To remove a mildew smell from clothes, sort the affected items, check the care labels, and rewash them with detergent plus a deodorizing aid. Dry them completely right away, then smell them again after they’ve cooled and sat for a few hours. If the odor is still there, repeat with a soak before you put the garment away, and stop if the fabric starts to break down.
Steps
- Sort the mildewed items away from the rest of the laundry and check each care label before you treat it.
Separate anything that smells musty so you don’t spread the odor to clean laundry. Read the label for wash temperature, bleach limits, drying limits, and whether the item needs special handling. If the label says dry clean only, skip the home-treatment steps and use a cleaner that handles odor removal for that fabric type.
- Rewash the clothes with detergent and a deodorizing aid.
Use the safest wash cycle the care label allows, plus your regular detergent and an odor-fighting aid that you know is safe for the fabric. A full rewash is the first pass because it removes residue before you try anything stronger. If the item is very delicate, use the gentlest cycle and avoid additives the label rules out.
- Dry the clothes all the way through.
Put the items in the dryer if the label allows it, or dry them on a line or rack if that’s safer. Open pockets, separate layers, and make sure seams, waistbands, cuffs, collars, and hems are fully dry. Don’t fold or store anything until the thickest parts feel dry too.
- Check whether the smell is gone before you put the clothes away.
Smell the garment after it’s completely dry, then check it again after it has sat for a few hours. It should smell neutral or lightly of detergent, not musty, sour, or damp. If it still smells off after sitting, the odor is still in the fabric.
- If the first wash didn’t work, soak the item and wash it again.
For washable fabrics, a soak is the next step when the odor lingers. Use cool or warm water that matches the care label, add the deodorizing aid you already know is safe for that fabric, and soak the item before running another wash cycle.
Be more cautious with wool, silk, lace, stretchy synthetics, embellished clothing, and anything with glued-on parts. Those items can react badly to long soaks, hot water, or strong additives. For them, a shorter soak, a gentler detergent-only rewash, or a cleaner that specializes in delicate garments is usually the safer path.
- Repeat only while the fabric still has room to recover.
Repeat the wash-and-dry cycle if the smell is faint and the garment is otherwise sound. Stop if the item starts to show damage from treatment: faded dye, rough texture, shrinking, broken elastic, or a shape that no longer feels right. If mildew odor stays strong after repeated cleaning, or if the smell seems tied to stains, rot, or fabric that has broken down, the garment may be too far gone to fully recover.