One of my suits has a sweat smell in the crotch. Dry clean only.
This happened years ago in another suit. I recall having it drycleaned but it still smelled afterward.
I read some tips online such as baking soda paste, sunlight, and FeBreeze.
Thoughts? Thanks.
I’ve had no problems washing suit pants (wool) on a gentle cycle in the washing machine. In fact, if I turn them inside out, wash them as soon as i’ve taken them off, then hang them up to dry inside in I dont need to iron them. It goes against the manufacturers instructions but I guess if you can’t fix the problem you’ll be buying new pants anyway so nothing to lose.
Febreeze could work. So could a weak mixture of vodka and water in a spritz bottle. It didn’t kill my tux so it might work for you.
Sunlights worked for me in the past, I think that the U.V. kills off bacteria or something.
I don’t know if a U.V. lamp would work or not.
There’s another poster on here you could ask about that.
Many items that are marked “Dry clean only” can be washed this way. The thing is, a lot of people will just throw all dirty clothes into a washer, with hot water, and use the heavy cotton cycle. This will get those grimy jeans clean, yeah, even the ones that you wore when you were changing the oil on your truck…but it will make the more delicate garments shrink and pill. I don’t let my husband do my laundry any more. He thinks that he’s doing me a huge favor, but he’s really ruining my favorite clothes when he tosses my stuff in with his.
Anyway. You can hand wash most garments in the bathtub, or in some other container large enough to hold the water and the cleaning agent. Use cold water, and a gentle detergent (Woolite comes to mind), and gently swish the garment in the water. Scrub boards are not necessary for most items, unless you’ve been spreading manure in the back 40 or changing the oil in the truck. Rinse at least once, but twice is better. Your garment won’t rinse clean in dirty water. Press and squeeze the water out gently. In the case of rather fragile items, blot with towels rather than squeezing. Now you can either hang the garment up to dry or lay it flat, again depending on how fragile it is. As a general rule, knitted items such as sweaters should be dried flat. There are special sweater dryers that you can buy for this purpose, or you can put towels down on your bed and turn the sweaters over a couple of times.
In my case, I just refuse to buy anything that says “Dry clean only” unless it’s something like a coat, or a special occasion garment. I find running back and forth to the dry cleaners to be very tedious and boring.
One reason many things are dry clean only is the lining - it may behave differently from the rest of the garment and pull everything out of whack.
When I tried FeBreze, it only smelled like cheap soap on top of the BO smell.
I have found great success with: 1. Washing by water (gentle cycle, etc…), dousing in isopropyl; soaking with a degreaser; soaking with Ivory; 409 and scrubbing. Also, Lysol, or one of it’s cheap clones.
I’ve had good luck using Nature’s Miracle, originally purchased for the purpose of getting pet stains up - bought at Pet Smart. I turn the clothes inside out, give them a dampening spray, and let sit for 24-48 hours befor taking them to the dry cleaners. The enzymes have been great at taking out sweat odor.
From Boys in the Band:
“Someone threw up in the bathroom–use this air freshener!”
“Now it smells like someone threw up in a pine forest.”
You could tell the cleaners, “the trousers smell a bit gamey (I must have shelved them in a mildewy closet or something), do you think you could give them some extra attention?”
I imagine they’ve laundered items with refractory odors before and know how to address the issue.
I have a couple of DCO items, and I do have them dry cleaned occasionally. I don’t wash them in my machine, but I will put them in the dryer with a load of wet clothes and some nice dryer sheets between wears.
Pursue a GENERIC version of Febreeze which usually tend to be less fragrant than the name brand whilst still killing odors. (Target makes a good one.) The thing to remember with these odor killers (I’ve found) is that they tend to be heavily perfumed up front for whatever reason, then the scent dies down while the odor-killing aspect remains. I have deodorized several suitcases/loads of laundry after trips to Reno, NV - apparently the smoking capitol of the world.
I came in to suggest this. Febreeze may mask odors or get rid of environmental smells, but it won’t work on body odors which contain bacteria. The enzymes in Nature’s Miracle eat the odor-causing bacteria and eliminate the cause of the odor. If you want to avoid the dry-cleaners all together, I would do as rs. Cake suggests above, and then just spot-clean in the sink with Woolite - rinsing at least twice.
Thanks for the tips. Instead of hanging pants up immediately after use, I have been airing them inside-out overnight. This alone is pretty effective.
I also used a little Febreeze for additional help. I will try Natures Miracle as well as soon as we restock our supply (for pets), although at this point, Natures Miracle is more for a bonus effect in my pants.
I agree with the others re washing them in water, provided the pants don’t have wool in them. If they’re wool pants, I wouldn’t wash them. I made that mistake with a wool sweater and by the time it dried, it could have fit a Barbie doll.