How to get rid of the smell of dampness in the house, the smell of mold on clothes, how to remove and remove the smell

Causes of unpleasant damp odor

The damp smell in the apartment and on clothes makes a person feel uncomfortable. In order to eliminate an unpleasant odor, you need to identify the cause of its appearance.

The main causes of musty smell:

Washing machine. If cleaning is not carried out on time, bacteria multiply on the rubber gaskets. During washing, laundry absorbs waste products and begins to smell.
Another cause of an unpleasant odor may be poor-quality powder used when washing clothes. It settles on the walls of the machine and gives off a stale smell. You should check not only the detergent compartment, but also the drain filter. It is possible that a large amount of debris and hair has clogged the filter, thereby creating a favorable environment for bacteria to multiply.
If dirty clothes are placed in the drum of the washing machine along with other damp or sweaty items, then all clothing items will acquire an unpleasant odor even after washing.
If washed items were left in a closed machine drum, then after a few hours they will begin to fade.
Drying blankets or blankets for a long time indoors.
High humidity provokes the development of fungi, which causes a corresponding odor.
Folded things that haven't been taken out of the closet for a long time. Lack of air circulation is a common cause of musty odors.

Professional products

When previously taken methods to eliminate an unpleasant odor did not help, you need to turn to the chemical industry for help. The following products can be purchased in the store:

Flavored water. An effective remedy in the fight against unpleasant moldy odor from clothes. It is sold in the hardware departments of supermarkets. It is based on natural ingredients - medicinal herbs. If you add this translucent liquid to the rinse compartment, then after a normal wash cycle, not a trace of the smell will remain.
Sodium borate. The product is also called “borax”. It is purchased at hardware stores and used to soak laundry. Prepare a solution: 40 g of sodium borate and 1.5 liters of water. Dip things into this liquid and cover the bowl with cling film. After 3-4 hours, the clothes are put into the machine and washed in the usual cycle using regular powder and rinse aid. Clothes are dried after “cleaning” on a radiator or in the fresh air.

These methods do not require large material costs.

How to get rid of mold smell on clothes

To remove the smell of dampness from clothes, you will need to thoroughly clean the items. There are many methods of cleansing, including soaking, washing, treatment using folk and professional means.

Mechanical methods for eliminating odor

You can remove odors from clothes without using cleaning products.

There are several solutions:

The smell of mold on clothes can be eliminated by airing things in the open air. You need to hang them outside to kill the spores, and with them the unpleasant aroma.
For fur and knitwear, the freezing method is used. The item of clothing is placed in a bag, the air is expelled from it, and then put into the freezer for a day. After the freezing procedure, the item should be dried.
Using steaming, you can get rid of the musty smell from clothes and further disinfect them. To implement this method, you will need to purchase a steam generator. It is recommended to process items made of delicate fabrics and expensive wool.
Cotton and linen clothes are ironed at maximum temperature. To give the item a fresh smell, special perfumed water is added to the iron.

Only dried items should be put into the closet, otherwise the moldy smell will return.

Wet cleaning

Wet cleaning is a procedure using disinfectants. There are universal compositions that are suitable for all types of fabrics. However, gentle means have been invented for light-colored and woolen items.

Universal means include:

Ethyl alcohol or vodka. Pure alcohol is diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio and poured into a spray bottle. If vodka is used, there is no need to dilute it. The composition is sprayed onto clothes and then dried.
Soda. Sprinkle soda onto the pre-moistened item and rub it into the fabric with a soft brush. After half an hour, the clothes are shaken out.
Vinegar. In a separate container, mix vinegar with water in a ratio of 1:3. The resulting composition is used to treat clothes using a spray bottle. After 15 minutes, the items are dried or washed.
Starch. The powder absorbs odor from knitted items. The starch is sprinkled onto the fabric, and after 5-7 minutes the item is shaken out.
Coffee grounds. Suitable for cleaning dark items. The thickener is spread over the surface of the fabric and, after drying, cleaned off with a soft brush.

To remove the smell of mold from white clothes, you can use the following remedies:

Mix 100 ml of alcohol and ascorbic acid in a separate container. Soak a cotton swab in the resulting mixture and treat the fabric with it, and after an hour, wash the clothes.
Prepare a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water, combining them in a ratio of 1:10. The fabric is treated with the resulting composition, and then rinsed in warm water.
Apply a solution consisting of 1 tsp to dry clothes. ammonia and 1 liter of water. After the procedure, things are hung out in the open air.

You can refresh a woolen coat or fur coat at home; you don’t have to resort to dry cleaning.

To eliminate unpleasant odors and not damage the product, you need to follow a simple algorithm of actions:

Mix 2 tsp. vinegar with 1 liter of water.
Wet a clothes brush in the resulting mixture and treat the product from the inside.
In a separate container, mix laundry soap shavings with hot water.
Treat the front side of the item with the prepared product.
Using a spray bottle, spray diluted alcohol over the entire surface of the fabric.
Dry the product outdoors for 2 days.

It is not recommended to treat clothes with perfume: the unpleasant aroma will not only not go away, it will become stronger.

Soaking, washing, boiling

To prevent things from smelling like mold, soak them before washing or boiling.

It is recommended to soak things in one of the proposed compositions:

100 ml of hydrogen peroxide is mixed with 1 liter of water. Treatment should last no more than 10 minutes.
50 g of soda is mixed with 1 liter of hot water and the item is treated with the composition for 30 to 120 minutes.
1 tbsp. l. vinegar is combined with 1 liter of water and the clothes are soaked for 2 hours.

You can add 60 g of soda or 30 g of borax to the washing machine along with the powder. Fabric conditioner contains aromatic oil.

Review of professional odor removal products

There are chemicals that can remove unpleasant odors from clothes.

These include:

Vanish - contains acid, but is suitable for colored items. It perfectly removes mold stains and refreshes laundry.
Whiteness - eliminates all types of dirt, mildew and mold. Suitable only for processing light natural fabrics. Contains chlorine.
Pure Washer - removes unpleasant odors not only from clothes, but also from the washing machine.
Domestos for linen - whitens and removes fungus.

Aromatic wipes and herbal-based eau de toilette will help briefly eliminate the smell of dampness.

Removing odor with baking soda

Baking soda is an excellent cleaning agent that removes grease stains, berry stains, and the smell of burning and smoke.

To get rid of the unpleasant aroma, first you need to prepare a soda solution. To do this, pour water into a liter saucepan and add 3-7 tsp to it. soda The composition is boiled until the powder is completely dissolved. The resulting solution is poured onto clothes and left to soak for 30 minutes. After the procedure, clothes are washed by hand or in a machine.

Table vinegar

To get rid of the unpleasant smell of clothes, use table vinegar. It is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3. Using a spray bottle, the resulting solution is sprayed over the entire surface of the fabric. 10 minutes after treatment, the item should be washed with laundry soap. To enhance the effect, you can add a little soda to the vinegar solution.

Ammonia

Ammonia can eliminate even persistent odors. To prepare the composition you will need to mix 1 tbsp. l. ammonia with 10 liters of water. The item is sprayed with a solution from a spray bottle and left for 5 hours. Clothing with a slight odor can be left for 2 hours.

After the time has passed, the products should be rinsed in warm water.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide works great against sweat, damp, or mold odors. To prepare the solution, you will need to mix 100 ml of peroxide with 1 liter of water. Clothes should be soaked in the resulting composition, but for no more than 10 minutes.

To treat clothes made from natural fabrics, there is no need to dilute peroxide.

Salt

If a strong-smelling substance gets on the fabric, table salt will come to the rescue. A few grains of seasoning are rubbed into the damaged area and left for half an hour. After this, the item is washed or soaked in a saline solution.

To prepare the solution you will need 3 tsp. Combine salt with 1 liter of water. The product is soaked for 20-30 minutes and then washed.

Methods of disposal

Most often, you can remove the strong smell of dampness from clothes by following simple rules:

Always dry your clothes completely; if for some reason you can no longer dry them, go over the laundry with an iron or steamer. This action will help prevent the proliferation of fungal colonies in the fabric, which causes the appearance of an unpleasant odor. But don’t put such linen in the closet right away.
The problem of unpleasantly smelling laundry is especially familiar to everyone during the off-season. When it’s no longer hot, but the heating hasn’t been turned on yet. Then the houses are cool and washed clothes take a very long time to dry. In this case, the problem is solved by using a fan, which is directed at the laundry. It will slightly dry the air in the house and dry clothes faster.
Remove laundry from the machine immediately after washing. As a last resort, open the door to allow air to circulate and prevent mold spores from appearing.
If your clothes smell because your washing machine smells, then the problem needs to be fixed there. Most likely, it was not properly cared for: the seals near the door were not wiped, the powder loading compartment was not washed, and the drum was not wiped after each wash. By performing all these steps after each cycle of operation of the machine, you will rid both it and your clothes of the smell of mold.
Dry your clothes properly! It needs to be hung well so that there is space for air circulation between the products. The room in which drying occurs must be well ventilated. And if it is possible to dry it on the street, loggia or balcony, this is an ideal option. Remember, favorable weather conditions for drying clothes: severe frost, scorching sun and wind.

In winter, it is better to dry clothes near the radiator. If possible, you can purchase an electric clothes dryer. Also, many automatic machines now come with a drying function. This is a very useful feature, be sure to use it.
Pay attention to the closet where clothes are stored. It must be perfectly dry. If for some reason humidity or dampness appears there, be sure to take out all your clothes once a week to dry them. Don’t forget to also treat the cabinet walls with alcohol or vodka to avoid mold.
Never store clean items with items you have already worn.
After ironing and steaming, let the items “rest” and only then put them away in the closet. After ironing, moisture often remains on clothes.
Don't neglect all kinds of bags to eliminate odors. They are sold at any hardware store. They are infused with ginseng, lavender or rosemary. The sachets will not only envelop your closet with a pleasant aroma, but will also help get rid of moisture. By the way, you can make such bags yourself. Dry the zest of an orange or lemon in the oven, wrap them in a linen bag and put them in a closet to prevent the smell of dampness or between bedding items. The sachet is convenient to use to eliminate the smell of dampness in shoes.

If all of the above methods do not help remove the smell of dampness from clothes, then resort to professional means.

Features of treating various fabrics against mold

There are many ways to remove mold from fabric. However, each type of material has its own cleaning method.

Leather products may be processed:

soap solution;
diluted alcohol;
vodka;
water with the addition of ammonia.

You need to treat the affected area with one of the selected products and leave the product for 2 hours.

Cotton clothing can be cleaned using:

Onions. To do this, you need to treat the stain with vegetable juice and leave for half an hour. After the procedure, wash the item.
Curdled milk. Soak clothes in it for 12 hours.
Whiteness. Dilute the bleach with water and soak the clothes in the resulting mixture for 10 minutes.

To process silk and wool products you will need:

Using a cotton swab, treat the stain with turpentine, and then sprinkle it with clay.
Rub chalk onto the contaminated area and iron it through a sheet of paper.

Synthetic clothing is treated with a solution made from water and ammonia.

Other unpleasant odors and how to get rid of them

An unpleasant smell in the apartment may appear suddenly.

For example, to get rid of the smell of dampness in the house:

Activated carbon. It should be laid out around the perimeter of the room. For a bathroom, 40 pieces will be enough, and for a room - 20 pieces.
Coffee beans. Coffee clears the air of mustiness, but the beans should be changed every week.
Cleaning floors with water containing vinegar and essential oils.

Tobacco smoke from the room and from clothing will be eliminated by the following cleaning methods:

Laying out wet towels around the perimeter of the room.
An orange peel placed in various places in the apartment will slightly hide the smell of tobacco.
To prevent jackets from smelling of tobacco, you need to turn them inside out and put several wet towels on top. They will absorb the smell.
Washing floors with water with the addition of 2-3 drops of ammonia.

If after cooking dinner the apartment smells of fish, you need to resort to salt. Table salt should be heated in a frying pan, and after a few minutes the fishy aroma will begin to disappear. Instead of salt, it is allowed to heat coffee beans, but this method is more radical.

To remove fishy smell from dishes, wipe them with a slice of lemon and rinse with water.

Improving the microclimate with air conditioning

You can eliminate excess moisture in a wooden house using an air conditioner with a dehumidifying function. Such equipment is capable of operating in two modes: cooling and temperature maintenance. In the first mode, they dehumidify the air, since condensation is formed as a result of contact of the warm air flow with the cold heat exchanger, which is removed through the drainage channel from the room.

In just an hour of operation, the air conditioner can “remove” from 1.5 to 2.5 liters of moisture from a room. The temperature maintenance mode provides automatic switching on and off of the fan in the system.

Thus, air conditioners perform several functions. They are capable of:

maintain a given temperature level in the room;
continuously cool/heat the room;
dry the air.

The heating function is also useful because dampness in the house is often caused by uneven or insufficient heating. As for the dehumidification mode, it does not affect the temperature in the room. When it increases by at least one degree, the system starts the drying mode automatically. When the temperature drops, it turns off automatically. Thus, the air conditioner not only eliminates excess moisture, allowing you to get rid of rot and mold, but also provides effective prevention of this problem, maintaining an optimal microclimate for wooden house structures.

Prevention of dampness and mustiness

To avoid having to look for methods to get rid of the smell of dampness in the house in the future, you need to follow some rules:

Use the washing machine according to the instructions - take out items after washing in a timely manner, prevent the formation of fungus and mold on the parts of the device, and regularly clean the filters.
Place odor absorbers in the closet, treat the furniture with a disinfectant and air it every month.
Periodically move stacks of bed linen from place to place.
Do not accumulate dirty clothes, but immediately send them to the wash.
Properly store laundry in the closet. Before putting things in the closet, you need to make sure that they are completely dry.
Store outerwear separately from other laundry.
Do not allow pets into the dressing room.
Put away seasonal items only after they have been pre-cleaned and in special cases.
Do not put clothes in the closet immediately after ironing.

If you follow these rules, you will not have to deal with musty odors in the future. Only general cleaning and washing of all wardrobe items will help to completely remove the smell of dampness in the house.

Prevention

In order not to live like in a barn, but to enjoy a pleasant fragrance in your home, you need to remove blackness from the walls in a timely manner and prevent its appearance. It has been proven that fungus negatively affects a person’s well-being and has a negative impact on health, so it is important to keep the room clean.

If such a problem arises, residents of new buildings need to pay attention to the ceiling or floor: plaque usually accumulates there.

The main thing to do to prevent bad odor is to regularly ventilate the room. If you already have one, you need to provide open air for several days, and also dry the housing well.