How to remove smells from second-hand items at home, how to remove unpleasant odors from clothes with or without washing?

How to wash it properly?

The first thing that comes to mind is to wash unpleasant-smelling things. However, regular washing does not always help get rid of persistent odor.

The fact is that in the warehouse all clothes are treated with special substances that are designed to destroy microbes living on used items.

It is these chemicals that leave behind an unpleasant trail that cannot be removed with washing powder alone.

second-hand clothes

The water temperature should be the maximum allowable for the fabric. This will improve the quality of washing and remove maximum harmful substances from things.
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It is recommended to increase the dose of powder by 1.5-2 times.
After washing, items should be rinsed thoroughly. If the treatment was carried out in a washing machine, then at least 3 rinse cycles should be run.
It is recommended to dry washed clothes in the fresh air.
You should not put your regular clothes, much less children’s items, in a drum with second-hand items.

If the item is made of natural fabric, then it will be easier to remove the unpleasant odor from it than from synthetic fibers. It should be taken into account that the denser and thicker the material, the more effort you will have to put in.

An important step in the fight against unpleasant odors is soaking. Ammonia helps eliminate it.

Procedure:

5 liters of water are taken into the basin;
add 20 ml of 10% ammonia solution and stir;
soak things in the prepared solution;
after 10 minutes they are removed, wrung out and hung out to dry;
When the clothes are dry, they are washed as usual, dried and ironed on both sides.

Ammonia is harmless to fabric, regardless of its color and composition. You can soak both thick jeans and knitted wool sweaters in it.

It is important not to disrupt the sequence of actions and first hang the product out to dry, and only then proceed with the main wash. While you are in the fresh air, formaldehyde will evaporate along with ammonia, and the smell will go away with it.

A solution of salt and table vinegar works well with an unpleasant plume. Use it as follows:

dilute 100 ml of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of table salt in 5 liters of water and stir until completely dissolved;
soak things for an hour, if the smell is intense, then this time is doubled;
Wring out and dry clothes in the fresh air;
After drying, wash the items as usual.

In addition to table salt, you can use sea bath salts. It itself has a bright aroma, for example, lemon or pine.

Home Remedies for Removing Second Hand Clothes Smell

If washing turns out to be ineffective (and this, unfortunately, happens quite often), then you will have to look for other means of ridding clothes of the second-hand smell. Fortunately, they are available and quite affordable.

Ammonia solution

If regular washing does not help remove the smell, you should use heavy artillery in the form of a bottle of ammonia. This substance breaks down formaldehyde, which is ingrained deep into the fabric of the product. To obtain a solution, the product must be mixed with water, and the concentration of ammonia should be calculated depending on the number or volume of items that need to be washed.

For example, for a large sweater or several jackets, you can take 100 ml of alcohol per 10 liters of water. For one or two small products, 20 ml of ammonia per 5 liters of water will be enough.

In order not only to fight off the “stench”, but also to give the item a pleasant smell, you can add two or three drops of ether to the solution.

Soak the clothes in the prepared mixture for an hour. If it is made of synthetic fabric, the time can be increased to several hours. Thick items, such as jeans, will have to be soaked even longer - up to eight hours.

Then wring out the products and hang them to dry and ventilate. After two or three days in the fresh air, they should get rid of the obsessive odor.

The final stage of processing is a quick hand or machine wash as usual and drying again in the fresh air.

Vinegar, salt and soda

A vinegar solution containing salt and soda is effective against “stench.”

Preparation of the product: 6 percent vinegar (100 ml) + salt (100 g) + soda (45 g).

The resulting mixture is introduced into warm water (8 l).

Purchased items are soaked in the solution for up to four hours.

Afterwards, wring out the items and wash as usual.

If the smell does not completely disappear after the first time, repeat the procedure.

Bath salt

If you have flavored salt in the house, you can use that too. To soak second-hand items, you should use salt with natural scents (lemon or fir): they will help mask the chemical fragrance.

To prepare the product, mix 300 g of salt and 500 ml of water. This mixture must be applied to the clothes from all sides, without waiting for the salt granules to dissolve in the water. Things should be left in this state for 30 minutes.

While the clothes are soaked in salt, you need to prepare a composition for soaking: salt (500 g) + hot water (10 l). The clothes should soak in this liquid for about one hour.

At the end of the procedure, wring out the outfits, wash with powder and air dry.

How to remove an unpleasant odor without washing clothes?

Not all things can be washed and soaked; for example, a fur coat or leather skirt bought at a second-hand store will not withstand such treatment. And sometimes there is simply no time for this long process. In this case, you can try to get rid of the smell without washing. The most effective ways:

Steam generator

Before treating the item with a jet of steam, you need to add 3-5 drops of rosemary oil and 8 drops of lemon to the water compartment.

Aromatic herbs

To neutralize an unpleasant odor, you will need a mixture based on:

mint,
linden trees,
sage,
daisies,
yarrow.

All components are taken in equal proportions, mixed and distributed into several cotton bags, which are placed on a shelf with second-hand items. After 3 days, not a trace will remain of the unpleasant plume.

Exposure to cold

This is the least expensive way to combat foreign odors. In winter, you can hang things outside for a few days. During the warm season, it is recommended to use the freezer. They are wrapped in plastic and put in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. After this treatment, things need to be dried.

Coffee beans

Freshly ground grains help cope with the smell. They are ground into powder, which is poured into a cotton bag.

All items from the second-hand store are placed in a plastic bag, and ground coffee is also placed in it. The bag is tied and left for 3 days . During this time, the coffee will absorb the unpleasant smell, and the clothes will be saturated with the coffee aroma.

You can use ground store-bought coffee, but the effect will be less noticeable. You need to be prepared in advance for the fact that after removing the clothes from the bag, a distinct coffee smell will remain on them.

Natural soap

It is used in a similar way to coffee beans. The bar is grated, placed in sachet bags and stored. After 3 days, the fabric will be saturated with the pleasant aroma of your favorite soap.

The reason for the unpleasant odor on second-hand clothes and its effect on the human body

Before used clothing goes on sale, it is treated with special chemicals. They do this in order to destroy fungi, bacteria and other organisms that could be inherited from previous owners. Formaldehyde and methyl bromide are most often used to disinfect clothing and shoes. They are the culprits of the terrible “second-hand” aroma. Formaldehyde is a poison and a carcinogen, so in large quantities it can be harmful to the human body. According to sanitary standards, the remaining formaldehyde gas must be neutralized, but this is not always done efficiently. To be on the safe side, it is better to take care of this yourself. Then the clothes bought in second-hand stores will definitely be safe for you and your loved ones.

In second-hand stores you can buy very high quality and stylish clothes.

Helpful information

Tips to help remove unpleasant odors from things:

Until processing, items from second-hand stores should not be stored in the same closet with your own clothes. Otherwise, she will also be saturated with their smell.
If you are unable to get rid of the unpleasant odor the first time, the washing procedure must be repeated.
You need to air your clothes in the fresh air for several days. It's good if it's frosty outside. Cold air allows you to completely get rid of even the most persistent odors.
Using fabric softener helps enhance the effect of washing.

How to remove odor from leather and fur items

Fur and leather items can be aired on the balcony.
Second-hand items such as leather jackets and fur coats should not be soaked. For this reason, almost all of the above methods for getting rid of unpleasant odors are not suitable for them. How to remove the chemical smell of “second-hand” from leather and fur products? Try one of these methods.

Ventilation

Be prepared for this to take a long time. Even if after soaking things have to be aired for a long time, what can we say about products that have not been treated with anything.

Hang the item on the balcony and ventilate until the smell completely disappears. If the chemicals used on your new item are not too harsh, the problem may disappear after 2-3 days.

Freezing

You can get rid of unpleasant odors by freezing. At sub-zero temperatures, the smell of chemical reagents disappears from things without a trace. However, be prepared for the fact that there will be no quick results, and you will need from 2 to 5 days.

If it’s a frosty winter outside, you can simply take things out onto the balcony. When this is not possible, put the clothes in a bag and put them in the freezer for several days. After the new item is sufficiently “frozen,” it should be dried at above-zero temperatures. If you dry the item in the room, you need to place it away from the radiators.

Vinegar

To get rid of the chemical smell of leather and fur items, you can use vinegar. To stop your fur coat emitting an unpleasant aroma, take 6% acid, ethyl alcohol and heated water. Mix them in equal quantities, soak a sponge in the solution, and carefully treat the clothes. The main thing is to apply the composition in the direction of the pile.

For leather products, vinegar can be used in its pure form. Just soak a cloth in acid and put it and the new clothes in a plastic bag for 12 hours. Then take out your clothes and ventilate well in the fresh air.

Coffee beans

The base of the invigorating drink can be used as a flavoring. This method is universal and suitable for products made of any material. Just put the bag of grains in a bag of clothes, tie it tightly and leave it for a few days.

Leather items will get rid of the unpleasant odor quite quickly, in 2-3 days. Fur items will have to be kept “in isolation” longer, 7–8 days. To achieve the best effect, coffee beans should be stirred periodically or replaced with fresh ones.

If you do not want to deal with the problem of unpleasant odor yourself, or you are afraid of ruining the item, you can take it to the dry cleaner. Professionals know exactly how to get rid of the second-hand smell and will deal with this problem quickly and efficiently.

How to get rid of it using folk remedies?

Housewives recommend not just soaking and washing second-hand clothes in the washing machine, but also using traditional methods that will help remove unpleasant odors and remove chemical residues. Recommended to use:

Salt with added aromas can effectively eliminate the problem.

flavored salt;
vinegar;
soda;
coffee;
ammonia;
herbs;
essential oils.

Things are washed in the usual way, with the function of additional soaking and rinsing, adding one of the above components to the powder. To completely clean a product and get rid of the characteristic aroma, bought at a second-hand store, you need to wash it several times, using different methods. You can also buy special gels and sprays or use perfumes for clothes and second-hand items, which eliminate odors and make fabric softer. Steaming with an iron will also help enhance the effect when a few drops of ether are added to it along with water.

Flavored salt

It is advisable to choose salt with strong odors. Thuja, fir, lemon or sea scent are suitable. 300 g of the substance, crushed into fine crumbs, is enough. The powder is diluted with 0.5 liters of water and rubbed on things. Clothes are left for 20 minutes. At the same time, 10 liters of boiling water is prepared, in which 500 g of sea salt is dissolved. An item pre-washed in the first solution is sent into this mixture for 60 minutes. Then the fabric should be washed in a washing machine and dried in a well-ventilated place.

Using Vinegar

Acetic acid is only effective when paired with sodium chloride and water.
Vinegar cannot independently remove the smell from second-hand clothes. Use a mixture with salt at a concentration of 2 tbsp. l. per 100 g of vinegar (9%). Requires dilution in 5 liters of water. You need to soak your clothes in this mixture. If it is a thin fabric - 1 hour is enough, thick - from 3 to 6 hours. After this, the fabric must be wrung out and hung to dry in the fresh air (1-2 days). Next, things are usually washed using a washing machine.

Washing with soda

It is better to combine soda with vinegar and salt in equal proportions. This mixture is poured with water until dissolved and clothes are placed in it, left for about an hour, after which the items are wrung out and rinsed. Next, the products are hung outside or on a balcony for ventilation and after a day or two they are washed in a washing machine. Then it is better to iron the washed second-hand clothes with steam.

Method with coffee

Requires careful approach so as not to stain the fabric, as coffee beans can leave marks on clothing. Initially, a fabric bag is prepared, into which the crushed granules are placed. It is advisable to choose a bag made of cotton or other thin material. The clothes are packed in plastic along with a bag and tied tightly. So it should stand for 2-3 days after washing, and then it should be ventilated and washed in the washing machine.

Ammonia

Ammonia solution is added to the mixture to soak things.
Ammonia (110 ml) with a concentration of 10%, essential oil (8 ml) and boiled warm water (10 l) are taken for bulky items, and for small and thin items the content is reduced as necessary. The product is soaked in this solution. Cotton should sit for about 2 hours, synthetics and polyester - 4 hours. If it is a leather or denim item, the soaking period is extended to 7 hours. Next, the wet clothes are wrung out and sent for airing (3 days). After this period, the clothes must be washed with powder in the washing machine on a cycle lasting at least 1 hour. If necessary, repeat the procedure after drying.

Herbal infusions

Solutions for soaking clothes are prepared using lavender, sage or other strong-smelling herbs by steaming them with boiling water. To improve the effect, flavored salt can be added to this mixture. You can pack second-hand items in a plastic bag with the addition of a linen bag with dried herbs. Next, you need to tie it tightly and leave it for 3-4 days. After this procedure they should be washed.

How to remove second hand smell from shoes

The methods described above with freezing and aromatization with strong-smelling substances are suitable. With leather boots, wiping with vinegar is also an option. For this:

A piece of cloth is soaked in 40% vinegar essence.
Wipe the shoes inside and out and leave them in the sock using this swab.
The shoes are placed in a hermetically sealed bag for 12 hours.

Shoes bought at a second-hand store are of excellent quality, but are very difficult to process to get rid of the specific smell.

If you purchased sneakers or ballet shoes made of fabric, you can wash them in an automatic washing machine on a fast cycle (30 minutes, no more than 30 °C, without spinning) without soaking, adding 100 ml of vinegar essence to the liquid detergent compartment. And then ventilate for 2-3 days.

Iron the item thoroughly

The easiest way to deal with the specific smell of clothes is to iron them. It is necessary to have a good iron that has a steam function. The heating temperature of the iron soleplate should correspond to the type of fabric being ironed, so be sure to read the information on the product tag. Synthetic and silk items should be ironed using an iron.

After the clothes have been soaked in an odor neutralizing solution, dried, washed, rinsed and dried again, you can begin ironing. Treat clothes at the highest steam supply and maximum permissible heating of the iron sole.

Ironing will be most effective for natural materials. During the steaming process, the smell and particles of harmful substances will gradually disappear along with the steam.

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Reader comments

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How to withdraw

To forget about the smell of second-hand clothes, use regular washing with a good washing powder and then air the items. But it’s better to add to all this traditional methods of removing stench. They are cheap, but effective:

flavored salt;
soda, vinegar and salt;
ammonia;
banal washing

Flavored salt

Sea salt, which is now sold in various flavors: lemon, thuja, fir, sea breeze, will help cope with stench. It is sold in bags of 0.8–1 kg. First, it is crushed in any convenient way. Three hundred grams must be poured into 0.5 liters of warm water. Treat the purchased products with this mixture and then place them in a plastic bag. Leave all this for 20 minutes.

In parallel with these operations, a solution is prepared in which the new item will need to be kept before washing. 0.5 kg of product is poured into a bucket of water, stirring until completely dissolved. Then the new thing, which was left for 20 minutes, is soaked in the prepared solution for 1 hour. The next step is regular washing in a washing machine. You can't do without it. Then dry it in the fresh air and voila - we get a “fresh scent”.

Soda, vinegar and salt

To remove a strong unpleasant odor, take 6% vinegar - 100 ml, mixed with 100 grams of salt. Add 50 grams of soda to the resulting solution. Dilute the entire mixture in a bucket of warm water until all particles are completely dissolved. Place the purchase in the prepared solution for 1–2 hours. After the time has expired, you should wash the fabric items in the washing machine.

Ammonia

Heavy fabrics

To prevent a second-hand sweater or fabric bag from stinking, you need to prepare a solution from water with the addition of 10% ammonia. Dilute 100 ml of ammonia and about 8 ml of geranium ether in a bucket of warm water (about 40 degrees). Soak for 3 hours.

Lightweight fabrics

For T-shirts, shorts, and blouses, the proportions are slightly different. Dilute 75 ml of ammonia plus about 5 ml of geranium ether and mix with 6 liters of warm water. The soaking time is the same. Polyester and synthetic outfits require longer soaking times - about 4 hours.

Jeans and fur

Jeans and fur items from Second Hand are soaked for 7 hours. The solution is prepared at a different concentration. Dilute 30 ml of geranium ether plus 250 ml of ammonia in 20 liters of warm water. After soaking, the clothes are wrung out well and hung out in the fresh air for ventilation.

Clothes are left outside for three days, and then washed in a washing machine, adding more washing powder and fabric softener during the process. After washing, air dry again. I would also like to say that such a procedure with ammonia will preserve the intensity of the color of things and help get rid of minor stains.

If after using any of the methods an unpleasant aroma is still present, this means that the procedure should be repeated.

Why are clothes treated with chemicals?

The main reason for washing second-hand items is the unpleasant odor they give off.

It appears due to the pre-sale treatment of all used products with special chemicals that contain methyl bromide and formaldehyde. These are quite strong poisons, with the help of which textile and leather items are disinfected. Pathogenic fungi and bacteria, as well as insects, are destroyed.

Methyl bromide is one of the products used in second-hand stores.

By performing cleansing actions at home, it is possible to remove not only the pungent specific aroma, but also eliminate the remnants of toxic chemicals.

Recommendations for eliminating the smell of second-hand goods

Buy a special spray for clothes at a household chemicals supermarket. It not only eliminates odor, but also softens the fabric.
Large second-hand stores often sell so-called perfume for removing aroma from used clothes. This is usually enough to get rid of the stench.
A high-quality perfume, preferably for men, will help remove the smell. Spray it on your clothes, place it in a bag and wait a few days.
Almost all modern irons are equipped with a steam processing function. Pour filtered water into the cavity, add 5 drops of rosemary ether and 8 drops of lemon ether. Turn on the function at maximum power and iron the clothes. Along with folds and creases, harmful chemicals will disappear.
Get rid of odor with medicinal herbs. Take 70 gr. mint, 100 gr. linden flowers, 80 gr. sage, 50 gr. chamomile and 110 gr. yarrow. Place them in a cotton bag, put the clothes in the bag along with the herbs. Tie and leave for 3 days.

Use special deodorants or traditional methods. If the clothes do not have a pronounced odor, wash them without the spin function with high-quality powder and rinse aid. Then hang it in fresh air and repeat the manipulations one more time.