The smell of damp clothes is a very common problem. If you do not know how to eliminate it, here we give you five tricks to make it disappear with ingredients you sure have in your home and we also give you some suggestions to prevent this from happening again.
It is not nice to open the closet and feel the musty smell on the clothes. This sometimes happens with the one that has been stored for a long time, but it is more usual that it happens when we put a washing machine and we do not hang it so that it dries just when it is finished or we do not leave it for long enough. We tell you five tricks to prevent this from happening and eliminate the musty odor.
Lay clothes in the sun
The most important thing to avoid the damp smell of clothes is to lay it down as soon as it has finished washing (the humidity accumulates inside the washing machine) and to make the most of the sun’s maximum possible time. Make sure that the clothes are well stretched, since the humidity tends to stay in thicker and badly aerated areas.
Add baking soda
A simple solution to remove the musty odor is to add a glass of sodium bicarbonate in the detergent compartment. The bicarbonate makes the action of the detergent more effective and acts as a natural deodorant, able to eliminate the smell of moisture.
Add white or apple vinegar
Another way to remove the musty smell of clothes is to introduce white vinegar into the detergent and even mix it with white baking soda. If the smell is still very strong and it does not go away, you can choose to change the detergent for a glass of apple cider vinegar, and even mix it with half a glass of lemon juice and white bicarbonate. Do not be afraid of the smell of vinegar, because it disappears during washing.
Ventilate the closet
The smell of humidity does not always come from clothes, but it can also come from inside the closets. Examine yours in case there is any leakage. To avoid this, it is recommended that you ventilate it from time to time, leaving it open with the windows of that room also open to create a current of air.
Clean the washing machine
Another possible source of the smell of moisture in clothes can be the washing machine itself, where it concentrates a lot and can even appear mold if you are not careful. It is advisable to leave the drum open after using it so that it is properly aerated. In case the musty smell has already appeared, pour two cups of white vinegar directly into the drum and program a hot cycle.
The smell of damp clothes is very annoying, but it has an easy solution with these recommendations. The first thing is to locate the focus of the problem and act on it with these tips. Remember that it is always better to prevent than to cure, so try to ventilate the closet and washing machine and lay out clothes so that the musty smell does not appear so often.