I will never forget when my chef/husband was promoted from the pantry station to the broiler station.  Of course any promotion is exciting, but the reason I remember it might not be what you think.

(Oh, before I forget, If you’re new to my site, start here and then come back and read the rest of the post.)

Besides the new types of stains on his chef coats which were more difficult to remove (see tips on how to get stains out of chef coats here), the smell of his chef clothes changed DRASTICALLY!!  Ugh!  We lived in a small apartment and he had to leave the dirty chef clothes in the other room each night, or the smell permeated our bedroom!

Stop laughing at me.  I know you’ve had the same problem.  Chef clothes just stink!

For a while, a good wash took care of the smell.  But after a while, the chef pants, chef coats and even the aprons started to keep part of the oily, grimy, kitchen smell.  When that happens, you have to either try another method of cleaning them or have a bonfire in the backyard with them.

So after my successful quest to find the best way to clean white chef coats, I decided to tackle the smelly chef aprons that I could never seem to get the smell out of!

There was a large stack of black aprons just hanging out in my chef/husband’s closet.  I wish the computer had smell-o-vision so you could smell them!  Yuck!!  But what a great opportunity for me to figure out what products work the best to remove that horrible smell (and to keep it away)!

Of all the suggestions I found online, none of them reported if the smell had come back after a few weeks.

In the past I thought I solved the stinky smell problem, only to have my husband grab an apron out of the closet from the bottom of the pile a few weeks later and have it smell!

So I set out to discover what really works to get the smell out of chef clothes (and other laundry).  I also decided to wait a few weeks before posting my results to make sure the smell stayed out and didn’t come back after just sitting there.  I’m glad I did.  The results were not what I expected.

I started out by asking some chefs and their spouses/significant others what they had used in the past to solve this problem.   Then I chose some of them to try out myself.

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Below are my test results.

For each black apron, I used the individual product along with Tide HE Laundry Detergent.  I used warm water on the heavy wash cycle and added a second rinse.  I let the washer choose the amount of water based on the quantity of clothes in the machine (1 apron). Then I dried the apron for 30 minutes in the dryer on medium heat.

“Honey, are you almost done with your research so I can wear one of those aprons?” Oops!

Here are the products I tested:

Tide Laundry Detergent

Before I started adding things to the wash with my regular detergent, I washed 2 aprons in just my regular Tide HE laundry detergent.

Results after washing and drying:  no smell

After 3 weeks:  One had a strong oily smell again, but one only had a hint of a smell to it.  Was one apron was smellier than the other?  They were all pretty horrible to start with!  Who knows?  But that fact that both of them still had at least a small smell says that I needed something more than just laundry detergent to solve this problem.

A Can of Coke

Pour a can of coke in the wash with the clothes and launder as usual.

Results after washing and drying:  no smell

After 3 weeks:  The smell was completely back. (Yuck!)

Distilled White Vinegar

Add 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar to the second rinse and launder as usual.

Results after washing and drying:  slight smell

After 3 weeks:  The smell was back, but not as strong.

Distilled White Vinegar and Baking Soda

Mix 1 cup distilled white vinegar and 1 cup baking soda with just enough water to cover the clothes.  Soak for 4 hours.  Then put the clothes and vinegar/baking soda mixture in the wash and launder as usual.

Results after washing and drying:  The old oily smell was still there, but not as strong.

After 3 weeks:  The old oily smell was still there!  This did not work AT ALL!

RLR Laundry Stripper

Add RLR Laundry Stripper to regular wash cycle and launder as usual.

Results after washing and drying: The oily smell was gone, but it left a bit of a detergent smell.

After 3 weeks: The old oily smell was gone, but the apron had a different smell.  It wasn’t a detergent smell and it wasn’t strong, but there was still an odor to it.  I really have no words to describe it as it’s different than anything I’ve ever smelled.

Ammonia

Add 1 cup ammonia to wash and launder as usual.  (Make sure your detergent does not contain any bleach.)

Results after washing and drying:  no smell

After 3 weeks:  The smell is back, but not as strong.

Febreze

Wash as usual and spray with febreeze after clothes come out of the dryer.

Results: It smelled far less, but only for about 5 seconds.  I didn’t bother to test any further with this product.

Oxypur by H2O at Home

Since my favorite cleaning product for chef coats is from H2O at Home, of course I had to try one of their products for this problem.  Use 1 scoop of Oxypur and just enough water to cover the clothes.  Soak for 4 hours.  Transfer water and clothes to washing machine and launder as usual.

Results after and washing and drying:  No smell.

After 3 weeks:  The smell is still gone!  

Oxiclean

Use 1 scoop of Oxiclean and just enough water to cover the clothes.  Soak for 4 hours.  Transfer water and clothes to washing machine and launder as usual.

Results after and washing and drying:  No smell.

After 3 weeks:  The smell is still gone!  

So after all my testing, the two items that got the smell out of chef clothes and seem to have kept the smell out are Oxiclean and Oxypur by H2O at Home.

So what’s the difference between these two products?

Oxypur does not contain any dye or fragrance like Oxiclean does, so if you have sensitive skin or have trouble with certain scents, the Oxypur would be a better option for you.  (While I have not tried it, Oxiclean does sell a “free” version, which does not contain dye or apple scent, and I was told by their customer service over the phone that both the “free” and regular version work the same.  So that might be an option if you have sensitive skin.)

Oxypur (just like all the H2O at home products) is third party certified by Eco-cert to strict European standards and has to continually prove to meet those standards annually.  Oxiclean is not.

Oxypur can only be purchased by an H2O at Home Advisor.  Oxiclean can be purchased online or in many stores (and is less expensive).

Other suggestions from readers that I have not personally tried:

• Soak with Borax
• Gain Laundry Soap
• Tide with Febreeze
• Purex Crystals
• Soak in Dawn soap (be careful of suds if you have an HE washing machine)
• Pine Cleaner
• Bleach (obviously only if you are washing white)
• Tide Sport
• Scent Killer Gold Laundry Detergent

So now I have 2 clean aprons and 8 aprons that still smell.  Time to find a very large bucket and get them soaking in Oxyclean or Oxypur since I know that will work!

DON’T MISS THIS LAST THING I JUST FOUND OUT . . .

After my research, I took the 8 aprons that still smelled and soaked them with 8 scoops of Oxiclean in the washing machine for 4 hours (with the tank full of water.)  It did not work.  Yet I took just one of them, soaked it in a small bowl with one scoop of Oxiclean with just enough water to cover (just like I described above) and it worked.  My only conclusion is that when you are soaking it, you need to use as little water possible so that the Oxiclean or Oxypur is not diluted too much.  Good to know!!

Do you have another product that has worked?  If so, please let me know in the comments below!

Happy cleaning!

From one chef’s wife to another,

PS:  While you’re here, you might want to check out a few of my most popular posts about combining restaurant and family life!

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