How to Get Perfume Smell Out of Clothes?

To remove perfume smell from clothes, you can try using agents that fight odor like lemon, vinegar, and baking soda.

You can also try to hang the clothes in bright sunlight and fresh air for a few hours, or leave them to soak in scented laundry detergent to remove odors. 

There are plenty of methods to pick from when you need to remove perfume smell from garments.

Perfume lingers on fabrics and can be hard to get rid of, which may affect people with fragrance smell sensitivity.

These odor molecules that we can sense on clothing release the fragrance into the air, emitting a certain smell that can be sensed around clothing.

The numerous methods to remove fragrance from fabric will depend on how stubborn these perfumes are, and whether you need to get a washing machine involved.

You should have most of the required agents in your kitchen pantry, so removing fragrances from clothing won’t come at a premium cost.

How Long Does Perfume Smell Last on Clothes?

When you visit the perfume counter to purchase a new fragrance, you will usually test out the new scent by spraying it on your skin to see how the odor molecules react to the air and your body’s chemistry.

However, if you would like to get the most out of the scent of perfume, you should spray it on your clothes.

This will prevent perfume from dissipating as quickly as they do on the skin. Perfume smell can last from a few hours to a few days on clothes.

It can linger up to a week, which is great if you love the scent, but unhelpful if you want a different smell.

If you get second-hand clothing from a retailer or a family member, you may face the issue of stronger scents clinging to them.

This will require experimenting with ways to remove remaining odor molecules that you don’t want to keep on your clothes.

How to Get Perfume Smell Out of Clothes? (5 Ways)

If you need to get fragrance smells out of garments for allergy reasons, or to have them smelling fresh, you can try out these five ways to get rid of stubborn smells.

1. Baking Soda Soak

Baking soda is one of the most frequently-used agents to neutralize excessive odors.

You can carefully shake baking soda directly onto clothes to eliminate the smell of chemicals, but take care to avoid white marks, especially on dark colors. 

The best way to use baking soda to eliminate odors is to soak your fabric.

Here’s how to use this method:

• Fill a sink or a suitable container with enough warm water to cover your clothes.
• Add one cup of baking soda to the water.
• Wait until the baking soda has mixed well with the water, then add your clothing.
• Let the clothing soak for at least some hours, preferably overnight.
• After the soak, wash your clothes in your normal manner. You can either hand wash them, or run them through a wash cycle in the washing machine.
• To get even better results, mix one cup of baking soda with your laundry detergent. Once the washing is done, you can use the permanent press option on your dry cleaner to get rid of any lingering smells. 

2. Distilled White Vinegar Solution

Vinegar is another trusted agent to get rid of odors, but make sure to only use white vinegar for this method.

Here’s how to use vinegar to remove unwanted odor:

• Grab a spray bottle, and mix equal amounts of water with vinegar.
• Get your garment and arrange it inside out to prevent stains. You should also prepare the fabric by testing a patch with the solution to make sure it won’t ruin the clothes.
• Once you have the clothes, the spray bottle should be used to spray liberally all over them. Leave the solution on the clothing until the vinegar evaporates.
• You can then place the garment inside the washing machine for a laundry cycle with detergent or a rinse cycle.
• You can use fabric softeners to prevent any coarseness from the vinegar, but try to avoid ones with a silicone formula. 
• After the wash, you can even dry clean the garment to fully eliminate all odors. 

3. Diluted Lemon Juice Spray

Lemon juice is a great odor neutralizer.

To get rid of unwanted odors from your clothing, make a home spray from lemon juice. 

This will help remove fragrance molecules, odors, and chemicals.

Take care with using this spray on new clothes. 

For delicate fabrics, you should go to dry cleaners. 

You should always test the fabric you will expose to this spray. 

Here’s how to make the lemon juice spray:

• Get a spray bottle, and prepare your clothing by turning it inside out.
• Use one cup of water and a tablespoon of lemon juice to create the solution.
• Spray liberally until the garment is covered in the solution, then leave to dry.

4. Pre-washing Caffeine

Coffee beans absorb odor and can be a great help in getting rid of unwanted smells.

The best way to use coffee to assist with neutralizing odors is to place fresh beans on the garments that are saturated in fragrance. 

If you only have ground coffee to hand, you can gently rub it into your garments to get it to absorb the odors.

Once you’ve let that happen, and to fully avoid any other allergens, you can wash the garments with unscented laundry detergent.

As an extra tip, you can also put beans on dryer sheets, before placing the sheets in your wardrobe to prevent clothing from smelling stale.

This will enhance the nice smell over time.

5. Detergent Power

If stubborn odors are lingering on your clothing, you should opt for a powerful, odor-removing detergent.

You should look for detergents with citrus bases, like lemon or lime. 

If you have more than one garment you need to treat, put similarly colored ones together and then run them through a 40-degree cycle, if possible.

Do the same thing for any remaining garments that didn’t fit with the first load.

How to Remove Perfume Smells from Clothes Without Washing?

If you’d like to avoid washing the garments you’d like to eliminate odors from, there are a couple of methods to bear in mind.

The Benefits of Fresh Air

Sunshine and fresh air are some of the first elements you should consider when you need to get a smell out of clothing.

Hang your garments up, especially on breezy sunny days, to get the weather to do the job for you by removing the smell molecules and leaving everything fresh and new.

The Power of Green Plants

If you live in a rainy climate or don’t have access to yard space, you can use plants to help air out your garments, and eliminate smell.

It’s also best to hang dark colors inside to avoid potential bleaching from the sun.

Plants that are very leafy and green will help soak up perfume and remove its molecules from the garments.

The Bottom Line

Getting perfumes and fragrances out of clothes can be done in many ways.

You can use kitchen staples like vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda.

You can also remove smell through washing cycles, and by using the services of a dry cleaner. 

From using detergent to putting clothes out to hang, there are plenty of methods you can undertake in your quest for fresh smelling clothes, including some options you may not have been aware of before!