Smelly question

May 19, 2018 1:24 AM

I put a brand new jacket over a brand new tshirt on my clean body. After about an hour or two, the armpits of the jackets were smelling a bit sweaty. My armpits didn't smell and neither did my tshirt. The jacket is polyester lined which I guess caused this. BUT why did nothing else smell? And is there anything I can do to stop this? I was wearing antiperspirant and didn't feel sweaty or anything. :(
posted by KateViolet to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Body odor can be produced by bacteria. So my non-body-odor-scientist theory is that bacteria had colonized the armpits of the jacket at some point (possibly when someone tried it on in the store?) and did their thing once they had access to your sweat.
posted by XMLicious at 2:16 AM on May 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I use vodka - I pretreat the pits of everything in vodka before I wash. I think it makes a difference!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:39 AM on May 19, 2018 [9 favorites]

Maybe if it was warm and the jacket lining is polyester (and not so breathable?) then perspiration from your arms was traveling up inside the sleeves?
posted by carter at 2:54 AM on May 19, 2018

Get the jacket cleaned - even though it’s new it could have had pit bacteria in it, maybe be even from when *you* tried it on.
posted by mskyle at 4:30 AM on May 19, 2018

I second getting the coat cleaned. Sometimes there are chemicals on the fabric from manufacturing that can smell bad.
posted by cabingirl at 6:04 AM on May 19, 2018

Perhaps somebody bought the jacket, sweat in it, and then returned it?
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:23 AM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I also use vodka. I keep a spritz bottle of vodka + a few drops of essential oil (orange, lemon is good, too) in my closet and I spritz the arm pits of jackets and dresses, anything that doesn't get washed after one use. Kills the bacteria, freshens the closet. I spray this on my pillows when I wash the pillow cases. Works on sneakers.

Your jacket is polyester, so I would spray it before wearing and let the spots dry while I'm in the shower or otherwise getting ready to go out. Vodka dries really fast, it's easy to do.

Another treatment is to dissolve a few non-coated aspirin tablets in vodka and make a paste for the pits if it is machine washable. Mix with soap, I actually put a tiny squirt of Dawn for certain stains, but laundry detergent is fine. I have used oxy clean paste on armpits smell, I think aspirin works better. YMMV.
posted by jbenben at 7:42 AM on May 19, 2018 [6 favorites]

Best answer: The jacket is polyester lined which I guess caused this. BUT why did nothing else smell?

Because the smell comes from bacteria, and polyester fibres are a much more comfortable host environment for bacteria than cotton fibres.
posted by flabdablet at 7:10 PM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]