Stinky T-shirts – What will get rid of the smell?

I have a load of my favorite T-Shirts that start to stink when they are worn and “warm up”. They’ve been washed at 40 degrees several times and smell fine once out of the wash, but always end up stinking after about 30 minutes wearing them.

Someone once suggested soaking them in white vinegar to me, but will the vinegar not rot the fabric? how long should I let them soak?

Any other suggestions other than burning them?

Cheers.

Try a different washing powder, they do differ. Aldi stuff wins awards.

Not found one that removes the deodourant residue tho!

Wash at much higher temperature.

Biological powder?

I was going to try them at 60, but worried it might knacker the t-shirts up. Could also buy a different detergent. No Aldi here, but maybe Lidl have something. Yep, the Deo residue, not that’s something else. I’ve sprayed a couple of shirts with stain removed and alsorts but nothing seems to shift it.
If it sticks to t-shirts like that, what the hell is it doing to my arm pits!

use anti-bacterial washing-up liquid. Leave ’em to soak with a good dose of it in the sink for a few hours.

Vanish do an anti-bacterial add-in powder. Seems to do the job on stinky gym stuff.

Also – look up Halo Proactive on Wiggle. Seems designed to do the same.

Just had a look on Wiggle at the Halo stuff, unfortunately as soon as I set it to ship abroad the product becomes “unavailable”. Guess it’s a controlled substance for shipping or something. Was going to try a pack of 5 of the powder sachets to see if it was any cop.

I’ve got some of that halo stuff and it is good. Some stinky polyester tops that were heading for the bin have been given a new lease of life! It’s worth persevering to get hold of.

The kids are in the UK for Christmas and New Year, so might try and get some to them to bring back for me.

I use this white vinegar method;

http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/laundry-cleaning-tips/workout-clothes.html#.UNxJ52_cn8k

And find it works well when I remember to do it.

You can get halo from some tescos it really works well

Nikwax also do a base layer wash thing, seems to work ok. Failing that, soak in a bit of dettol before you wash it. That works on my old base layers.

OK, I decided to try white vinegar since I had some in the cupboard. I put all the t-shirts in a bucket added warm water and a bottle of white vinegar. Have let them soak for a good 45 minutes. Will now remove and wash them normally.

Will post back if it works 😕

Will post back if it works

Some good tips here! I have a few old favourites that I will throw away otherwise (or they will become DIY wear)

I’ve just had a little look-see on moneysavingexpert threads after seeing this white vinegar tip. Gonna try it tonight – I’ve a grim HH top that smells of raw onions even when ‘clean’

You might be eating that popcorn for a while BB!

How are you drying them? Do they smell like a dirty dish cloth? Have you got a tumble dryer? Maybe staying damp to long after being washed.

Hang them on a line outside so that they get properly aired and some sun on them.

Halo is awesome stuff – I wash all my t-shirts, riding kit, fleeces, etc in it.

It really works and has saved various stinky items of mine from the bin.

Sainsburys sell it too.

It’s not a musty smell as in not dried properly, its a stale sweaty smell from the pit area of the t-shirts. It’s definitely a bacteria thing I think. That Napisan might be the thing, although I’ll find out tomorrow if my Vinegar experiment has worked or not.

As above – soak in Napisan

or an hour pr two soaking in a bucket of vanish oxi-action prior to washing

Napisan wins every time, especially on sweaty synthetic cycling gear.

You could also do with treating yourself to some anti-white marks deodorant. My work shirts used to suffer something awful until I swapped to napisan and Loreal Men Expert Carbon Protect.

I’m pleased to report that the soaking in warm water and white vinegar has worked for me. 1st chance to wear one of the aforesaid t-shirts today and it is smell free 😀

So my remedy was…..bucket of warm water, bottle of white vinegar, stick in my 10 smelly t-shirts, leave for about 45 minutes and then wash normally.

Cheers.

Desert spoon or two (10-20ml) of napisan in with the washing powder and wash as normal. No need to soak beforehand. (It will eventually do for the lycra kit according to the care labels but I haven’t seen any evidence in 10+ years).

Modern washing machines wash at about 40, which isn’t hot enough to kill the bacteria. You need to wash at above 60 or use something, which kills bacteria.

Might well be your washing machine.Last time ours broke (too much muddy kit again!) The repair guy suggested to run it empty on the hottest wash its got once a month to get rid of any excess dirt and bacteria.

Nikwax basefresh (not basewash) has recently become available.
It has worked a treat for me but is expensive.
It’s around £8 per 8 washes.
Cheaper than a new jersey though.

Might well be your washing machine.Last time ours broke (too much muddy kit again!) The repair guy suggested to run it empty on the hottest wash its got once a month to get rid of any excess dirt and bacteria.

Boil wash plus dishwasher tablet.

I had the same problem for ages, tried most of the above. In the end I started using Driclor antiperspirant instead – was a bit of a desperate measure but seemed to work. Stopped the t-shirts activating as I simply wasn’t sweating in the pits anymore and not had any problems since.

Amazing stuff if you can figure out how to use with without getting burning pits of death!

This may sound insane but I’ve heard you can kill bacteria in clothes by microwaving them. 🙂

This thread reminded me I’ve run out of basefresh,
so just bought 5 litres for £26 from waterproofingworld.com.
That works out at 26p per wash which is much more like it.
10% discount code “xmasgift”

I use Dettol, but not the Pine original stuff, thats far too strong and smelly. Get the Lavender one, which isn’t as overpowering.
About 2 capfuls in a bucket of water, leave to steep over night, then wash.
I do this with running gear, compression tops and baselayers.

This may sound insane but I’ve heard you can kill bacteria in clothes burn your house down by microwaving them

Halo is awesome stuff – I wash all my t-shirts, riding kit, fleeces, etc in it.
It really works and has saved various stinky items of mine from the bin.
Sainsburys sell it too.

+1 Halo. Tried the vinegar, Dettol, and Napisan, none worked. Halo restored previously rancid softshells and thermals to their former glory.

I use this Sport-Wash which you can buy at Wal-Mart and a lot of sporting goods stores in the US. I think its $6-7 per bottle.

Could well be the machine itself, I had a problem with stuff smelling ( including the machine )
And because we wash at 30-40 it doesnt kill bacteria , the repair guy removed the drum and it was covered on the outside with white smelly gunk from the powder/liquid
Apparently its common but you cant see it as its on the outside
A hot wash once a week with nothing in sorts it out

Re: removing deodorant stains.

If the garment is white or light coloured particularly if the stains are ‘yellow’ rub a lemon into the stains then soak it in a bucket with lemon juice in warm-ish water. Then wash at 30 with chopped up lemon, wash at 40 to remove lemon from clothes and stains are gone. For darker garments use white vinegar.

I found Dove deodorant to be the best and not too expensive.