7 Laundry Odor Removers The Spruce Has Tested to Rid Your Clothes of Smells

Best Overall

Lysol Laundry Sanitizer

$13 at Amazon $13 at Walmart $13 at Target

For those who love the clean smell of fresh linen, Lysol’s Disinfectant Laundry Sanitizer is an odor remover you’ll want to consider checking out. During testing, we loved how it not only deodorizes garments, but also sanitizes them as well. Plus, the crisp linen scent lingers on your clothes post-wash. 

Prior to washing, our load reeked of post-gym sweat mixed with the scent of an unbathed dog. This laundry sanitizer and scent booster removed ripe odor so well, we didn’t have to rewash our items. Our clothes were left clean and smelling fresh after just one cycle. The Lysol Disinfectant Laundry Sanitizer & Scent Booster is a one-and-done cleaner, according to our tests. 

While this sanitizer and scent booster is made with a bleach-free formula, it’s not hypoallergenic, so if you’re looking for a detergent for sensitive skin, we recommend opting for a cleaner with gentler ingredients, like our best eco-friendly pick, the Fresh Wave Odor Removing Laundry Booster.

And like many other Lysol disinfectant products, this laundry care product is able to remove 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses. That's why we feel we’re able to tackle flu season with ease, knowing this product eliminates laundry odor while disinfecting.

_{Type: Liquid | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: No | Hypoallergenic: No | High-Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best Value

OxiClean Odor Blasters Stain & Odor Remover

$14 $12 at Amazon $11 at Target $15 at Home Depot

During testing, we used this oxygen-based laundry powder on our musty, week-old towels, sweaty workout gear, and old sports bra. And it’s safe to say the odor and stain remover didn’t disappoint in the cleaning department. We had to rewash a few sports bras, but otherwise this powder effectively eliminated odors. Plus, you can’t beat the price of less than $12 for five pounds worth of laundry care. 

Like powdered detergent, this odor remover can get pretty messy, especially if you’re planning on using it as a soak, which calls for a DIY concoction of the powder and added water. However, its effectiveness and value size outweigh the application method.

Unlike our best overall pick, this OxiClean odor and stain remover is hypoallergenic and sensitive-skin friendly. We love that you can clean your load without sacrificing your skin from harmful ingredients. 

_{Type: Powder | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: No | Hypoallergenic: Yes | High-Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best for Tough Odors

Dirty Labs Bio Enzyme Laundry Booster

$22 at Amazon View on Dirtylabs.com View on Grove.co

This is another powder odor booster that actually leaves your load smelling clean and odorless. But we love this one because it's made with an enzymatic formula that effectively breaks down biological stains, such as blood, urine, and yellow armpit sweat stains. And even with a scentless formula, it still removed our garment’s smelly odor during testing.

We found Dirty Labs Bio Enzyme Laundry Booster works great (most likely because of its enzymatic formula), leaving our 5-year-old problematic sports bra completely reek-free in just one wash. It also has a stronger, resealable lid that feels pretty secure. 

We love that the packaging is resealable and eco-friendly, but the container is topped with a metal divider that initially separates the wooden spoon from the powder. It’s fairly tight fitting, which probably helps with the product’s longevity. 

But we found that putting the metal top back on can get a little messy with remnants of the powder puffing out and escaping, but this is a minor inconvenience and only when you first open up the packaging and the powder is relatively high to the rim. 

Overall, if you’re looking for an effective laundry odor remover that’s free and clear and can break down the toughest stains, Dirty Labs Bio Enzyme Laundry Booster is an excellent pick.

_{Type: Powder | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: Yes | Hypoallergenic: Yes | High-Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best Smelling

Downy Unstopables In-Wash Scent Booster

$16 at Amazon $11 at Walmart $10 at Target

If you’re big on fragrances and good smells, you most likely came to this guide looking for the best-smelling laundry odor remover because, let’s face it, scented detergent may not be enough. If that’s the case, consider Downy’s Unstoppable Laundry Beads. These tiny beads offer long-lasting freshness for up to 12 weeks. 

In our testing, this in-wash scent booster worked well on every fabric type we tried them on, especially damp towels that were left sitting in our kitchen for too long. However, we’re unsure if the Downy beads removed the mildew odor completely or if it was just effectively masked because these scented beads are pretty powerful.

Still, when it comes to clothing, the Downy Unstopables In-Wash Booster Laundry Beads really knocked out any lingering body odor and left a classic fresh laundry scent. We will note that these fragranced beads may be too overwhelming if you’re someone with scent sensitivities. However, there’s no denying that this laundry booster is the best-smelling odor remover out of our bunch.

_{Type: Beads | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: No | Hypoallergenic: No | High Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best Eco-Friendly

Fresh Wave Odor Removing Laundry Booster

$13 at Amazon View on Freshwaveworks.com

If green cleaning is more your speed, consider this Spruce-approved eco-friendly pick. Fresh Wave’s Odor Removing Laundry Booster is made with a blend of water and natural plant oils, and it can be used on various surfaces as an all-purpose household deodorizer. It’s an all-around stellar pick. 

While our items weren’t booming in scent post-wash nor had a clean scent, they just no longer smelt dirty, which we loved! Most fragranced odor removers, like our best-smelling pick, can be so highly scented that they mask the odor instead of actually getting to the root of the smell and alleviating it like the Fresh Wave Plant-Based Odor Removing Laundry Booster. It does have a pleasant, and calming pine scent, but it becomes very subtle post-wash.

We used the odor remover on our seriously rank kitchen towels and our dog’s pungent bedding, and they both smelt brand new, which is to say, like nothing. But, like any gentle ingredient cleaner, depending on the severity of your item’s odor, you may need to use more product for it to work its magic. 

During testing, we used three to four capfuls per load, and after five loads, the bottle still hadn’t reached halfway. This eco-friendly odor remover effectively tackles odors on various fabrics and surfaces, and it’s reasonably priced, too!

_{Type: Liquid | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: Yes | Hypoallergenic: Not listed | High Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best Bio-Enzymatic Formula

Nature's Miracle Laundry Boost

$11 $10 at Amazon View on Chewy View on PETCO

If you’re a pet owner, you’re probably aware of the odor that follows your fur baby inside from their outdoor strolls, leaving your home smelling like “dog.” And let’s face it, there’s no scented candle that can truly mask it. To truly break down the reeking pet odor, you’ll need a bio-enzymatic odor remover like Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost. 

Similar to our eco-friendly pick, the Fresh Wave Odor Removing Laundry Booster, this bio-enzymatic odor remover thoroughly deconstructs biological stains and smells, such as pet urine, vomit, blood, and more, leaving your home, garments, and pet’s items smelling like new.

Of course, if it can lift the stinky pet odor, it can also remove any musty smells from your own laundry. We tested this liquid laundry boost on our workout gear and baby’s clothes, which worked very well! It zaps all types of odors, regardless of fabric. However, it’s unsafe to use on select fabrics, including khaki, washable silk, fluorescents, wool, suede, and leather. 

While we love the light scent Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost adds to our items, we wish the bottle were constructed differently. The product is packaged in a 32-ounce squeeze tube bottle, making it hard to measure your pour and challenging to saturate your garments evenly. We found some of our items were stronger in the product’s scent than others. 

_{Type: Liquid | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: Yes | Hypoallergenic: Not listed | High Efficiency Compatible: Yes}

Best for Athletic Wear

FunkAway Laundry Detergent Booster

$12 at Amazon $12 at Walmart

Activewear has a specific stench that is difficult to remove even after several cycles in the wash. While there are laundry detergents for workout clothes, FunkAway’s Laundry Booster effectively lifted our most pungent workout outfits. We highly recommend adding this odor remover to your load before switching detergents. 

While it doesn’t have an enzymatic formula like our Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost pick, it still removes the most horrendous smells, including fish, mildew, and skunk. It even lifted the musky mildew smell out of our clothes that were sitting in the wash too long. And unlike Nature’s Miracle, it works on all fabric types. 

According to the brand, this detergent booster can even remove stubborn cigarette smells. The FunkAway Laundry Detergent Booster has a subtle to barely there clean, floral scent, but it’s so light that it vanishes through the drying process. While we appreciate an underwhelming scented cleaner, we do wish it was slightly more scented Still, expect this stain remover to handle your smelliest workout wear.

_{Type: Liquid | Probiotic or Enzymatic Formula: No | Hypoallergenic: Not listed | High Efficiency Compatible: Yes}