Destinky my shirties
May 4, 2009 7:08 PM Subscribe
Does anyone have a trick to get out armpit smell?
I'm a small woman who has recently taken to wearing button down shirts, mainly cotton camp shirts comme ca.
I'm not especially sweaty or smelly, but I always find I need to wash them after one wearing because the pits smell. Is there any trick I can use to keep them a bit more fresh between washings? I had an old boyfriend who had some trick for keeping the pits fresh so he didn't have to wash his nice shirts so much but I um, can't ask him. What can I try?
I'm a small woman who has recently taken to wearing button down shirts, mainly cotton camp shirts comme ca.
I'm not especially sweaty or smelly, but I always find I need to wash them after one wearing because the pits smell. Is there any trick I can use to keep them a bit more fresh between washings? I had an old boyfriend who had some trick for keeping the pits fresh so he didn't have to wash his nice shirts so much but I um, can't ask him. What can I try?
Well, what also changes things: good deodorant. Not Tom's natural whatever which does nothing. Maximum strength. You want as much of all that stuff that causes cancer and/or Alzheimer's as possible. With the good stuff, I can go weeks without bathing. No smell. YMMV.
posted by flavor at 7:22 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by flavor at 7:22 PM on May 4, 2009
You shouldn't wear cotton shirts more for more than one day if yo can actually perceive any noticeable smell. Please don't.
If you really need to, try using an antiperspirant (you say you use deodorant, but clearly it doesn't work, or you wouldn't be asking us this question), or an antiperspirant/deodorant combination (common in the U.S.). Also, for sweaty people who must wear white shirts as part of a uniform, I know that you can buy underarm pads/shields. Presumably, that would take care of the offensive smell, too.
posted by halogen at 7:29 PM on May 4, 2009
If you really need to, try using an antiperspirant (you say you use deodorant, but clearly it doesn't work, or you wouldn't be asking us this question), or an antiperspirant/deodorant combination (common in the U.S.). Also, for sweaty people who must wear white shirts as part of a uniform, I know that you can buy underarm pads/shields. Presumably, that would take care of the offensive smell, too.
posted by halogen at 7:29 PM on May 4, 2009
Best answer: Vigorously rub a good dollop of hand sanitizer into the fabric and you're good to go.
posted by aquafortis at 7:34 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by aquafortis at 7:34 PM on May 4, 2009
Agree that cotton shirts should really only be worn once before washing.
Also, adding borax to your wash and letting the clothes soak for a few minutes before agitating will do wonders with any lingering odor.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:39 PM on May 4, 2009
Also, adding borax to your wash and letting the clothes soak for a few minutes before agitating will do wonders with any lingering odor.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:39 PM on May 4, 2009
Normally I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to get away with wearing a cotton shirt next to their skin more than once before washing. That said, you might be able to get away with it if you hang each shirt up and let it air out well (with some time in the sun would be best), letting it air several days before you cycle around to it for a second wear.
posted by redfoxtail at 7:42 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by redfoxtail at 7:42 PM on May 4, 2009
VINEGAR.
Soak in vinegar, wash with vinegar, spray on link a pre-wash.... white vinegar is the SHIT for smells.
posted by tristeza at 7:51 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
Soak in vinegar, wash with vinegar, spray on link a pre-wash.... white vinegar is the SHIT for smells.
posted by tristeza at 7:51 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Old theatre trick for keeping costumes from smelling:
-Buy a cheap bottle of vodka.
-Fill a clean spray bottle with the vodka.
-When you take off your shirt (or anything really) spray the sweaty areas with the vodka, enough to get it just slightly damp. Let it hang to dry. (Vodka dries quite quickly, being mostly alcohol)
-Wear again!
This works really well, and in my experience doesn't discolor fabrics or anything like that. Don't use it on your silks or whatever, but otherwise this is better than any professional product I know of for this precise use.
posted by raygan at 7:56 PM on May 4, 2009 [15 favorites]
-Buy a cheap bottle of vodka.
-Fill a clean spray bottle with the vodka.
-When you take off your shirt (or anything really) spray the sweaty areas with the vodka, enough to get it just slightly damp. Let it hang to dry. (Vodka dries quite quickly, being mostly alcohol)
-Wear again!
This works really well, and in my experience doesn't discolor fabrics or anything like that. Don't use it on your silks or whatever, but otherwise this is better than any professional product I know of for this precise use.
posted by raygan at 7:56 PM on May 4, 2009 [15 favorites]
When your shirts come out of the dryer, spray or rub the pits with the natural crystal deodorant you can buy at health food stores. Just let it dry before you put the shirt on and you're good to go. It doesn't stain, doesn't smell like anything, and goes a very, very long way toward eliminating that delightful armpit aroma.
posted by corey flood at 7:57 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by corey flood at 7:57 PM on May 4, 2009
Witch hazel works for me. It changes the pH of your skin, thus inhibiting the growth odor-causing bacteria.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:01 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:01 PM on May 4, 2009
The growth of odor-causing bacteria. (grumble grumble preview).
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:03 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:03 PM on May 4, 2009
Hand gel, vodka, the consensus is pretty much that alcohol is magic! A spritz of a very light alcohol based citrus cologne like Guerlain Imperiale or 4711 will do the same thing - kill anything living in your pits or the shirt. If the pong is water based, alcohol will help. If the stink is a deep musky apocrine funk it's time for a good washing.
posted by ladypants at 8:15 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ladypants at 8:15 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The stink isn't too terrible, I'd just like to mitigate it. Even if I can't wear it again before washing, I'd like to mitigate the stink so it's not sitting around for a few days before the washing. But man, my ex boyfriend did SOMETHING to his cotton shirts so he could wear them more than once and he was smellier than me.
posted by sweetkid at 8:19 PM on May 4, 2009
posted by sweetkid at 8:19 PM on May 4, 2009
Not Tom's natural whatever which does nothing
I was always a little skeptical of Tom's, but after trying it I was amazed. I don't know if it has magical ingredients, or if switching to not using antiperspirants anymore is what made the difference, but using Tom's kills my armpit smells for days at a time, LITERALLY as if it were magic. (Or am I now a smelly person who can't smell their own stink?) It might be worth trying, just in case it does work--the feeling of having clogged armpit pores is absolutely unbearable for me now that I've gone antiperspirant-free.
Regarding ingredients, the front label lists lichen, coriander (which it smells like), and aloe vera, none of which sounds to me like an antibacterial, but I'm sticking by my above account of armpit milagro.
On preview: did he wear undershirts? Wearing undershirts helps a lot, but unfortunately seems like a male-gendered clothing thing (?).
posted by olaguera at 8:40 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
I was always a little skeptical of Tom's, but after trying it I was amazed. I don't know if it has magical ingredients, or if switching to not using antiperspirants anymore is what made the difference, but using Tom's kills my armpit smells for days at a time, LITERALLY as if it were magic. (Or am I now a smelly person who can't smell their own stink?) It might be worth trying, just in case it does work--the feeling of having clogged armpit pores is absolutely unbearable for me now that I've gone antiperspirant-free.
Regarding ingredients, the front label lists lichen, coriander (which it smells like), and aloe vera, none of which sounds to me like an antibacterial, but I'm sticking by my above account of armpit milagro.
On preview: did he wear undershirts? Wearing undershirts helps a lot, but unfortunately seems like a male-gendered clothing thing (?).
posted by olaguera at 8:40 PM on May 4, 2009 [1 favorite]
Not Tom's natural whatever which does nothing
I also find this to be....wrong. Tom's of Maine works really well for me, plus it doesn't make skin flake off of my armpits like Old Spice did. It hurt.
posted by InsanePenguin at 8:47 PM on May 4, 2009
I also find this to be....wrong. Tom's of Maine works really well for me, plus it doesn't make skin flake off of my armpits like Old Spice did. It hurt.
posted by InsanePenguin at 8:47 PM on May 4, 2009
Long ago I encountered a website/project called "kill bo."
They highlighted the fact that armpit stench all comes from a particular bacteria strain ...which can be killed. Also, the KillBo participants discovered that the odor entirely disappears if first you manage to sterilize *all* your shirts, and also if you manage to wipe out your armpit bacteria. Halfway measures don't work, since contaminated shirts will immediately re-infect your skin, and armpits will easily contaminate sterile shirts. They also found that the bacteria isn't killed by laundry detergent or by even very high temperature in clothes dryers.
Their ideas worked great. Currently I'm do two things to wipe out the odor: first I use "michum" bactericidal antiperspirant after showers, and really slather it on. But I discovered that I only need to do this a couple times a week, rather than every day. Second, I sterilize all shirts with a small amount of chlorine bleach while doing laundry. Don't miss a single shirt, or the "infection" will come right back.
The required amount of bleach is quite small, and it doesn't seem to affect colors over a period of many months.
I do the following: let the washer fill about a quarter full of water or a bit more. Then put in 1/3 cup of chlorox and mix well. (Really do a good job mixing, otherwise a stray plume of unmixed bleach can create a white streak on black t-shirts!) Then load in shirts and make sure they're immersed and soaked by the bleach water. Then just dump in the rest of the clothes on top and wash normally w/detergent.
Here's one strange phenomenon I found. If I wear a brand new t-shirt without first giving it the bleach treatment, I *always* develop powerful armpit stench within hours. It appears that all new clothing fresh from the store is contaminated with the "American Armpit Stench Organism." But with sterile shirts, it takes about 1.5 weeks for the stench to appear. (I mean if one were to experiment by, ahem, not bathing at all for weeks ...one would discover that their armpit stench is missing for about nine days before suddenly returning full stench.)
Another effect: if I accidentally forget a load of wet laundry and leave it in the machine for a couple of days, it doesn't acquire the usual "smelly washcloth odor." The bleach really does kill off all the organisms which normally live in our clothes.
posted by billb at 11:14 PM on May 4, 2009 [7 favorites]
They highlighted the fact that armpit stench all comes from a particular bacteria strain ...which can be killed. Also, the KillBo participants discovered that the odor entirely disappears if first you manage to sterilize *all* your shirts, and also if you manage to wipe out your armpit bacteria. Halfway measures don't work, since contaminated shirts will immediately re-infect your skin, and armpits will easily contaminate sterile shirts. They also found that the bacteria isn't killed by laundry detergent or by even very high temperature in clothes dryers.
Their ideas worked great. Currently I'm do two things to wipe out the odor: first I use "michum" bactericidal antiperspirant after showers, and really slather it on. But I discovered that I only need to do this a couple times a week, rather than every day. Second, I sterilize all shirts with a small amount of chlorine bleach while doing laundry. Don't miss a single shirt, or the "infection" will come right back.
The required amount of bleach is quite small, and it doesn't seem to affect colors over a period of many months.
I do the following: let the washer fill about a quarter full of water or a bit more. Then put in 1/3 cup of chlorox and mix well. (Really do a good job mixing, otherwise a stray plume of unmixed bleach can create a white streak on black t-shirts!) Then load in shirts and make sure they're immersed and soaked by the bleach water. Then just dump in the rest of the clothes on top and wash normally w/detergent.
Here's one strange phenomenon I found. If I wear a brand new t-shirt without first giving it the bleach treatment, I *always* develop powerful armpit stench within hours. It appears that all new clothing fresh from the store is contaminated with the "American Armpit Stench Organism." But with sterile shirts, it takes about 1.5 weeks for the stench to appear. (I mean if one were to experiment by, ahem, not bathing at all for weeks ...one would discover that their armpit stench is missing for about nine days before suddenly returning full stench.)
Another effect: if I accidentally forget a load of wet laundry and leave it in the machine for a couple of days, it doesn't acquire the usual "smelly washcloth odor." The bleach really does kill off all the organisms which normally live in our clothes.
posted by billb at 11:14 PM on May 4, 2009 [7 favorites]
I tend to wear men's shirts and jeans as my daily work uniform. Kind of a gender-neutral outfit that covers me a lot. I work with a lot of college students from different cultures, and my work clothes are comfortable for me and seem to help their comfort levels, too.
I also tend to wear an undershirt and that seems to help a lot with recycling the top shirt. Just any old comfortable cotton thing that maybe matches whatever I'm wearing over it. I can get at least two days wear out of the top shirt that way.
In the summertime, which is rapidly approaching for me, the extra layer doesn't really help at all. Too hot while I'm outside and probably waiting to catch a bus to work and then I sweat like a horse anyhow.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:00 AM on May 5, 2009
I also tend to wear an undershirt and that seems to help a lot with recycling the top shirt. Just any old comfortable cotton thing that maybe matches whatever I'm wearing over it. I can get at least two days wear out of the top shirt that way.
In the summertime, which is rapidly approaching for me, the extra layer doesn't really help at all. Too hot while I'm outside and probably waiting to catch a bus to work and then I sweat like a horse anyhow.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:00 AM on May 5, 2009
How snug are your shirts? Men's shirts are cut so that the fabric is not right up in the pits; women's shirts are cut in whatever way is currently fashionable. Good men's shirts are a nice weight of fabric, too.
posted by theora55 at 7:15 AM on May 5, 2009
posted by theora55 at 7:15 AM on May 5, 2009
You could also try antiperspirants (not the same as deodorants) like CertainDri, which drastically reduce the amount of sweat your armpits produce. An antiperspirant, a good deodorant (buy a bunch of trial sizes until you find something that works well--I find that some brands quit working for me after a year or two and I have to switch), and treating the pits of clothes with white vinegar before washing should take care of it.
Your old boyfriend might have been a stinky dude who simply didn't smell up his clothing. People's bodies are different. Are you SURE he did something to his shirts? Like, did you SEE him and know that he did something, or you're just guessing that he did something because he didn't seem to have this problem?
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:19 AM on May 5, 2009
Your old boyfriend might have been a stinky dude who simply didn't smell up his clothing. People's bodies are different. Are you SURE he did something to his shirts? Like, did you SEE him and know that he did something, or you're just guessing that he did something because he didn't seem to have this problem?
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:19 AM on May 5, 2009
Bleach or vinegar in your wash (or for a soak in the sink) should kill the smell.
posted by Gor-ella at 7:36 AM on May 5, 2009
posted by Gor-ella at 7:36 AM on May 5, 2009
Response by poster: Are you SURE he did something to his shirts? Like, did you SEE him and know that he did something,
Yeah, I saw him do...something. Circa 2000 so I can't remember what for the life of me.
posted by sweetkid at 11:30 AM on May 5, 2009
Yeah, I saw him do...something. Circa 2000 so I can't remember what for the life of me.
posted by sweetkid at 11:30 AM on May 5, 2009
Response by poster: Hand sanitizer WORKED. Damn boyfriend. I want to try the vodka trick too just cuz. But thanks all. I just didn't want to wash my shirts too much or leave them lying around in the basket with a lil bit of stink.
posted by sweetkid at 5:09 AM on May 7, 2009
posted by sweetkid at 5:09 AM on May 7, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:12 PM on May 4, 2009