Short answer: air the garment outdoors for a full day first, because most smoke and cooking smells are volatile and will leave on their own. Then soak for an hour in a basin of warm water with a cup of white vinegar, and wash warm with a full dose of enzyme detergent. Vinegar neutralises the alkaline compounds in smoke; bicarbonate of soda is better for sour and musty smells. Never tumble dry a garment that still smells, because heat sets odour compounds into the fibre permanently.
Why these smells are different from sweat
Body odour is bacterial: something living is producing the smell, so you kill it and it stops. Smoke, cooking and storage smells are chemical deposits. Smoke is a suspension of tar and fine particles that physically settle into fabric and stick; frying aerosolises oil that lands on fibres and then oxidises; the smell of a loft is microbial breakdown products left in the fabric long after the organisms have gone.
This matters because the sweat method does not transfer. A cold wash with extra detergent does almost nothing to a tar deposit, and heat, which kills odour bacteria, makes a smoke smell worse by driving it deeper. That is the single most common mistake: going straight to a hot wash and then a dryer.
The method that works on all of them
- Air it outdoors for 12 to 24 hours first. Shade, not direct sun, with air moving on both sides. Spread it out rather than hanging it in folds. On a mild smoke smell this alone often finishes the job, and it costs nothing.
- Shake and brush it off. Smoke leaves particles. A clothes brush or a lint roller removes a surprising amount before anything gets wet.
- Soak for one hour. A basin of warm water with either one cup of white vinegar (smoke, cooking, petrol, bin smells) or half a cup of bicarbonate of soda (musty, sour, storage, mildew). Use one or the other, never both at once; they neutralise each other.
- Wash warm with a full dose of enzyme detergent. 40°C if the label allows. Warm, not hot, and a full dose rather than a generous one, per how much detergent to use.
- Add a second rinse and a high spin. Odour compounds leave in the water, so more rinsing is more removal.
- Smell it wet, before drying. This is the step people skip. If it still smells wet, repeat from step three. Do not dry it.
- Air dry, outdoors if you can. Only once it smells of nothing is a dryer safe.
Smell by smell
| Smell | What it is | Treatment | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigarette or cigar smoke | Tar and nicotine particles, alkaline | Long air, vinegar soak, warm enzyme wash. Repeat once | Hot wash, dryer, fabric softener |
| Bonfire and woodsmoke | Creosote-type compounds in soot | Brush off dry soot first, then vinegar soak | Rubbing soot while wet, which spreads it |
| House fire smoke | Soot plus burnt synthetics, very persistent | Professional restoration for anything valuable | Washing it with other laundry |
| Fried food and cooking oil | Aerosolised oil, oxidises over days | Treat as a grease stain: washing-up liquid on the fabric, then warm wash | Delay. It sets as it oxidises |
| Curry, garlic, onion | Sulfur compounds | Vinegar soak. Air outdoors in moving air | Sealing it in a bag or basket |
| Petrol, diesel, white spirit | Volatile solvent plus oily residue | Air outdoors for a full day minimum, then wash alone, warm | Any dryer. Genuine fire risk |
| Mothballs (naphthalene) | Solid that sublimes into fabric | Air for several days. Vinegar soak, repeat. Patience | Expecting one wash to do it |
| Loft, basement, suitcase | Microbial breakdown products | Bicarbonate soak, warm wash, dry in sun | Vinegar, which is less effective here |
| Mildew and damp | Active mould growth | Full method in removing mould from fabric | Putting it away before it is bone dry |
| Charity shop and vintage | Usually storage plus old detergent and previous owner | See cleaning second-hand clothes | Wearing it before washing |
| New-clothes chemical smell | Sizing, dye fixatives, shipping | One normal wash before first wear | Nothing. It is harmless and leaves easily |
| Bin or drain smell | Volatile organic acids | Vinegar soak, warm wash, outdoor dry | Masking it with more fragrance |
Vinegar or bicarbonate: which one
They work by opposite mechanisms, so using the right one matters more than using more of it.
| White vinegar | Bicarbonate of soda | |
|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | Acid, neutralises alkaline smells | Alkaline, neutralises acidic smells |
| Best for | Smoke, cooking, petrol, bins, urine | Musty, sour, sweat, mildew, storage |
| How to use | 1 cup in a basin of warm water, soak 1 hour | Half a cup in a basin, soak 1 hour |
| In the machine | Half a cup in the fabric softener compartment | Quarter cup in the drum with the clothes |
| Do not | Use on wool, silk or anything with elastane repeatedly | Use on wool or silk, which dislike alkali |
Never combine them in the same soak. Acid plus base gives you carbon dioxide, water and sodium acetate, which is to say nothing useful at all.
Things that cannot go in a machine
- Suits, coats and tailoring. Hang outdoors a full day, brush thoroughly, then steam. Steam opens the fibre and carries volatile compounds out; a hot shower room works if you have no steamer. See looking after a suit.
- Leather and suede. Air only, never wet. A sealed box with an open tub of bicarbonate beside the item, not touching it, for several days. Method in caring for leather and suede.
- Down jackets. Air first; smoke clings to the shell more than the fill. If it needs washing, follow the down routine rather than a normal cycle.
- Anything upholstered. Bicarbonate on the surface for several hours, vacuum off, repeat. The furniture routine is in the soft furnishings guide.
- Dry clean only. Tell the cleaner what the smell is. Odour removal is a different process from stain removal and some will decline a fire-damaged garment.
After it is clean: fabric that has been soaked and rinsed repeatedly smells of nothing at all, which is its own kind of odd. A normal wash with a full dose of Sacred Ember or Citrus Serenade gives it back a scent, and the encapsulated fragrance keeps releasing through the week rather than disappearing in the dryer. Do this as a separate final wash, not combined with the odour treatment, or you waste the fragrance on a load that still needs rinsing.
Common problems
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke smell came back after a week | It was masked by fragrance, not removed | Restart with the air-and-soak method. No softener |
| Smell got stronger after washing | Tumble dried while still faintly smelling | Heat set it. Repeat the soak; it may take three rounds |
| One wash fixed the shirt, not the coat | Dense and lined fabrics hold far more deposit | Days of airing and steaming, not washing |
| Whole wardrobe smells of smoke | The air in the room, not the clothes | Empty it, wipe it out, air it for days, then rewash everything |
| Vinegar soak did nothing on a musty smell | Wrong chemistry for that smell | Use bicarbonate for musty and sour |
| Clothes smell of vinegar now | Not rinsed enough | Run a second rinse. It always leaves fully |
| Petrol smell will not shift | Oily residue left behind after the solvent evaporated | Washing-up liquid worked into the fabric, then warm wash alone |
| Machine now smells of smoke | Deposit transferred to the drum and seal | Clean the machine before the next load |
Frequently asked questions
How do you get cigarette smoke smell out of clothes?
Air the garment outdoors for 12 to 24 hours, brush off surface particles, then soak it for an hour in warm water with a cup of white vinegar. Wash warm with a full dose of enzyme detergent and an extra rinse, and check it still smells clean while wet before you dry it. Heavy smoke usually needs two rounds.
Does vinegar remove smoke smell from fabric?
Yes. Smoke deposits are alkaline, and the acetic acid in white vinegar neutralises them rather than masking them. One cup in a basin of warm water as a one-hour soak before washing is the most effective single step after airing. It rinses out completely and leaves no vinegar smell.
Can you tumble dry clothes that still smell of smoke?
No. Dryer heat drives odour compounds further into the fibre and can set them permanently, and with petrol or solvent smells it is also a fire risk. Always air dry anything you are deodorising, and only use a dryer once the fabric smells of nothing while damp.
What gets a musty smell out of clothes from storage?
Bicarbonate of soda rather than vinegar, because storage and sour smells are acidic. Soak for an hour in half a cup of bicarbonate in warm water, wash warm, and dry outdoors in sunlight if possible. If there is visible mould, treat it as mildew rather than just an odour.
How do you get cooking and fried food smell out of clothes?
Treat it as grease, not odour. Work a little washing-up liquid into the affected fabric, leave it ten minutes, then wash warm with enzyme detergent. Do it promptly: aerosolised cooking oil oxidises over a few days and becomes much harder to shift once it has.
How do you get rid of a mothball smell?
Time and air. Naphthalene sublimes slowly out of fabric, so hang the garment outdoors for several days and repeat a vinegar soak between airings. One wash will not do it, and no amount of fragrance will cover it convincingly.
Can smoke smell be removed from a suit or coat?
Usually, without washing. Hang it outdoors for a full day, brush it thoroughly in the direction of the nap, then steam it, which opens the fibre and carries volatile compounds out. Dense and lined garments hold more deposit than shirts, so expect to repeat it before taking it to a dry cleaner.
Do odour-eliminating sprays work on smoke?
Only as masking. Most work by adding fragrance or by binding a small amount of odour molecule at the surface, which is not enough for a deposit that has settled through the fabric. They are fine for a last-minute fix, but the smell returns as the fragrance fades.
