Why Do The Clothes In My Drawers Smell?

Clothes are a significant part of our personality. Finding all your clothes smelling musty and foul whenever you open your drawers can be quite a frustrating experience.

There could be a range of causes why your clothes in the drawers smell musty or mildewy.

In this brief guide, we have compiled a list of all possible reasons that can cause your clothes in the drawers to stink unpleasantly.

All Possible Causes Of Why Your Clothes In The Drawers Smell

Unclean, dusty drawers are not the only culprit to always cause your clothes to smell bad. You might have accidentally placed slightly damp clothes in the drawers, resulting in mold formation. Humidity can also be a potential culprit behind your smelling clothes in the drawers.

Washing machines filled with molds can cause clothes to smell funky and musty as well. Down below, we have explained in detail how a range of different causes can make your clothes smell as if they were never washed.

1. Unclean Drawers

Let’s start with the very basic reason. How can a place that itself isn’t clean can keep the things in it clean? Drawers with dirt, dust, and debris will eventually end up creating a strong foul smell.

Drawers remain closed for most of the time and so are the dust, dirt, and smell in them. Over time, the smell starts transferring in the clothes, causing them to stink.

To Prevent The Smell

Take out everything in your drawers and clean them meticulously. Scrub away any accumulated dirt, dust, or mold from the drawers using a cloth and antibacterial spray. If possible, place the drawers in an open for good air circulation.

It is advisable to regularly clean your drawers, especially in the wet season when humidity is high and molds can develop more frequently. During the wet season, almost everything gets moist including the clothes in drawers.

2. Unwashed Clothes

All drawers have unique smells to them. Not all people are fans of dry cleaning their formal dresses every time they wear them. Frequent dry cleaning is an extra expense for them. What they do is simply pack the dress along with their natural sweat and place it in the drawer. Are you one of them?

Thanks to perfumes, scented oils, and your natural body odor, your drawers become home to a variety of strong smells mixed. The mixed might not be too offensive in the first place. However, when it gets mixed with dust, dirt, and molds, the smell can seriously get on your nerves.

To Prevent The Smell

Don’t place a clothing item without washing even if you have worn it for an hour. An hour is enough for your clothes to smell like you.

It’s okay if you don’t want to spend money on dry cleaning your dresses every time you wear them. Hardly anyone would want that! Just make sure to keep them in a separate area.

3. Damp Clothes, Mildew, And Molds

If your clothes in the drawers smell musty, mildew and molds are your answer. It might be possible that you either accidentally placed slightly damp clothes in the drawer or high humidity has moistened the clothes in the drawers.

In locations with high humidity, especially in the monsoon season, nearly everything from furniture and curtains to sheets and clothes gets moist. The humidity reaches 100% when the rain keeps pouring for days, making everything kind of “damp”.

As a result of high humidity, there is a musty smell and mildew present on everything. It won’t be wrong to mix mildew and mold as one thing as both have a strong musty smell.

Mildew and molds don’t form in a day. Musty smell in your clothes might be an olfactory clue for you that moisture has planted itself for an extended time and mold is about to develop or might have already formed.

To Prevent The Smell

During the season when humidity is high, keep checking the clothes. If molds or mildew have already formed on your clothes and release a musty smell, try this DIY.

• Mix one gallon of water with a little white (or any other) vinegar.
• Dip the clothes in the mixture.
• Next, wait for at least an hour or two. Meanwhile, you can go and check if the mold has developed in the drawers.
• Now, wash your clothes as you usually do with detergent and softener.

Hopefully, this simple natural DIY would be enough to eliminate the musty smell from your clothes. You can also buy “Odor Removers” from a nearby supermarket or order them from Amazon.

You can also buy a dehumidifier to place it near the drawers. The dehumidifier will keep the clothes from getting moist and develop mildew or mold.

4. Lack Of Air Circulation

Well, this cause might seem obvious but most clothes smell funky because of the lack of air circulation in the drawers. Poor air circulation and darkness in the drawers become an ideal home for odors.

When clothes are out of sight, being tucked in the drawers for an extended period of time, the smell trapped in the drawers gets transferred to the clothes.

To Prevent The Smell

The smell developed from lack of air circulation won’t be offensive and a little air circulation would be enough to get rid of the smell.

To warm the air and reduce the humidity level in the closed, dark drawers, try turning on a light bulb. Lighting the bulb every day for a short period of time will keep the clothes warm and fresh.

5. Washing Machine With Mold

If even after cleaning the drawers and making them mold or mildew-free, your clothes still have a musty smell then your washing machine is likely to be the main culprit.

Front-load washing machines create a heavenly environment for mold growth. When you close your washing machine, the airtight, damp, and dark atmosphere lets the mold grow or develop vigorously.

The design flaw of such washing machines lets the molds grow in them without even you noticing. The mold easily transfers to the clothes, resulting in a musty smell attached to them.

To Prevent The Smell

Open your front-load washer and see if you could smell a musty odor around it. If a musty odor is present, so would be the mold or mildew.

Check the underneath area of the rubber gasket and clean it using any commercial mold cleaner. If not given a good clean regularly, your washing machine can become a molding machine.

Smelly Clothes In Drawers – The Takeaway

Once you have checked all the above-mentioned culprits, you probably have already tracked down the main culprit causing your clothes to smell funky. Start from the basics: check the drawers first for dirt, dust, mold, or mildew.

The musty smell coming out of the clothes can be a signal that mold or mildew is developing either in drawers or washing machines. Check and clean both areas meticulously using mold removers and a soft cloth.