Get Potent Bleach Smells Out Of Clothing With A Handy Household Staple

Adding bleach to your laundry is a convenient and inexpensive way to deal with accidental stains, whiten and brighten whites, and disinfect them. But using too much bleach during laundry can leave behind a strong antiseptic smell on your clothes. Alternatively, using hard water to clean your clothes or their improper rinsing will also make them emanate a potent odor. Luckily, you can use vinegar to get potent bleach smells out of clothing, just add it during the rinse cycle.

While the smell of bleach may go away after a few days, you can use a clothing spray or your preferred fragrance to get rid of the smell at once. But using these isn't a long-term solution, as they'll only mask the smell and not eliminate it entirely. Vinegar is an excellent natural deodorizer as it's acidic in nature. Using this handy household staple to get rid of the lingering smell on your clothes works because its acetic acid molecules will neutralize the alkaline odor of bleach.

To prevent the smell of bleach from irritating your nostrils or permeating other pieces of clothing, it's best to eliminate it as soon as possible. So put your washed laundry back in the washing machine and grab a bottle of distilled white vinegar. Out of all the kinds of vinegar, distilled white vinegar is the best choice as it's cheaper than its counterparts. Moreover, its lack of tannins makes it a great fit for laundry since it won't discolor your fabrics.

Add ½ cup of vinegar to the machine's fabric softener drawer compartment. If your machine doesn't have this dispenser, bring it to a stop before the rinse cycle to add the vinegar. Once added, let it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing your clothing as normal. The potent bleach smell will be a thing of the past. If you're worried about the vinegar smell, simply pop your clean laundry in the dryer, and its heat will take care of any residual odor.