BO in under arms

cozmicstar

cozmicstar

Registered Guest
Gah so I've just handwashed a 1950s cotton dress and ironed that lovely full skirt, to find that the minute the iron hit the underarms, there was a BO smell gah! How should I best treat this please? I thought the wash and oxy had been enough but evidently not. Thank you.
 
Turn the dress inside out and hang in the bathroom, use a small spray bottle with cheap vodka (the cheapest) and water. A 50/50 mix will do fine. Spray the underarms and let dry, repeat until the odor disappears.
Keep in mind that this may take days, one application will not work. I had a 1930s velvet dress that took 2 weeks of applications until the smell was gone. Vodka is the preferred method that costumers use.

Good luck!
 
I always wonder why people use Vodka, which has an acidic ph of 4, versus pure Ethanol, which is alomost ph neutral...?
 
Brilliant thank you Carla! I will try that and then should I wash it again? Sob! All that washing and ironing I've already done.

Melanie - perhaps the acidic nature is what addresses the bacteria causing the smell? Just a guess.
 
BO usually comes out of cotton fabrics easily enough, especially considering the care you've already provided so I wonder if the fabric might be rayon instead? Rayon can duplicate cotton and holds onto perspiration smells a lot more. To remove the BO, you need to kill the bacteria that's causing it. I'm not a fan of the vodka method as the sugars can affect the fabric but as long as you wash it out afterwards, you should be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top