How to get perfume smells out of clothes. According to Gagliardi, when more than a mist of perfume gets on fabric, the ethanol within the formulation evaporates quickly, leaving you with an oily, smelly stain. “That’s why it’s a harder stain to get out,” she says. “But it’s not impossible—just treat it like any other oil stain.” Cut through that stinky mess with a dish soap pre-treatment, then boost the laundry with a tablespoon of bleach.
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Before starting, Gagliardi says to do a colorfastness test. Add 2 teaspoons of liquid chlorine bleach to 1/4 cup of water. Apply a tiny drop to an inconspicuous spot and wait one minute. Rinse and blot dry. No color change means you can safely bleach the item.
Supplies you’ll need
- Dish soap
- Water
- Bleach
Directions
- Pre-treat the stain when the fabric is dry (don’t rinse the item with water first). To do so, dip a cloth in liquid dish detergent and gently dab and rub it into the stain.
- Wait five minutes. Rinse the stain with warm water to remove the dish detergent.
- Add 1 tablespoon of bleach into the bleach dispenser (for white, bleach-safe clothing only). Alternatively, add a tablespoon of color-safe bleach for bleach-safe colored clothes, or white clothes made of spandex. For non-bleach-safe clothing, simply repeat steps 1 to 2 until the oil stain is removed.
- Wash the item in the hottest water recommended for the specific fabric.
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