Smelly undershirts?!?

[leomom]

Can someone tell me how to get the armpit smell out of my husband's undershirts?

I tried cold water, hot water, more soap, vinegar...nothing worked except 3/4 cup bleach, which I don't really like to use.

Any suggestions?

[dawnk]

Did you try baking soda?

[leomom]

No, I didn't try baking soda. How would I use it? Just throw it in with the soap? And how much should I use? Thanks!

[crunchymomma]

I already posted this in the fabric softner thread, so I'm just copying and pasting it here:

I've always just thrown about 1/2 cup of Borax in with the regular cycle, along with my detergent. Borax is great if you have hard water, but it works well with soft water, too.

The author of Clean House, Clean Planet recommends presoaking with 1/2 cup of borax and a little detergent. Baking soda will deoderize and soften your clothes (no need for fabric softner, then!). If you use liquid detergent, add 1/2 cup BS at the same time as the liquid detergent. If you use powdered detergent, add 1/2 BS during the rinse cycle. Use less if you don't have a full load, or you may get the annoying white BS residue.

[leomom]

Thank you!