# Is mildew the death of my favorite sweater?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 2, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164 "2003-10-02T18:06:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164/1 "2003-10-02T18:06:52Z")

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Well, just discovered a bunch of clothes in a plastic bag.

From back in July when I moved. :eek:

That obviously had something in with them that was damp. :smack:

I washed them, but there is still the awful mildew stench.

Anyone know of anyway to get this out? Or are these clothes ruined forever?

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164/2 "2003-10-02T18:22:41Z")

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A professional dry cleaner can probably help you out. The only other thing you might try could be washing them again and add EITHER a little vinegar or baking soda (but not both!), but that is probably very risky depending on the fiber so go to the cleaners, if it’s worth a few dollars to try and salvage them.

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**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164/3 "2003-10-02T18:49:50Z")

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Oh, thank god. There might at least be something I can do!

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164/4 "2003-10-02T20:50:00Z")

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[Removing mildew.](http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/housing/gh5928.htm#Removing)

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**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mildew-the-death-of-my-favorite-sweater/205164/5 "2003-10-02T21:13:38Z")

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Great info, Walloon. Thanks.