Notice the Bad Smell in Your Clothes During Monsoons? Here Are Ways to Prevent It

Reading time: 5 minutes

With the arrival of the monsoons comes much needed respite from the scorching heat of the summer. Yes, we love the rains - but there is no denying the fact that they do bring with them a fair share of problems. One of the major ones is the musty odour of laundry and bad smell that emanates from even washed clothes.

Keeping our clothes smelling fresh during the monsoons can be a difficult task due to various reasons. This season is accompanied by a highly humid environment, which causes clothes to start smelling quickly. Plus, we often don’t get the opportunity to dry our clothes under the sun during monsoons, and indoor drying ultimately leads to moisture getting trapped in them. The result is stinky, musty laundry. 

But fret not, we’ve figured out some handy tips that will help you survive the wet weather with fresh smelling clothes. Read on!

1. Wash Clothes Immediately:

We all know this rule, but somehow it becomes difficult to follow due to the hectic nature of our days. During the monsoons, we suggest washing damp and dirty clothes as soon as possible. We’ve noticed that the more we let our clothes pile up, the higher the chance of them latching on to an unpleasant stink. In fact, in our desperate attempt to deal with the smell, we even tried adding some vinegar and baking soda to our wash cycle during the monsoon, but to our disappointment, it didn’t really give us fresh and fragrant clothes. 

In our search for a better solution, we finally discovered a fabric conditioner. We realized that just washing clothes immediately isn’t enough, we also need a fabric conditioner to give our clothes extra care, protection and freshness. 

We found Comfort Core to be a natural fit for washing clothes during the monsoons. The benefit that stood out for us, especially in the context of monsoon, was the quick dry technology of Comfort Core. During the monsoons, clothes tend to dry at a much slower rate and hence become prone to malodour. However, we noticed that this could be prevented by the use of Comfort Core, which allows for quick drying due to the deposition of quats i.e. the active ingredients on clothes. The fabric conditioner also leaves the clothes smelling fresh and fragrant.

We also read on the label that it coats the cloth fibre with a protective layer, which in turn prevents damage that can be caused due to repeated washing (which we tend to do in the monsoon, as the season demands it).

2. Iron the Moisture Away: 

It is difficult to dry out clothes completely during the monsoon season due to the lack of sunlight, dampness in the air, etc. Therefore, we find other ways of drying such as leaving our clothes on chairs in our rooms, near windows and under the fans in our balconies. 

Despite these efforts, we sometimes find that the last bit of moisture is still left in them when we begin to fold. This is especially true for bigger laundry items like sarees, bed sheets and bed covers. We found that a simple way to avoid bad odour from developing in these semi-dry clothes is to iron them and remove the last bit of the moisture. The pile of clean, washed, fresh-smelling and neatly pressed clothes is such a soothing sight!

The use of Comfort Core as a fabric conditioner may also help, thanks to its quick drying technology, and leave your clothes smelling fresh and fragrant after each wash.

3. Use Camphor Balls: 

We’ve discovered that camphor balls are very helpful in keeping foul smell away from clothes, wet footwear, etc. This is why we recommend placing them in your wardrobes and shoe racks during the monsoons to ensure that your clothes and shoes are always smelling fresh. Camphor balls are able to absorb all the moisture from the air, so we use them quite liberally during the monsoon!

4. Use Scented Detergent and Fabric Conditioners: 

To avoid stinky clothes during the monsoon season, we tried and tested several washing products and home remedies, including lemon juice and rose water, but none of them helped us get rid of the bad odour completely. What  ultimately worked for us was Comfort Core fabric conditioner, which turned out to be effective, not only in making our clothes fragrant for a long time, but also lending them softness and a new-like shine!

We found that this fabric conditioner is extremely easy to use. If you’re washing your clothes by hand, just pour half a cap of Comfort Core fabric conditioner in the bucket of water and soak the clothes for 5 minutes before rinsing and drying. And for washing machines, Comfort Core can be added during the wash cycle in the additive compartment of the machine. For some of us who don’t have an additive compartment/slot for a softener in the machine, it is possible to directly add Comfort Core fabric conditioner in the final rinse.

During the monsoon, the long lasting freshness given by Comfort Core is something we absolutely love! 

5. Ensure Clothes are Completely Dry Before Storing: 

We’d absolutely love it if our clothes dried up as quickly as they got wet – imagine what a time saver it would be! However, reality is a lot different and it hits harder in the monsoon season. While washing machines do partially dry clothes, in the monsoon season, there is increased moisture in the air, so we need to ensure that clothes are 100% dry before folding and storing them in our wardrobe. This keeps clothes clean and fresh and prevents the musty odour from building up.

6. Deodorize Washing Machine Regularly: 

Our washing machines wash our clothes, but we must remember to wash and deodorize the machine regularly too. We have noticed that this helps prevent the foul smell from getting into our clothes. Our tried and tested way to do this is to add some baking powder in the machine drum and run the machine through a normal wash cycle while empty. The powder cleans the washing machine and absorbs all the foul smell inside the machine, so that our clothes are ready to come out fresh and clean next wash onwards!

7. Wash Clothes Inside Out:

This is a hack that works more than ever during the monsoon season - turn clothes inside out before putting them in for a wash. This ensures that the sweat stains come into close contact with the detergent, leaving us with fragrant clothes at the end of the wash cycle.

Whether it is increased humidity or excessive perspiration, these handy tips will ensure that our clothes remain smelling fresh and clean during the monsoon season. We follow them all and so should you!