Your wardrobe may be a small place that has compact space with no room for air circulation. As a result, you might experience some musty smell coming from your clothes. Even bad odours build up over time and permeate everything inside. Bacteria can grow on clothes and cause the wardrobe to smell.
Not to worry, there are steps you can take to eliminate the bad odours and keep your wardrobe and your clothes smelling fresh. They will be highlighted in this article. Read on to find out how to keep your wardrobe smelling fresh.
Find the Source of the Musty Smell
This should be the first thing you must do. This is because you won’t eliminate the bad odour if you don’t know its root.
It could be a result of dirty clothes, pest droppings, dust and sweaty shoes. It can also result from mould or mildew, which could occur because it is trapped in your closets and has no place to go due to lack of ventilation.
To find the solution, search for water leaks in the walls or ceiling if it’s moisture. This might occur if your closet is next to a bathroom or in the basement. So, getting a dehumidifier will do the job here.
If it’s mold and mildew, you need to get rid of them to remove the musty smells they caused. Mould could be green, black, red or blue, while mildew is usually white or gray.
To remove these, fill a spray bottle with two capfuls of bleach and hot water and spray the mould or mildew and let sit until gone. To stop them from reappearing, avoid having moisture around your wardrobe.
Keep your wardrobe clean regularly
A wardrobe given regular, thorough cleaning smells fresh regularly as well. When cleaning it, remove everything from it and use a vacuum cleaner to remove dirt and dust. In case you can’t afford it, use multipurpose cleaner or soap and water to clean all the surfaces in your wardrobe, including drawers, cabinets, shelves, walls and closet rods. If you are using a carpeted floor, do steam cleaning.
Also, ensure everywhere is completely dry before returning your clothes and other items to avoid going back to square one. If you are in a hurry to get everything dry, you can air out your wardrobe or use a fan to speed up the drying process.
Ensure items are clean and dry before storing: Apart from washing your clothes with scented detergent to remove odours, ensure they are completely dry before putting them back in the closet.
Reorganize your closets
The bad smell could be due to crammed cloths, as their closeness prevents air from circulating in the closet. After removing everything from your closet, go through the items, dispose of the unwanted ones to free up space. This will allow you to arrange the clothing to allow airflow more easily. Avoid storing anything on the floor as well.
Use wooden hangers
One of the best ways to avoid unpleasant smells is trading wire hangers for wooden hangers. This is because wood protects your clothes and bad odours. Wood can absorb any moisture in the air to prevent dampness as it is a natural deodorizer.
To give your clothes a pleasant fragrance, purchase wooden hangers with cedar or lavender scents. With cedar scents, moths won’t be able to destroy your clothing.
Use Baking Soda
You can use baking soda to freshen up your clothing as it is a well-known tool used to absorb nasty odours and moisture odours. All you need to do is fill a bowl with baking soda and leave it in your closet for a day. Just ensure you are careful by not knocking it over.
Use Coffee container
This is another recommended agent of odour absorber. Now you know that coffee is not just for drinking as you apply it. Put coffee in a container on the floor of your closet and poke several holes in the lid. All you need to do is is to replace it every month.
Use Vinegar
This is another effective natural deodorizer. You can use it to refresh your wardrobe. Apply equal parts of white vinegar and water into a spray bottle.
Before spraying, turn items inside out. Then go ahead to start spraying in your closet to knock out odours.
Instead of this, you can eliminate odours by placing a bowl of white vinegar in your closet. Just be careful not to knock it over.
Apply fragrance
This is the easiest mean of avoiding unpleasant odours. You can apply either your favourite perfume, essential oil, cotton balls or tissue paper and let them dry. You either place the cotton balls directly in the closet or place them in a glass jar covered with a piece of cloth.
Use Scented Soap
You can also go for this as it can help your closets smell wonderful. To apply this, wrap a strongly-scented bar of soap in a piece of thin fabric and place it in your closet.
