Clothes tend to absorb unpleasant frying odors. Even after a good wash, they remain in the fibers of the fabrics and take away their freshness. The good news is that there is a simple and natural way to deal with it. Here’s how. Fried fish, meat or vegetables leave an annoying smell after each cooking. Although regular maintenance of hood filters is necessary for optimal kitchen ventilation, this does not prevent an unpleasant odor from being detected on clothing. A purifying ingredient then seems to be the ultimate solution to give them a freshness boost.

How to effectively remove frying odors from clothes?

If the fry smell persists despite outdoor ventilation or surface treatment, you can try anything with a natural ingredient. This readily available and inexpensive product will help you deodorize laundry effectively.

  • Prewash stinky clothes with baking soda

Baking soda is used in washing and caring for delicate fabrics and is an excellent deodorizer. Thanks to its neutral pH, it neutralizes bad frying odors without being a burden. The latter is also able to soften clothes and remove stubborn oil and grease stains. First, mix one cup of baking soda and four cups of hot water in a bucket or rinse.  Then soak the clothes in the solution and let it sit for at least four hours. Then put the clothes in the machine for regular washing. A similar technique is to place the clothes to be deodorized in an airtight bag filled with baking soda. After a few days, the baking soda will absorb any unpleasant odors on the fabrics. Alternatively, you can prepare a deodorizing solution to pour directly into the machine. Mix one tablespoon of liquid detergent, one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide in 1 quart of water, and then pour the solution into the detergent compartment of the washing machine. This mixture is effective for white and insensitive clothes.

Other techniques to get rid of lingering odors on clothing

When you come back from a dinner at the restaurant, you find that your sweater still smells bad? Like baking soda, other methods can be used to eliminate those unpleasant odors. Here is a selection of ingenious tips!

Rely on extreme temperatures to treat odors in clothing

It is possible to use heat or cold to remove bad odors from clothes. For example, you can take a large zippered freezer bag, put your top or pants in it, and place it in the freezer for an entire night. The cold will thus kill the bacteria that develop on the fabrics and remove all the unpleasant odors.  This works especially well with heavy fabrics like jeans and jackets. Likewise, it is possible to use the steam of the iron to freshen up the fabrics. The heat will clean your clothes dry without having to put them in the washing machine. If you use an iron with good steam power, avoid placing the soleplate of the device directly on fine and delicate fabrics.

Soak clothes in a borax solution

Borax is also an effective solution for combating fryer odors on clothing. To increase its cleaning power, it is possible to mix it with your usual detergent.  Like baking soda, this product eliminates odors that persist after cooking, neutralizing them thanks to its pH value. To take advantage of its many benefits, soak clothes in the following solution:

  • 1 tablespoon of borax
  • 5 quarts of lukewarm water

Leave the clothes in a sink for up to an hour and then wash them as usual. It is also possible to add ½ cup of borax to a pre-soak cycle. Although it is natural, borax can be toxic if ingested. It should therefore be kept out of the reach of children and pets after each use. It is not pleasant to smell the odor of cooking or frying on your clothes. Whenever it bothers you, you can try one of the tricks mentioned above. This way you’ll put on your favorite outfit with confidence!