Removing Underarm Odor from Polyester Athletic Shirts

pennc94

17 years ago

What are some tried and true ways to remove lingering underarm odor from polyester athletic shirts?

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Comments (8)

kitchenobsessed
17 years ago
Some have tried rubbing in vinegar or ammonia. I have found washing at 140 degrees (versus my usual 100-120 degrees) makes a really big difference.
mapski99
17 years ago
Would you also suggest adding vinegar or ammonia to the wash to get rid of odor on sports socks?

How does vinegar or ammonia affect clothes if it's added to the entire wash?

-JD
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In my experience this is a unique problem with certain microfiber clothes and sweaty conditions. I have been doing laundry effectively for nearly 40 years ( I actually took mine over as an older child because I wanted to do it my way) and I have never encountered anything like the smell on my husband's company provided work shirts. They were originally laundered by a service and they have the bar code on them that made sure they were returned to the correct employee. The company decided to stop paying for that and just gave the shirts to employees to wear if they chose. His are black and I heard that this cloth, which in my mind is plastic, can be bleached so I tried it with just one, then two and I have been bleaching all of them with clorox for several months. I even soak them in bleach hot water for a couple of hours before finishing the cycle. I thought it was working but I realize his closet still stinks. its insane. I have never encountered anything like it. I don't really know if they stank when they were laundered by the service because I was never around them, they stayed at work. The tag is worn but I can read 100% polyester.
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onlygirlsmom, have you dried the shirts in a dryer with the deodorant odor still in them? If so, the dryer heat may have 'baked' it in, making it very difficult to remove. If a shirt comes out of the wash still odorous, I would recommend hanging it to dry on a plastic hanger. It could be even more effective to hang it to dry outside in the fresh air, weather permitting. Then you can attack the odor when it's washed again without the odor having been 'baked' in. Heloise recommends pouring ammonia on the shirts' underarms, then letting them dry before washing. The main thing that has helped me when I've washed stinky clothes for guys has been to soak them in the washer in the hottest water appropriate for the fabric, along with the regular dosage of detergent plus a heaping cup of baking soda (added to the washer drum before adding laundry). I've ordinarily soaked them overnight by pausing the washer, then re-starting the washer to finish the wash cycle the next day. Using white vinegar for fabric softener seems to help, too.
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I used to have a serious problem with staining shirts after wearing them once. The antiperspirant would also build up and get hard in the underarm. I had to stop wearing white shirts all together, or anything light colored. Through the years, it was getting worse, probably because they made them stronger and stronger. I switched to deodorants which just didn't work for me, I would have odor in a half hour. Tried different antiperspirants and nothing fixed the staining or build up. Ends up, it is body chemistry mixing with the aluminum in the antiperspirant. So after trying everything, I finally found something the works and doesn't cause any problems with staining. I now use Crystal Body Deodorant. No odor and no staining, plus it's natural. Antiperspirants, as far as I'm concerned, are just not healthy. The main ingredient is aluminum.
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sparky823
17 years ago
I read a similar problem on another site and they found that Charlies Soap powder removed the odor for them and helped rid their workout clothes of other residues as well.
boba1
17 years ago
Try Boarteem!!!
boba1
17 years ago
Borateem added with your detergent. Also 20 Mule Team Borax.
barbjw
17 years ago
I use vinegar in a spray bottle. I spray the underarm area until fairly wet, then sprinkle either borax or oxyclean powder on top and if the dry material still looks too dry, I spray more vinegar to wet it, then rub it together and throw in washer. I selected hot with my old horrible maytag. Now have Bosch and have only done a few "underarm" loads, the first one I used hot. The second time I used the extra cycle that starts out cold and heats the water. My husband's shirts have had less odor, the test will be when my 25 year old son drops off his teeshirts for me to wash to get the smells out. He doesn't exactly wash his clothes the way most of us here do if you know what I mean.
kerryokie
17 years ago
I'm a marathoner and have more than my fair share of athletic shirts. I use white vinegar let it sit for a few minutes then rinse. I then take some baking soda and make it into a paste over the affected area. Then rinse and wash as normal.
jeff1962
17 years ago
I use plain old bar soap (ivory or kirks castile). For some reason soap gets out the smell whereas detergent does not.

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Removing Underarm Odor from Polyester Athletic Shirts

Comments (8)

kitchenobsessed

mapski99

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