Friday, March 16, 2012

How to get musty odors out of vintage clothing

 I don't know about you, but I absolutely despise that old, musty op shop smell.  And it gets a lot worse when you have a whole room jam packed full of vintage treasures that are waiting to be washed.  So anyway today I did some research and discovered the technique used by the Mad Men wardrobe to keep their vintage smelling fresh.  Here's what you do...
 - Fill a spray bottle with one part vodka and two parts water
- Give it a shake
- Take your clothing outside and lightly spray it
- Give it some time to dry and air out
- I then turned heavy coats inside out and sprayed them on the inside too
- Ta da... no more stinky second hand store smells!
I was really astounded by how well it worked, the odors had completely disappeared and the clothes were as good as new again.  Because ermmm I have rather too many clothes in my personal wardrobe, I will pack away my summer/ winter things depending on what season it is.  Even though I always make sure I have washed them before they get packed away, they still end up musty after sitting in an old suitcase for 6 months.  So I'm definitely going to be using this on all my other clothes as well!
x

12 comments:

  1. OMG who would have thought Vodka! I am going to try.

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  2. Oh sweet this is one I have not heard of, thank you! Will give it a go. Cleaning and getting tipsy on the rest of the vodka. Yip all good.
    When I pack my season dresses in cases I always put in lavender bags, it keeps them fresh and with a pretty smell. The most important thing it stops moths and evil silverfish.
    Have a great weekend love v

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  3. Thank you:). This method definitely works!
    Two Squirrels: Of course I had totally forgotten about lavender bags! I used to always use them when I was young (I think my grandmother probably made them for me). Might try and dry some lavender tonight. x

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  4. Thanks for this tip will defo give this one a go. I have lots of coats to sort out so I'm hoping this will do the job!!

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  5. Thank you for that good advice. I hope it works well in vintage purses too. I have a really nice one which has a very strange smell.

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  6. I'm totally gonna try this! Such a great idea.

    xo,
    Em

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  7. Oh, that I'm gonna try! Never thought that you could do anything like that. I didn't, btw, know that lavender stops moths and silverfish. Red cedar is supposed to do that, too. I'm not too thrilled about the lavender smell, but even if I so far - fingers crossed - haven't had to suffer from any unwanted creatures in my wardrobe, I'm constantly afraid of them...

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  8. Holy moly, I have to try this. I wash my clothes but the smell still lingers. Luckily I have a lot of vodka sitting around. I'm pregnant so I can't go drinking it.

    Sophia
    Http://lasophialasophia.blogspot.com

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  9. Have you tried vodka on antique chiffon? I have a wedding dress to wear in two weeks, replaced the lining which helped, but if I start sweating the musty smell start to come back! I should wear a garter belt to hide lavendar sachets....hmmm.

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  10. Great tip. Is it safe to use on a wool coat with sheepskin trim?

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