Although I do not seem to have a body odor problem, my shirts do…
Let me clarify. I don’t stink. I’ve asked several trusted people (my wife, for example) if I have an odor problem and the answer has consitently been “no”. But, when I take off my shirt and stick my nose in the armpit area (of the shirt) there is an odor.
The real problem though is that no amount of laundering is able to remove the smell. I have several perfectly good shirts that I can’t wear because they stink. I’ve washed these shirts two, even three times in a row and the stink persists.
I wash extra dirty (read: my husband’s work clothes) in warm water. After filling up the washer with clothes, soap and warm water I let it spin them for just a minute to get everything mixed up. Then I stop the washer and let them soak for 30 minutes or so. After washing I dry with a scented fabric softner. I have never had anything come out still smelling bad.
Two solutions are good for removing odors, but don’t use them both at the same time!!! Vinegar–pour a cup into the washer instead of soap. Then wash again with soap. Baking soda–add about a half cup to a load with the soap.
I have found using a cup of white vinegar in the load of laundry, along with whatever else you use, bleach, fab softener, detergent, will get out even the strongest odor…it also will remove stains and does not discolor your clothes. It’s safe for colors, whites…etc. (The Park Rangers where I live recommend vinegar rather than tomato juice when people get sprayed with skunk.)If that gives you any indication of how well vinegar is as deodorizer.
You can also just put vinegar in a normal wash in place of the fabric softener. If that doesn’t work, the vinegar then detergent method CookingWithGas recommends should do the trick, but you might not have to wash everything twice.
We’ve had good luck with the deodorizer stuff made by Febreeze. They heavily advertise a spray deodorized for upholstry, etc.
They also make a laundry additive. It’s gotten the smell of old cat pee out of stuff (we have an incontinent cat & she found a pile of blankets). Regular washing didn’t remove the small, this stuff did. I haven’t tried white vinegar, though, and may the next time.
I had a shirt that got left in the washing machine for too long before being moved to the drier. Ever since then, it has a funky odor no matter how many times I washed it. I was just about to throw it out when I found a thread here (can’t remember the name of the thread or the poster I should thank), where someone recommended Oxyclean. You can buy this stuff at the market and it’s pretty inexpensive. I filled a bucket with water, added two scoops of the stuff and left my shirt to soak overnight. I washed it and now it’s just fine–no funk whatsoever.
I’ll go along with vinegar and add one more suggestion. Dry your shirts outside, on a clothesline. If you don’t have room for a clothesline, put your shirt on a hangar and hang it somewhere where air can circulate on all sides. Two cautions: 1) be careful of too much direct sunlight on colored shirts and 2) if you’re not used to ironing your shirts, you’ll get really familiar with it real quick.
You can also try using Nature’s Miracle or a similar enzyme-driven muncher. You simply spray on some Nature’s Miracle, and the enzymes/bacteria(?) in the solution eats organic matter. It may take a few weeks or a month, but it should eat all the odor away. I’ve even gotten rid of crunchy underarm deposits on old t-shirts - though that took repeated re-spraying or soaking. This stuff ain’t terribly cheap, but it does work. It may take awhile, but it will work. This is the only product that really gets rid of cat pee stains - one of the most noxious compounds on earth!
Clothing odors are caused by bacteria colonies. Anything that sterilizes your clothes will stop the smell.
If you already happen to have a jug of it around, dry Chlorox bleach. About a third of a cup mixed thoroughly into wash water kills everything (fill the machine about half full and mix in the bleach, THEN put in clothes and let it run normally.)