How to Get the Musty Smell Out of Clothes

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For any man who considers himself an enthusiast of classic menswear, scouting second-hand shops, consignment stores, or online auction sites like eBay, can be a great way to find vintage items at a fairly economical price that still give you that signature classic look.

Table of Contents
  1. How To Remove Foul Odors
  2. Conclusion

While the benefits of buying vintage clothing are numerous, there’s one particular drawback that affects a great majority of these items despite how well their construction and integrity have held up over the years, otherwise. This drawback, of course, is that distinctively musty smell that seems to cling to almost all old clothing.

Vintage Clothing Jackets of Sean Crowley hanging on a bar
Where Does The Musty Smell Come From?

There can be some variation between individual garments, of course, which is to say that some vintage garments can smell decidedly worse than others. It’s a spectrum really, everything from a whiff of wool, or perhaps your grandmother’s attic, to something that’s reeking of cigarette smoke, food, mothballs, or other offensive scents.

Unfortunately, though, the key source of all of these odors is actually a potent cocktail of organic compounds. In other words, substances from our own bodies. A 2018 study on malodor conducted by scientists at Procter & Gamble came to this conclusion after taking a random sample of vintage clothing, putting it in a resealable container filling the container with nitrogen gas and then seeing what changes had occurred to the gas after approximately two hours time and here’s what they found; 18 key malodorous molecular compounds, 12 of which were derived from so-called body soils including dead skin, perspiration, and oils. Left to ferment over time, these organic compounds were the primary source of foul odors. The other six compounds, by the way, were traced to environmental contaminants like car exhaust, gasoline, dry cleaning, solvents, food, and perfume.

Directly spraying vodka onto a smelly overcoat
Directly spray the vodka onto your smelly garment

How To Remove Foul Odors

Your first instinct might be to take these garments to a dry cleaner but in fact, this is a temptation that you should resist. The solvents used in dry cleaning simply aren’t as effective at removing odors as the secret ingredient we’re about to mention, especially when it comes to odors that are sourced from organic compounds. More specifically, odor elimination involves masking, encapsulating, or changing the molecular structure of the odor molecule that has attached itself to the fabric.

You’re probably not going to find it in your laundry room instead, you should head to your liquor cabinet. That’s right! When it comes to treating odors on your vintage garments, vodka will be the thing that does the trick. All you have to do is pour the vodka into a spray bottle and then spritz it on to the clothing in question. This is because the alcohol in the vodka directly interacts with the odor molecules on the clothing encapsulating and reconfiguring them and then when the alcohol evaporates, it takes the odors away with it .

Few Things To Keep In Mind:

picture of water being poured into overflowing glass
  • Don’t dilute the vodka with water. The odor fighting power of vodka comes from its high alcohol content so adding water to the mixture is simply going to cut down on the vodka’s effectiveness.
  • You don’t have to use top-shelf vodka for this application. The cheapest bottles that are available on the market will sometimes be grain alcohol with vodka flavoring but as long as you make sure that you’re actually getting vodka, a cheap bottle will do. Just make sure it doesn’t have any added flavoring like fruit, for example. If you or a member of your household does require that the vodka not be drinkable, you can add about a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol to the bottle to denature it. Whatever the case may be, just make sure that the bottle is labeled clearly.

Conclusion

Though that signature musty smell may have been hanging on to some of your vintage garments for who knows how long, it is fairly easily removable from them. Skip the dry cleaner and make a trip to the liquor store instead. Remember, clean responsibly.

Were you aware of this handy deodorizing trick and do you have any related tips that you could share? If so, let us know in the comments section below.

Thanks to the Laundry Evangelist’s Laundry Camp for many of the tips shown in this video. If you ever have the chance to visit it at the Mall of America, you should do so

Reader Comments

  1. What about using rubbing alcohol instead of vodka? If it’s the alcohol that is the active ingredient, why not just use alcohol? If “straight” alcohol works, what strength is best, 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol or 90-99% strength? The differences are water content and consequent action against microbes and spores, as explained here: https://blog.gotopac.com/2017/05/15/why-is-70-isopropyl-alcohol-ipa-a-better-disinfectant-than-99-isopropanol-and-what-is-ipa-used-for/ I love technical issues.

    1. I’ve used the higher percentage of rubbing alcohol with some success. Costume shops use both that and vodka; I keep a spray bottle of each. I haven’t done enough tests to know which one is better; it might depend on the specific fabric.

    2. Isopropyl alcohol, due to its different chemical structure, doesn’t encapsulate odorous molecules in the same way as ethanol. In my own personal experience, I’ve found that it isn’t as effective. Thanks for your question!
      – Preston

  2. I had not heard of this cleaning trick, but will give it a try. Your joke about “cleaning responsibly” made me laugh.

    1. Same here! Nice joke indeed!
      I wonder… and i’m serious… would other white spirits work, like tequila?

    2. I was told by a docent at the LA County Museum that the upper classes in 18th century France had their clothes washed in vodka, rather than water. I have never been able to verify this (was vodka widely available in France then?), but it’s an interesting story.

  3. I’ve recently started collecting vintage suits to wear to the office and the smell had been a concern for me. Based on advice I’ve found online I’ve tried distilled vinegar in a spray bottle, steam, and just airing the garments outside to varying degrees of success – some have almost lost that vintage scent (though I can’t rule out the idea that I’ve simply gotten used to it) while others still have the smell clinging on. I shall have to give this method a go.

  4. Would standard Denatured Alcohol (as sold in the paint department of most hardware stores) also work? Thank you to anyone who can answer!

    1. Denatured Alcohol is pure alcohol that has had an ingredient added to make it repulsive to drink. So, I’d assume it would work as well, if not better. Vodka tends to be made from specific vegetables… but since they were clear that the specific vodka to be used is not important, and that “grain alcohol” will work, I would think denatured alcohol would be fine. I’m going to try it on an old item I have.

      1. What “denatures” the alcohol is a toxic solvent that is added. This may work. However you may not know the effect the added solvent will have on the dyes used in the fabric. I would stick to pure grain alcohol.

    2. I would be concerned that denatured alcohol might be too strong, and remove the dye from the fabric. Some websites do recommend it as a fabric cleaner, but they also say that you need to do a test on a hidden part of the garment first.

  5. Preston Schueter: Thanks for all of informative information. I wish that I had found the Gentleman’s s Gazette years ago. I can’t get enough of your You Tube videos.

    Sincerely,

    Myles Omel

    1. Thank you kindly, Myles! We’re glad you’ve found us, and that you find our content helpful.
      – Preston

  6. I use a bag of activated charcoal that works very well. Place it in a bag along with the clothing and leave for a few days.

  7. Since Vodka is 40% EtOH (v/v), one would reasonably assume that a 40% IPA (v/v) solution would be just as effective!
    remember, a 40% BuOH (v/v) solution would not be advisable!!!

  8. If it’s the alcohol that does the job, I would think Everclear would be the lowest priced option. I use Everclear to clean my smoking pipes and it’s available at most liquor stores. It’s odor is nil and I have used it to treat some spots on cloths too. Any thoughts?

  9. Thanks for that advice. I had always used substances like “Febreze” but will now give the Vodka a try.

  10. When I bought a second-hand wool scarf and found when I got it home that it absolutely reeked (I hadn’t noticed the smell in the shop, because it was everywhere!), I thought it had mildew in it! I must have used at least four ounces of vodka, spraying it in repeated treatments (having learned the trick from other sources on the Web), but it still stank. I set it aside with the intention of including in the next batch of clothing that I give away, but when I took it up again a few weeks later, I found that the smell had greatly diminished. I think I may be able to wear it after all. So, apparently, the vodka treatment may have a delayed effect.

  11. As noted above Everclear is a great option. I also restore vintage tobacco pipes. I use Spiritos, the Polish equivalent of Everclear which often costs less. Baking soda is a great deodorizer. Place the garment in a plastic bag with one of those Arm and Hamer refrigerator boxes for a week and much of the mustiness will be absorbed. You can follow up with the technique mentioned here and complete the process with the dry cleaner.
    By the way, there is no such thing as “vodka flavor”. The appeal of vodka (or to me the lack of appeal) is that it is a flavorless neutral spirit. The difference between cheap and expensive vodka is in the harshness of the alcohol you experience. I despise the stuff as a beverage and prefer whisky and gin. Using Vodka as a cleaning solution is appropriate.

  12. I bought a chest at an Estate Sale, about 20 years ago, and a drawer must have had mothballs in it as there is a mothball smell in one drawer where the previous owner must have stored clothes with mothballs. I can’t get rid of the smell, and it transfers to any clothing I have there…. I have tried Clorox, fabric softener, “Febreeze,” lavender sachets, baking soda with fragrance, and putting it in the sun for a day or two…. Would your alcohol treatment work on the wood in the drawer? Thanks, -any one have experience with this? Any help greatly appreciated!

    1. Why not try the technique that I use in restoring vintage tobacco pipes. If you think that the wood the drawer could handle it this may work. Pull the drawer out. After placing it on a plastic or other water resistant surface fill it with course Kosher salt. Then saturate with Everclear or Spiritos. Allow it to sit overnight. Discard the salt and wipe out the drawer. Follow up with a conditioning wood cleaner. This is just a suggestion. I don’t know if it would warp the wood or not or what type of finish the exterior has that could be damaged. This works on pipes though.

  13. This rag, its owner and staff have become a disgrace to the word “Gentleman”
    . . . and is no-one worried that this secret ingredient is not claimed to remove the previous owner’s dead skin, perspiration, oils and nine other body soils, only to mask the smell of them?

  14. All swedish books for old housewifes recommend Vinegar essence as a solution for removing odour. Do you have any experience of that?

    1. I already used it on reeking gym clothes and socks in the washing machine and it worked formidably. As vinegar essence has antiseptic qualities, just as vodka has, the effect is obviously similar. However, I don’t know wether it works in a vaporizer and wether it could damage some tissues. And then, vinegar essence has a much stronger odor than vodka that some might not like.

      Anyway, all my thanks to the author for this useful article. For once, alcohol is not all bad.

  15. Thanks, excellent tip. All I can add from my own experience is that taking musty clothing to the dry cleaners seemingly seals some of the scent in so that is to be highly avoided. Also, you could try some of the sprays deer hunters utilize to neutralize human scent on clothing and gear. Somewhat cheaper than vodka and certainly without the accompanying, uh, temptation although with far less panache.

  16. As an online seller of vintage clothing, I have found hanging outside often does the trick, particularly for smoky jackets. The sunlight does a wonderful job of breaking down the bacteria

  17. Dear Preston,
    I have a nice pair of shoes, but they have the musty smell you mentioned in your video. Do you know if vodka works also for shoes and leather in general?
    Thank you for you attention.
    Tiziano

Comments are closed.