How to Get Perfume Smell Out of Clothes? (Wet & Dry Methods)

Perfumes are naturally sprayed or placed on people’s skin and usually have a time span between when the smell should lessen and when it will go away fully. However, different surfaces call for different times, perhaps longer or shorter, before the smell disappears. Some may wonder how to get the perfume smell out of clothes.

Perfumes and Their Composition

Perfumes have made their way and become one of the essentials for some overtime. People go around looking for perfumes so that they can smell good, and smell the way they want.

Perfume did not appear out of nowhere. Instead, they are manufactured and made into what they are. They existed way back when the Ancient Romans, Arabs, Persians, Indians, and Orientals existed. In short, they may have been existing for even longer than we can imagine. What exactly are they made of?

In the past, people’s discovery of a lot of elements and ingredients have led them to experiment and test the smells of the products. Perfumes are actually extractions from natural substances like flowers, fruits, and any other plants.

As time has changed, the processes have become more advanced and convenient for workers. Machines are invented and laborers are hired to make the perfume in your bottle. Some of the processes involved

• Distillation
• Solvent extraction
• Maceration
• Expression

The oils from the components chosen are then blended according to the formula produced by a certain company or individual. After getting the smell ready, they can now be mixed with two of the important elements in a perfume; alcohol and water.

Of course, the mixture ratio should be according to the desired proportion so that it’s not overwhelming and overpowering.

Perfumes can be likened to wine. Wines grow more expensive and tastier depending on how long they are left to age and so forth. Some perfumes are left to age for a longer time as well. And so, these types of perfumes are more expensive on the market. The length of storage before the final blending can range from months to years.

Getting Rid of Perfume Smells in Clothes

Humans are all about preference, it could be with food, drinks, a romantic interest, or even perfume. For some, the type of smell they wear for a certain time and location matters and so they select a certain scent for each of these occasions.

Having a specific perfume smell lingering in a particular article of clothing can be quite annoying, and a lot of people may opt to do things like layer their preferred scent over them.

However, this process may just worsen the issue as the scents will be mixed and your “ideal” scent is not gonna be maximized as it may now seem to be a collaboration of scents. Here are some ways to get rid of perfume scents from clothes.

Wash clothes

One of the most basic steps to getting rid of the perfume smell is to wash your clothes normally. By normal, this means, washing them the way you normally do. It would be helpful to soak them a little bit, but all in all, you can try this first. If this method is not working, you can try other ways.

Hang your clothes outside or air them

Air and sunlight usually naturally get these lingering perfume scents off of your clothes. The sunlight along with the plants around and the air will help in absorbing or sucking these scents from the clothes. This is one of the easiest methods as all you need to do is get your hangers or your clothespins and hang the clothing. [How Long Does It Take To Air-Dry Your Clothes?]

Wash with Castile soap

This soap is quite the MVP in the soap department as it has a lot of uses, including wound cleansing and washing clothes.

• Make sure that the clothes are dry before cleaning with this method.
• Dilute the castile soap. You can do this by simply adding the soap to a bucket of water. Add 4-5 drops of castile soap and make sure to distribute them evenly in the bucket.
• Wash your clothes by hand and with warm water.
• Soak the clothes for another hour.
• Give them another turn and wash again.
• Dry them outside under the sun. This helps in improving the soap’s effect along with the heat and sun rays.  Dry for 24 hours just to make sure the garment is completely dry.

More Home Remedies to Get Rid of the Perfume Smell from Clothes

Most of the time, there are ingredients found in the kitchen that can help remove the perfume smell from your clothing. Here are some of them.

Wash it with vinegar

This is thought to be a foolproof method for removing almost any odor or scent from your clothing. Vinegar’s substance and its chemical composition make it an ideal cleaning element all along while being a great green option.

• Make sure the piece of clothing is free from any form of moisture, may it be sweat, water, or anything that makes it wet. In short, keep the garment dry.
• Load the clothes into the washing machine.
• Prepare the vinegar. The recommended amount is 240 ML to 1 cup.
• Wash as you normally do.
• Dry thoroughly. Leaving your clothes damp can worsen the situation.

Lemon juice is a summer favorite

But not only does it quench your thirst, it also helps in removing the perfume smell from your clothes. The main agent in lemon juice is its acidity. It helps in removing unwanted scents from your clothes.

• Make a solution with lemon juice and water. The ratio should be 1:1. For example, 100 ml of lemon juice should be paired with 100 ml of water too.
• Mix thoroughly and add just the right amount. Remember to avoid overmixing it, as some chemical bonds can break and make the whole mixture unusable.
• Spray your clothes with the solution. Make sure to spot the area where the scent is stronger and leave it to soak for at least 30 minutes. Note that it’s also okay to spray on parts without the scent.
• You can use a soft brush to rub against the areas sprayed just as a secondary measure to make sure the solution is soaked deep into the cloth’s core. The brush helps in distributing the solution and the light lemon scent evenly.
• Wash as you normally would and dry outside, allowing the air and sunlight to aid in the process.

Baking soda as a pre-soak

• Prepare a bucket or a sink of warm water.
• Add a half cup of baking soda.
• Dissolve thoroughly.
• Submerge the clothes.
• Soak your clothes for 12 hours (overnight) if possible.
• After soaking them, wash them as you normally do.

Removing Scents From Dry-Clean-Only Clothes

Removing scents from dry clean only clothes is a different story as it requires different methods. Soaking and applying moist substances can be too harsh for the garment. Therefore, they can have damaging effects, so for your dry-clean-only clothes, you can opt for a more gentle and safe way to remove scents from your clothes.

• Hang clothes outside and let the sunshine and air do their thing. The sun is capable of removing scents, so you may be able to skip the remaining steps.
• If hanging them out in the sun does not work, the next thing you could do is to put your clothes inside an enclosed space.
• Install a scent “sucker”. The reason why you need to place your clothes inside an enclosed space is for the scent remover to be able to maximize its potential.
• First, you would need to lay a paper cover, or a box that’s filled with baking soda at the bottom of the enclosed area. It’s important to note that newspapers and baking soda are natural neutralizers of odors.
• Leave the clothes there for at least 72 hours. It’s even recommended to exceed this time span just to make sure everything is sucked and neutralized.

Span of Perfume Scent

Perfumes can last for four to six hours. However, this is still dependent on the strength of the component and the ingredients. It depends on how “strong” the perfume is. Some perfumes last longer than others.

When you are making your own, the things you may want to look at are as follows; cedarwood, sandalwood, labdanum and benzoin resinoid. Frankincense is an element that can help in extending scents. The perks in making your own is having the ability to extend your scent as long as you want to. The elements that make scent life longer can be as follows:

• Synthetic musks
• Ambergris

Here are some of the long-lasting perfumes out there:

• Oriental
• Balsamic
• Leather
• Woody
• Vanilla

The following typically lasts longer than citrus ones. These perfumes have higher oil concentrations.

Summary

There are a lot of situations when you can be stuck in a certain problem that has an easy solution but then, you are quite confused about what to do. Knowing how to get the perfume smell out of clothes can be one of the important information to know when taking care of clothes.