Removing Cooking and Fried-Food Smell From Clothes

Why do cooking and frying smells settle into clothes?

When you fry, sear or grill, tiny grease droplets are atomised along with the odour molecules in the fumes. The grease settles as an invisible film on the fabric and binds the smell to the fibres. That is why frying, fish, garlic and deep-fried food cling far harder than a volatile smell that merely hangs in the air. Wool and synthetic fabrics hold onto it especially well, as anyone who has worked in a kitchen will recognise. To get the smell out, you have to remove both the volatile part (by airing) and the grease-bound part (by washing).

Air the garment straight away

Do not stuff a garment that smells of cooking straight into the laundry basket – the smell only builds up there. Airing takes a surprising amount of the volatile part:

1. Hang the garment airily outdoors or by an open window as soon as you can, and leave it for a few hours or a day.
2. Hang it in the bathroom while you shower – warm, damp steam loosens smell from the fibres and helps it out.
3. For garments not washed often, like wool jumpers, a night in the freezer in a sealed bag can ease a light smell (airing works best, but the freezer helps with the remainder).
4. Always air before you put the garment away, so the smell does not set while it hangs in the wardrobe.

Wash out the grease-bound smell

Because the smell is bound to grease, the wash has to dissolve the grease – not just rinse. This sets cooking smell apart from protein smells like sweat, which you should wash cold instead:

1. Wash the garment per the care label, but choose the upper end of the temperature the garment tolerates – a little heat helps the detergent dissolve the grease that carries the smell.
2. Add about a deciliter of white vinegar to the fabric-softener compartment. Vinegar cuts grease-bound odour and leaves no residue.
3. If the garment smells strongly, soak it first in warm water (within the label's limit) with a little baking soda or vinegar for about an hour, then wash.
4. Use a detergent with good grease-cutting power, and skip extra perfume – the goal is to remove the smell, not cover it up.

What you should avoid

Some habits make the cooking smell set rather than release:

• Do not tumble dry the garment hot before the smell is gone – heat can bake the grease-bound odour in.
• Do not just spray perfume or odour remover over a greasy garment. That masks the smell while the grease and its source stay put.
• Do not leave a sweaty, damp, smelly garment balled up – then you get a musty smell on top of the cooking one.
• Do not wait too long. The longer the grease sits and hardens in the fibres, the harder the smell clings when you finally wash.

When the cooking smell has set in – and the garment must be cleaned

Suits, wool coats, blazers and other garments marked 'dry clean only' soak up cooking fumes at restaurants and kitchens, but cannot be machine-washed. Airing eases it, but grease-bound smell that has truly set can stay put. Then you can send the garment to us. We clean according to the material and care label and break down the grease that binds the smell, across all of Norway, without harming the shape, lining or surface. You order online, and you see the price before you order.

Frequently asked questions