17 Dec 2019

How to get rid of musty smell from your woollen clothes?

Are you getting ready to take your stored woollen clothes with the approach of winter? Unfortunately, some of your woollens may come out of storage with a musty smell. In this article, we tell you how to wash wool and get rid of that odour while keeping your woollens fresh and ready for winter.

 

Tip 1:

 

You can use essential oils, such as tea tree oil, to mask the musty smell in your stored woollens. Before you machine-wash your sweater or woollen accessories, read the care labels for instructions. If you have a wool setting in your washing machine, use that, or else run your regular wash cycle. Use a mild detergent in your washer. If you’re hand-washing, add a mild detergent to a bucket of lukewarm water and wash. Next, before the rinse cycle begins on your washer or before you rinse in another bucket of clean water, add 2-3 drops of essential oil to the washer or bucket and rinse. Finally, wrap your woollens in a towel and let it soak up all the water. Keep it on a flat surface to dry.

 

 

Tip 2:

 

Plain white vinegar is a safe and natural method to remove bad odours from your laundry, including the smell of mildew. In addition to killing the bacteria that cause odour, vinegar strips away most of the product buildup that could be trapping odour in your clothes.  If you like, you can use half the detergent you normally use in combination with the vinegar, as long as the detergent is not made from natural soap. Vinegar breaks down the fats in natural soaps, such as castile soap, rendering both ineffective if the two are combined.

 

Tip 3:

 

Sprinkle a generous amount of dry baking soda over the musty clothing.

  1. Allow the baking soda to absorb the odour-causing particles overnight.

  2. After 24 hours, take the garments outside and shake off the baking soda.

  3. A soft brush may be used to gently brush off any remaining baking soda particles.

  4. Hang the clothing outside for several hours to freshen up the garments. Repeat the process as necessary to remove all traces of odour from the clothing.

 

 

Tip  4:

  1. Fill a clean spray bottle with undiluted white vinegar.

  2. Hang dry-clean only clothing from a hanger. Place the hanger over a shower curtain rod. Alternatively, hang the clothing outside on a clothesline. Keep the clothing out of direct sunlight and away from direct heat.

  3. Spray the front and back of the dry-clean clothing liberally with the white vinegar. Allow the vinegar to air-dry on the clothing. Vinegar has a pungent odour. However, as the vinegar dries, its odour will dissipate and remove the musty smell with it.

  4. Repeat the process if necessary. It may take several applications to completely remove the mildew smell from the clothing.

 

Tip 5:

 

Allow your wool item to sit in the sun and dry. The mildew will dry out also and turn into a powder. Then, brush or wipe off the mildew powder onto some old newspaper or into a bag. Throw the newspaper or bag away in an outside trashcan. This process may remove your mildew completely.