Clothes can develop a musty smell if they are left wet in a washing machine, or in a damp room for a long time. Sometimes clothes are stored in a tightly closed and damp dresser, which contributes to the formation of mold. You can get rid of the musty smell by washing your clothes with vinegar or baking soda. There are other ways, too.
Drying and ironing
A faint smell of dampness can be removed from clothes by drying them in the sun. Ultraviolet rays destroy the spores of mold that are on the fabric, and the wind takes away moisture. If you can not dry your clothes that way, then wash them, and add vinegar to the rinse water.
Delicate fabrics should be washed on manual mode without the use of aggressive substances. You can add some scented water to the iron to remove the smell of dampness. You can buy such water where you buy your household chemicals. Pour it into your iron or steamer, and treat the clothes. In order not to damage a particularly thin fabric and not leave shiny spots on the wool, iron your clothes through a piece of gauze.
Cotton and linen fabrics can be ironed at maximum temperature. This will help refresh the fabric, and get rid of bacteria and microorganisms. After ironing, clothes should lie down for a little while and cool off. When you’re sure the clothes are absolutely dry, put them away into dressers and wardrobes.
Soda, vinegar, borax, alcohol
A strong smell of mildew on clothes requires the use of other methods. Firstly, identify the causes of dampness and eliminate it. The clothes need to be processed since they can have mold spores on them. There are several ways to get rid of mold:
- During washing, add 1 table spoon of soda to the detergent.
- Dilute the powder detergent with table vinegar and use it for washing, pour it into the appropriate compartment of the washer.
- Mix the borax with warm water, add the detergent, soak the clothes in this solution for 2-3 hours, and then wash.
- The outerwear, which cannot be washed, is wiped with a weak solution of ammonia or sprayed with a solution of alcohol from a spray bottle. Then the garment is hung on the line and left to dry.
Never hang up a wet coat or jacket in the closet and do not put up a wet umbrella. Hats should also be dried before being placed in the closet. All these measures will help prevent the appearance of the musty smell.
Fragrances
Trying to use perfume, cologne, or other scents to get rid of the smell of mildew is absolutely futile. These aromatic compounds only aggravate the situation, make the smell even more unpleasant and strengthen it. The only thing you can use are dried herbs. Put a sachet with lavender, mint, rosemary, juniper, balm lemon on the shelves. If you like citrus smells, then you can put the dried zest of an orange, mandarin, lemon in the pouches.
There are rooms that are always damp, and it is difficult to get rid of the unpleasant odor in them. In this case, you might want to use dehumidifiers.
Instead of dehumidifiers, some people use fans installed in the room and periodically switched on. The fans create air movement and help if the house has a bad ventilation system.
How to prevent the appearance of dampness
To prevent dampness from getting on your clothes, do not put damp things on the shelves, make sure to dry them completely, iron with the maximum permissible temperature. It will help destroy the mold spores if they make an appearance on the fabric.
In the inter-season, when the central heating is off, drying clothes can be difficult. This especially applies to the autumn period. In this case, you can use heaters, directing a stream of warm air to the laundry, jackets, shirts and other clothes that are drying in the room. That way you can get rid of excess moisture.
Your washing machine can be the reason for the smell of dampness on clothes. Have a look at the sealing rubber at the bottom of the hatch. If there is a lot of dirt, then this area should be washed with chlorine bleach or any other reagent containing chlorine, and then turn the machine on to rinse mode. The old worn out O-ring can possibly be replaced.
If you notice that the closet is too damp, ventilate it regularly, take out and dry the clothes. To remove the mold, wipe all the shelves with alcohol. Put special tablets on the shelves that absorb moisture. At least it will partially help to solve the problem.