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How to Remove Bad Smell from Clothes After Washing
Sometimes, even after using a scented detergent, your clothes still smell. It’s important to understand the source, so you can ensure your laundry starts to smell fresh and clean after every wash.
Why does my laundry smell?
You might be thinking, why do my clothes smell even after I've washed them? Isn’t washing supposed to remove clothing odors?
When our body produces sweat, it reacts with the bacteria on our skin and creates a sour smell. The fibers inside our clothes absorb and trap these smelly odors in our laundry.
Folding or putting clothes away in your closet while they’re still damp can cause a sour musty odor that is difficult to remove.
Detergent can sometimes make your clothes smell worse. Using excessive detergent creates residue, which keeps smells trapped inside the fabric of your clothes.
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How do odors get trapped in fabric?
The fibers in the clothes we wear can trap and hold onto bacteria, which emits nasty odors and sour smells. Synthetic fabrics that are common in many wardrobes — such as polyester, spandex and rayon — are especially prone to trapping bacteria and odors in clothing.
How to remove bad odor from clothing after washing
If your laundry smells bad after drying, try making sure your clothes are completely dry before folding them or storing them. If the weather permits and you have a place to hang your laundry outside, line drying can leave clean clothes smelling fresher than if you put them in the dryer. Some studies have shown that due to the effects of the ozone, exposure to the sun can make fabrics produce organic compounds that give off rose and citrus-like scents.¹
But if you can’t hang your clothes in the sun, or if you just want an easy way to remove odors every time, use Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer*, which kills the smelly bacteria that’s stuck in your clothes. It’s bleach free and color safe too, so you can add to every load for lasting freshness.
What you need
Steps to remove odor from clothing after washing
Load washing machine
Put smelly laundry in your front- or top-load washing machine.
Add Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer
Pour Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer into your fabric softener compartment. You can also add it directly to your rinse cycle.
Machine wash
Machine wash laundry with your favorite detergent as usual, following the fabric care instructions on your garments.
TipClorox™ Laundry Sanitizer even works in cold water.
Clorox has a solution for all of your laundry sanitizing needs. For sanitizing your everyday loads, try Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer. If you have a tough stain, you can use Clorox™ Fabric Sanitizer Pre-Treat Spray. Or if you have no time to wash, try Clorox™ Fabric Sanitizer Aerosol.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is it safe to mix Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer with other household cleaning products?
No. We don't recommend mixing Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer with other household cleaning chemicals.
- How do I use Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer?
Simply add Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer to the fabric softener compartment of your washer (or directly into the rinse cycle wash) for your smelliest laundry loads.
- Do I need to dilute Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer?
No need, Clorox Laundry Sanitizer is a ready-to-use product.
- Can I use Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer for a bleach cleanout cycle?
No. To run a bleach cleanout cycle to remove soil build-ups that harbor odor causing bacteria from the inner workings of your clothes washer, use Clorox™ Disinfecting Bleach.
- Why do my clothes still smell after washing them?
Even after a full wash cycle, clothes can retain unpleasant odors due to how sweat, and bacteria interact with fabric. When sweat mixes with bacteria on our skin, it creates sour-smelling compounds that get trapped deep in the fibers of clothing. If clothes are folded or stored while still damp, this can lead to a musty smell that’s tough to remove. Additionally, using too much detergent can leave behind residue that locks in odors instead of lifting them out. To truly eliminate smells, it’s important to address both the bacteria and the buildup that detergent alone may leave behind.
- What’s the best way to remove odor from clothes in the wash?
To remove odor effectively, start by sorting your laundry and identifying items with strong smells—like workout gear, towels, or socks. Add your regular detergent to the wash, then pour Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer into the fabric softener compartment. This bleach-free formula is safe for colors and fabrics and kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria in the rinse cycle. For extra odor-fighting power, especially on colored items, add Clorox 2™ for Colors to the detergent tray or directly to the drum to your regular wash. Always follow garment care labels and check that odors are gone before drying.
- Can I use Clorox products to pretreat smelly areas before washing?
Absolutely. To pretreat smelly odors on clothes before washing, start by identifying areas where odors tend to build up, such as underarms, collars, socks, or workout gear. Apply Clorox 2™ for Colors directly to the affected spots and gently rub it in. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to help break down the stain and odors. Then, wash the clothes as usual.
Alternatively, you can add Clorox™ Laundry Sanitizer to the fabric softener compartment for extra odor-fighting power in every wash without the pre-treating step. This bleach-free formula is safe for colors and helps eliminate 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria during the rinse cycle. Be sure to always check garment care labels and remove any odors and stains before drying, as heat can cause the stains and smells to set in and become harder to remove.
- *
Use as directed.
- 1
The New York Times. 2020. “How Line-Dried Laundry Gets That Fresh Smell.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/science/laundry-smell-line.html