Musty Clothes From Storage: How to Get the Smell Out

Updated September 18, 2026

To get the musty smell out of clothes from storage, you have to kill the mildew that causes it. Wash the clothes in warm or hot water with a cup of white vinegar, and soak the stubborn ones in oxygen bleach. Then dry everything completely, in the sun if you can.

Dryer sheets, fabric spray and perfume only cover the smell for a few hours, and it comes back as soon as the fabric gets a little damp. If you’re pulling fall sweaters out of bins this September and the whole pile smells like a basement, the fix below costs very little and uses things you probably already own.

Why do clothes smell musty after storage?

Stored clothes smell musty because mildew grew on them. Mildew is mold, and it grows when fabric sits in damp air with no airflow. The smell comes from gases the mold gives off as it feeds on fibers, body oils and leftover detergent.

For mold to grow, the clothes don’t have to be wet. Humid air is enough, and so is a sweater put away with a little moisture still in it, or a cardboard box that took in water from a concrete floor. A sealed bin with no airflow holds all that moisture against the fabric for months.

You’re working against a living thing, so the answer is to kill it and remove it. Masking the odor won’t do that. It’s the same reason a humidifier that smells musty needs real cleaning and not a few drops of essential oil.

What should you do before washing musty clothes?

Before you wash anything, take the clothes outside and shake each piece hard. This gets loose spores and dust off the fabric before they reach your laundry room or your washer. If you have allergies or asthma, wear a mask.

Next, check for visible mildew. It looks like small gray, black or green dots, often along seams and folds. Clothes with no spots and only a smell are an easy fix, but spotted clothes will need the soak described further down.

Sort the clothes by care label. Cotton, linen and most synthetics can take the full wash method. Wool, silk and dry-clean-only pieces need the gentler, no-wash method instead.

What is the best way to wash out a musty smell?

Wash the clothes in the warmest water the care label allows, with your normal detergent and 1 cup of distilled white vinegar. Put the vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser so it goes in during the rinse, or add it to the drum partway through the cycle. The acid in vinegar breaks down mildew and the residue that holds odor.

Baking soda also helps, but put it in at a different time from the vinegar. If you mix the two, they cancel each other out and you get fizz and salty water. Put half a cup of baking soda in the drum at the start of the wash, and let the vinegar go in during the rinse.

Don’t use fabric softener on this load. It coats the fibers and holds the smell in, and this is why towels that get softener every week often smell sour. Also, don’t fill the machine too full, because the water has to move through the fabric to clean it.

For heavy items like duvets, check that your machine can take the size and weight first. Our guide to washing a weighted blanket at home explains how to check load weight, and the same limits apply to a musty comforter.

What if the smell survives the first wash?

If the smell is still there after one wash, soak the clothes in oxygen bleach and then wash them again. The active ingredient in oxygen bleach is sodium percarbonate. It releases oxygen in water and breaks down mold and stains without harming the color of most fabrics.

Mix the powder with warm water as the package says, and put the clothes all the way under the water. Leave them for at least a few hours, or overnight for badly spotted items. Then wash them with the vinegar rinse again.

Oxygen bleach isn’t safe for wool, silk or leather, because it damages protein fibers. You can use chlorine bleach on white cotton only, and never in the same load as vinegar, because that makes chlorine gas. Old mildew spots can leave a stain even after the smell is gone, and at that point you have to decide if the piece is still worth wearing.

How do you get musty smell out of clothes without washing?

For clothes you can’t wash, use sun and air first, and then something that absorbs odor. Hang the piece outside in the shade or light sun on a dry, breezy day, for most of a day. The moving air carries the smell away, and UV light slows mold down.

If the smell is still there, put the item in a large bag or bin with an open box of baking soda or a bowl of activated charcoal. Don’t let it touch the fabric, and leave it for two or three days. This is slow, but it’s safe for wool coats and down.

The fastest trick is a spray bottle of cheap, unflavored vodka. Theater costume shops use it on costumes they can’t wash often. Mist the fabric lightly, then let it air-dry. The alcohol kills the microbes that cause odor, and the smell of the alcohol goes away as it dries.

Test the spray on a hidden seam first. If the smell still won’t go after all of this, take the piece to a dry cleaner and tell them it’s mildew, so they can treat it for that.

Why does drying matter so much?

If clothes stay damp, the mildew can start growing again. Musty clothes that dry slowly in a closed room can come out smelling worse than when they went in. Dry them fast and dry them all the way through.

A clothesline in the sun is the best choice, because UV light and moving air both work against mold. Indoors, use a drying rack near a fan or an open window. Don’t pack the rack full.

Smell each piece before you put it in the dryer. Heat can set the last of the smell into the fibers, so if you can still smell it, wash it again first. Once a piece smells clean, the dryer is fine.

Are clothes stored in a basement a bigger problem?

Yes. Basements are cool, and humidity often stays high there all summer, which is ideal for mildew. Mold grows easily when relative humidity stays above about 60 percent, and many basements are well above that from June to September.

If clothes kept in your basement come out musty every year, washing them won’t fix the cause. A cheap hygrometer tells you the real humidity. If it’s high, read our post on whether a dehumidifier helps with basement mold before you buy one.

Moisture in the living areas of your home can cause the same problem, for example in a closet on an outside wall. Water on the inside of your windows in cold weather is a sign that the air is too wet. Our guide to stopping window condensation tells you how to bring that humidity down.

How do you store clothes so they don’t smell musty next year?

Store clothes clean and fully dry, in a dry room. Wash everything before you put it away, because body oils and food spills feed mold and moths. Let the clothes sit out for an extra day after drying if you’re not sure.

Don’t use cardboard boxes. They take in moisture from the air and the floor and hold it against the fabric. Plastic bins with lids work well, but only when the clothes are fully dry and the bins are in a closet or room that has climate control. Breathable cotton storage bags are safer in rooms that get a little humid.

Put a few silica gel packets in each bin to absorb moisture. Don’t keep wool and down in vacuum bags for a long time, because they crush the fibers and seal in any moisture the fabric still holds. Cedar blocks help keep moths away, but they do nothing for moisture.

The same principle applies to anything fabric that you put away for a season. Our post on putting patio cushions away for winter gives the same advice: dry first, then store. If you’re buying bins or closet organizers this month, see our current home deals.

Frequently asked questions

Start with the vinegar wash and a full dry in the sun. Most clothes that smell musty from storage need nothing more. Use the oxygen bleach soak and the no-wash tricks for the few pieces that are still musty after that.

Then find out why the smell happened, because a damp basement or cardboard box will do the same thing to your summer clothes next spring. If you store clothes dry, in a room that stays dry, you won’t have this problem next year.