don’t waste any more time.

Here are my top recommendations for products to eliminate sweat smells in clothes. These products are easy to use and safe for most fabrics.

And they work!

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Laundry Solution

Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator is a super safe laundry additive for removing tough odors from anything you can place in the laundry.

Price: $19.95 for 12 tablets (24 treatment). Includes mixing cup

What a fantastic product.

It works wonders on odors.

It’s simple to use. One tablet is placed into the mixing cup, filled with water,and then poured into your washer once the water has filled the bin.

You put the half you don’t use away for your next odor removal job.

This odor remover works on any smelly item you can throw into your washing machine.

It also keeps the washing machine clean!

If you’re seeking an easy-to-use and sure-fire solution to remove smells in clothes, this miracle-of-a-product is the ticket!

Get it and you will not be disappointed!

Healthy Environs Odor and Allergen Remover Spray

Healthy Environments Odor and Allergy Remover is a spray-on odor-remover. This product is ideal for removing sweat odors from non-washable clothing and other items like your gym bag and workout gear.

Price: $14.95 for a 16 oz bottle

Bottom Line:

The Healthy Environments Odor and Allergy Remover Spray is a genuine odor remover, not a mask or air freshener that uses fragrance. Use this safely on all your workout gear to keep the odor-causing bacteria at bay.

Natural DIY alternatives to remove light sweat odors

One of these kitchen pantry solutions treatments MAY work if you don’t have a build up of sweat odors in your cloths.

Baking soda can work to remove the odor when your clothes smell from sweat.

• Add half a cup of baking soda to your wash cycle and regular detergent.
• You can also help remove sweat by pre-treating the fabric and letting it sit for a few minutes before starting the cleaning cycle.

Try white vinegar if you’re searching for something a bit more powerful.

• Fill a spray bottle with distilled white vinegar and apply to the afflicted areas. Allow at least 15 minutes for the white vinegar to seep into the fabric before washing it in normal water.
• Add one cup of white vinegar to your washing machine with detergent.
• Do not use white vinegar on wool or silk fabrics as it can damage the fibers.

Tips on How to prevent sweat smells on your clothes in the first place

1. Wash your body and armpits regularly. You cannot get rid of all the bacteria on your skin. Still, by washing periodically and removing some of them, you can slow down their ability to create the smelly odor you get when they break down your body secretions when you sweat.
2. Use an antiperspirant. Antiperspirants cause your sweat glands to produce less sweat, which means less butyric acid for the bacteria to break down.
3. Wear your clothes once. In other words, wash them frequently. The idea here is not to let the sweat secretions build up in the first place.
4. Keep your sports gear and other workout clothes that collect sweat clean. Use an odor eliminator product on sports gear to break down the molecules of substances that give off foul odors.
5. Wash your clothes in smaller loads to allow the detergent and laundry additives you use to reach and penetrate all areas of your clothes.
6. Wear a Thompson Tee or similar t-shirt. These shirts have proprietary hydrogen peroxide-based produce embedded into the fabric to prevent odors from forming in the first place.
7. Wash clothes, and especially wash workout clothes and gym clothes, as soon as possible, as this is by far the best way to remove body odor. If you can’t, hang them up to air dry to slow bacterial growth. Conversely, leaving them in a wet pile will allow the bacteria to continue to digest the sweat and create more smelly odors.
8. Avoid using fabric softeners, especially when cleaning workout clothes or gym clothes. Ever wonder why your clothes feel smooth after you’ve used a fabric softener? That’s because fabric softeners coat your clothes with a chemical that creates that sensation. The same coating can cover bacteria and make it difficult for the detergent to work.

FAQ’s

How do you remove the sweat smell from clothes instantly?

You can use a few products to remove the sweat smell from your clothes instantly. Vinegar and water are one of them, and another is to use a commercial odor eliminator product. Finally, hang your clothes outside to air out the sweat smell.

How do you get the sweat smell out of clothes naturally?

You can do a few things to get the sweat smell out of your clothes without using harsh chemicals. Here are some tips:

• Soak your clothes in vinegar and water. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and will help to remove the sweat smell from your clothes.
• Wash your clothes in hot water. This will help to kill the bacteria that are causing the sweat smell.
• Add a cup of baking soda to your laundry detergent. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and will help to remove the sweat smell from your clothes.
• Hang your clothes outside to air out. The fresh air will help to remove the sweat smell from your clothes.

How do you get the sweat smell out of clothes with vinegar?

If you’re looking for a natural way to get the sweat smell out of your clothes, vinegar may be the answer. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to your washing machine and regular detergent. You can also soak particularly stinky items in a vinegar and water solution before washing them.

Why do my clothes still smell of b.o. after washing?

If your clothes still smell of body odor (b.o.) after washing, it may be because the sweat and bacteria have bonded to the fabric. You need a product that removes sweat and bacteria from your clothing to break this bond.

A few products on the market claim to do this, but not all of them are created equal. We’ve put together a list of the best sweat smell removers that work great on workout clothes, gym clothes, or any other fabric that is subject to collecting a lot of perspiration odor.

How to get sweat smell out of clothes using bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)?

You can sprinkle some on the affected areas and let it sit before washing. You can also add directly to the laundry wash cycle as a laundry booster that will remove mild odors.

Why do my clothes still smell of sweat after washing?

Sweat is mostly water but contains small amounts of salt, urea, and other waste products. These substances can cause your clothes to smell even after you’ve washed them. We recommend adding an odor eliminator to your laundry wash cycle that destroys odor-causing molecules, preventing them from smelling.

How do you get a bad sweat smell out of clothes?

Getting rid of the unpleasant sweat smell from clothes is challenging, especially if you don’t have time to wash them immediately. Adding an odor remover to your laundry wash cycle that eliminates odorous substances and prevents them from smelling for good is recommended.

How do you get armpit sweat smell out of clothes?

Add an odor remover to your laundry wash cycle that eliminates odorous substances and prevents them from smelling for good.

Does sweat smell come out of clothes?

The answer to this question is not simple. Some fabrics and materials are more likely to hold on to sweat smells than others. Polyester is known as a fabric that can hold on to sweat smells.

If you want to get the sweat smell out of your clothes, follow the tips in this post. Start with using kitchen pantry remedies like vinegar and baking soda, and if those don’t work, then move on to a commercial product made especially for odor removal.

What is the best laundry detergent for sweat smell?

Laundry detergents with enzymes claim to be more effective at breaking down the molecules that cause odors. However, in my experience, using an enzyme-based detergent is just another way of doing aht toher products will do. Still, you will end up paying more for the specialized detergent.

Suppose you don’t want to spend the extra money for a specialized enzyme detergent and would like to stick to your favorite product. In that case, I suggest trying adding a laundry booster like vinegar or baking soda to remove light sweat odors.

If that does not work, then try this odor eliminator. It is the best product I’ve seen on the market that is safe and works with all types of clothing.

You can even pair it with your favorite laundry detergent.

Why do the armpits of my shirts smell after washing?

There are a few different reasons why this can happen. It could be that you’re not washing your shirts often enough or not using a suitable detergent. See my tips on how to prevent this from happening.

Why do my shirts smell sour when I sweat?

The smell of your sweat can change based on your diet, how much you sweat, and the type of bacteria on your skin. When these factors interact, they can create a potent body odor.

Will vinegar stain clothes?

No, vinegar will not stain your clothes. But it can damage some fabrics such as silk.

Does white vinegar ruin your washing machine?

Even though white vinegar is an acid, if you dilute it by adding no more than a cup to the cycle and do this only occasionally, vinegar will not ruin your washing machine.

If you are concerned with adding vinegar to your washing machine, try substituting baking soda to help remove odors. If that does not work, try the laundry odor eliminator I recommend in this post.

Where do I put vinegar in a washing machine?

You can add vinegar to your washing machine in one of two ways.

• The first way is to pour a cup of white vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser before starting a laundry load.
• The second way is to add a cup of white vinegar to the actual wash cycle along with your regular detergent.

How do you get the sweat smell out of pillowcases?

Like many people, you may sometimes sweat at night, which can cause your pillowcases to develop a bad smell over time.

Wash your pillowcases regularly to keep sweat or body oils from building up in the fabric. Periodically add an odor-removing product to the wash cycle.

Between washing your pillowcases, freshen them up with a spray odor eliminator. This product will also kill any allergens that might be present in the fabric of your bedding.

Wrap-Up

The best solution for preventing sweat smell in your clothes is to keep it from happening in the first place. If you are active or it’s a hot day, that’s impossible. But you can wear an anti-perspiring, which will help minimze the amount of sweat which slows down the production of the smell.

I used to always add white vinegar to my washer load because it’s cheap and fast. I’ll still do that when I’ve left my clothes in the washer for too long and they get that funky smell.

But i got tired of wasting time with vinegar for removing sweat odors from my workout clothes and sports gear, becuyase it was inconsistent.

So know I’m more likely to dissolve one Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator tablet into a cup of water while I’m waiting for the machine to fill up with water. and then just pour it in. it never fails to freshen up even my biggest challenges, like even smelly, dog odor towels.

For my gear that I can’t place in the washer, or don’t want to wash, I use the Healthy Environs Odor Eliminator Spray product. (Some runners never wash their running shoes because they believe it wears them out faster. I’m just lazy and don’t want to wash my runners more than once every two to three months!)

I also use it on my biking shoes, which never go in the washer. I have found that using an actual odor eliminator spray keeps my shoes and sweaty workout gear smelling fresh.