How to get rid of the smell of sweat from clothing

Discover How to get rid of the smell of sweat from clothing, and its stains. Look after your favourite clothing or sportswear with these tips and advice right away.

With spring and the increase in temperatures, we start to sweat in our clothing more than in winter 

What causes the smell of sweat?

Sweating and body odour is common in all humans. We sweat when we do exercise, get worked up due to nervousness or because we are too hot. It is our body’s reaction to these changes in our physical state.

But sweat itself doesn’t smell, it is a clear and odourless liquid made generally of water and salts. The smell we often call “body odour” or B.O is caused by bacteria, which are harmless to our health, and live in our body, feeding off our sweat, among other things. Bacteria metabolises our sweat and their excrement is what causes the bad odour in our body, mainly in the underarm area.

But a good lifestyle, good personal hygiene and a good domestic treatment of clothing can help to control sweating and the smell of sweat on clothing. 

How to get rid of the smell of sweat from clothing step by step

Nowadays we have a large number of products on the market that are specifically for getting rid of the smell of sweat from clothing, but we give you 3 tips to improve the results, getting rid of the smell of sweat from clothing.

• Wash clothing as soon as possible so the smell doesn’t soak into it.
• Use high temperature washing cycles, provided the garment allows, for example, with sportswear.
• Hang the clothing out as soon as the washing cycle is complete. 

Before washing, you can treat the garment if the smell is very strong and, at the same time, remove any potential yellow marks or stains that may be there after washing. 

White clothing with vinegar and bicarbonate

• As well as being domestic products, they are also powerful cleaners and disinfectants.
• Apply a good layer of bicarbonate of soda to the area and then add a generous drizzle of white vinegar.
• Leave to fizz and let the garment dry.
• When dry, wash as normal and dry again, but don’t iron, and repeat the process as many times as required until the smell and yellow outline of the stain has gone and the garment is white again.
• You can do this up to 4 times if necessary.
• This can be done with coloured clothing, but try beforehand on an area that isn’t visible to check the mixture doesn’t discolour the garment. 

For suit jackets or coats

• Wet a new microfibre cloth with a mixture made up of half water and half ammonia.
• Wipe the treatment area with the cloth as many times as necessary to remove the smell from jackets and coats. 

Commercial disinfectants for clothing in general

• Select the most appropriate washing programme for the type of garment and add the amount of textile disinfectant stated by the manufacturer to the softener drawer. This type of product gets rid of 99.9% of germs that cause bad odours, like the smell of sweat.