A pungent predicament.

[marquise]

... Got this lovely dress in the mail, wonderfully sturdy cotton & sized as if it were made for me, gorgeous colors, the works. Unfortunately, as I opened the package I was literally blown over with the all-too familiar scent of... 70-year-old sweatstain.

A stench to fell ten-thousand men.

(No notice from the seller prior to buying, of course. "Perfect conditon", my %#&!)

... I took the girl to the cleaners-- only to return with the same (slightly diluted) smell. Proceeded to Febreeze a bit under the arms, which made it marginally sweeter-- but not quite. Any advice on how to salvage a very smelly dress, ladies?
(I've usually had good luck with my cleaners, and they've saved many, many things from my wardrobe-- this one just seems to be extra-stubborn!)

 

[decodoll]

Oxyclean!! I had a suit jacket with the same issue. Dry cleaners made it worse if anything, but Oxyclean removed all odor. Just remove any fabric covered metal buttons first if it has them. I've never had a zipper rust, but that might be an issue to watch out for as well.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

A borax soak might help as well. I've used it with good results.

 

[Lady Day]

Soak the garment in a heavy baking soda rich bath in your sink overnight. Treat the underarms with what decodoll suggested, or a thick paste of baking soda. I try to be as minimal chemical as I can so arm and hammer is the way to go.

Lovely dress too!


LD

 

[Trickeration]

Since sweat is a natural odor, maybe a skunk recipe would work. My in-law's dog had a run-in with a skunk the night before my nephews wedding and promptly ran right through the house brushing against several items. My son's leather jacket was one of the items.

Here's what we did for the jacket. We first hung it outside for about 3 days. We were in a hotel and kind of limited on time, and we didn't want to bring a skunky jacket on the plane home. Then we sealed it in a bag full of baking soda. That got us home, then we hung it outside for a few more days. Then my husband's aunt took over. She had us shake out the jacket thoroughly then seal it in another bag for a week with some rosemary she picked from her garden. This worked quite well, the jacket was saved.

Now here's what we did for the dog. I've heard it can be used on fabric, too, but that you should test the fabric for color-fastness first. We never used it on the jacket because we didn't know if we could at the time, plus we ran out after bathing the dog anyway (she was a big dog). We mixed the following together and just washed her with it. After 2 applications, my sister-in-law let her back in the house. Good luck with the dress, it really is pretty. Trix

1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda
1 teaspoon of dawn dishsoap

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Oxyclean usually does the trick. Just soak it for a few hours.
But, if that doesn't work, this may sound crazy, and it is a last resort, but cat litter! Place the dress in a box with some cat litter, the clumping kind works best. What I do is sprinkle some on the bottom, then place a layer of tissue paper over it, then put the dress on top of that. Put the lid on the box, and leave it for at least 12 hours. The litter should absorb the odors. Of course, wash the dress afterwards, you don't want to walk around smelling like a litter box! Hope this does the trick.
As a side note, I hate sellers who do things like that. If I were you, I'd write her an e-mail letting her know of the condition of the dress. She is not an honest seller, and I you should let her know it.

 

[Viola]

I would try more Febreeze. I had to use 80% of a whole bottle on an Oriental rug I got once, but it got the smell *all* the way out and the rug was good as new.

It had been worse than sweat, too, now that the evidence is gone I can say it smelled like the world's biggest housecat had taken a proportionally large pee on it.

Its a shame the seller didn't at least mention it needed cleaning or something, though.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

When I wrote my wedding planning series, I interviewed someone who specialized in dress restoration. She advised against the use of Febreeze (I even mentioned it in my article), though I can't recall why. I'm going to have to search through my old notes...

 

[Viviene]

Being a seller of vintage I run into this all the time. I put the item in question in a bath of white vinegar and cold water paying special attention to the underarm area of course. Then rinse out in cold water. Once the dress is dry then check the culprit area. The vinegar neutralizes the odor.

I have also had luck removing perfume and cigarette smoke odors by taking the clothing item and putting it in a sealed container with fresh cat litter. I've left it in there for four days and when I removed the item the smell is gone.

Unfortunately Febreeze only masks the odor and can also damage older fabrics. Hope this helps.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I was told to use vinegar soaked paper towels to remove mildew odors from a vintage Corde purse; it did seem to work. Also, newspaper stuffed into a train case or other item will help absorb any stale odors.

 

[Rosie]

I would try any of the suggestions the ladies offered and dry it in the sun on an old fashioned clothes line, if not that, put it on a hanger outside and let mother nature do the rest. It is a lovely dress.

 

[Shimmy Sally]

So OxyClean really works? I've been afraid to try it.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I will confirm that it does work.

I bought a lovely 1940s blue plaid dress and jacket on Saturday; the dress had terrible staining under the arms (it must have been really hot, because the jacket was stained, too) which had obviously sat for 60+ years. I soaked both pieces in Oxyclean to see if it would help lighten the stain—Oxyclean completely removed the stains and any accompanying odor. The dress now looks brand new

 

[Shimmy Sally]

Oh good, because I was given a bolero jacket that is pitt-stained, and the dry cleaners were no help whatsoever.