Smelly Jeans

Try washing them in hot water with a cup of white vinegar if you can find it. Then wash again with a cup of baking soda. Or add the baking soda into the tub w the white vinegar if you don’t want to do a separate load. That has worked for when I had to wash my son’s mildewy smelling clothes when he came home from college his freshman year. Hope this helps!

Another vote for vinegar followed by baking soda. I regularly use vinegar when washing towels and washcloths/dishcloths.

You might try some white vinegar (although your jeans may end up smelling like salad dressing if you don’t rinse them well).

Laura's response is priceless! Definitely don't use balsamic 😂

Frank I am not sure where you are now but in the US there are detergents specific for stinky workout wear (Hex is one brand). They work best if you can let the clothes soak a bit after the detergent is mixed in but before rinsing. Worth a shot even doing that with regular detergent.

I suggesst google Fabreeze and any other smelly clothes products and then show the results to a staffperson in a grocery store or laundry. I have found that if they can see a picture and description of the kind of product I am looking for, someone may know a comparable or related prodiuct in their country. You didn't say where you are, but you also might try googling French or whatever version of Fabreeze.

Another vote for vinegar. I would let it soak in vinegar with water for a bit. Then wash like you do with regular clothes.
I had a pair of clothes stink from smoke after spending too much time next to a bonfire at the Sahara desert. I washed next day at my next hotel in the sink with detergent from home and nothing. I washed with regular clothes upon arrival and nothing. I finally soaked in vinegar/water for a full day and washed and it is back to normal!

Vinegar was on my list of things to try.

I'm currently in the Czech Republic so no US brands.

My hotel next week has a laundry room. I'll try soaking the Jeans in vinegar and then taking them to the laundry room. My hotel the following week has a w/d in the room.

I haven't work them yet but I'm thinking of getting them outside. Perhaps some fresh air might help

How long should they soak?

If that doesn't work, I'll go buy a new pair.

How long should they soak?

At least a couple of hours, I would say. If that is feasible with your travel schedule.

Probably difficult without at least a balcony, but I've found airing things outside does the trick. I put shoes out on my deck, and once got a really nasty/funky smell out of a large basket that was delivered with it. Took a few days, but it worked.

I hope you can find some of these items while on your travels to use. One other thing that I have used is tea tree oil. It is a natural fungicide. If you can locate some, put on a few drops or spray a washcloth with a tea tree oil solution and put it in the dryer with your vinegar/ baking soda washed jeans.

I don’t know if guys get as attached to their jeans as women, but I know I would be sad if I couldn’t save my favorite pair! Good luck Frank!

Our house burned when I was a senior in high school a LONG time ago (think last century). Some clothes that were in dressers were somewhat salvageable and we found the best thing to get the smell out (and smoke smell is HARD to get out) was to wash them in plain white vinegar as previously posted, and then hang them out in the sun to dry. So, if you are in a place with some sunshine and quite a few hours, it is definitely worth a try.

Dry cleaning?

currently in the Czech Republic so no US brands

Isn’t Heinz vinegar universal? Apparently not!

My suggestion was going to be white vinegar, too, but I wasn’t going to suggest baking soda, which I imagine will accelerate fading of your jeans, if that’s any concern. As suggested above, soak for at least 2 hours, but 6 hours would be better, if not overnight. Washing with straight vinegar was also mentioned above, and I could see that being a good approach, followed by a regular washing with detergent. Dry outside in the shade, if possible, to limit fading. Once dry, the denim will be stiffer than if you’d used a dryer, but fresh air will help the deodorization efforts, and the fabric will soften again as you wear them.

If all of the above recommendations aren’t completely successful, would any Czech recommend soaking the jeans in beer, by any chance? Wash them well afterwards, so you don’t wind up smelling like a used keg.

Frank II,

If white vinegar's the thing, I did a quick search for "bílý ocet" in Prague as an example. What came up was the Benu pharmacy chain of which there are a number of outlets in the capital city. Benu's listing for "bílý ocet" is:

https://www.benu.cz/bily-ocet

However, I don't see anything smaller than 0.5-litre in their online listing.

I think there's a version of OxyClean for smelly clothes. https://www.oxiclean.com/en/products/stain-fighters It's the one called OxyClean Odor Blaster. (I haven't tried it yet) Good luck! I bought a pair of workout pants, used but "new with tags" and when they came they smelled like someone's awful Bounce sheet. I have washed over and over in the vinegar and baking soda, and still they smell. So whatever you try, just do it over and over and over.