Home → Blog → Resources → How to Get Rid of Armpit Odor – Eliminate Your BO
Body odor (BO) can be uncomfortable, embarrassing, and have a serious impact on our self-confidence. It can make us doubt ourselves, prevent us from participating in social situations, and lead to stigmatization. While many people struggle to find reliable, long-lasting solutions to the issue, Polygiene’s scientific odor control experience means we’re perfectly positioned to provide a few answers.
Whether you’re concerned about smelling on the morning commute, when hanging out with friends, or after a workout, there are multiple ways to tackle the problem. In this article, we give you 15 top tips on how to get rid of armpit odor and prevent it. In addition to helping you build effective anti-odor habits, we’ll also discuss the value of advanced textile technologies that keep you smelling fresher for longer.
To help eliminate armpit odor, we need to understand why our underarms smell in the first place. Our armpits feature one of the densest concentrations of sweat glands anywhere on the body. These sweat glands play a crucial role in temperature regulation, releasing moisture as we warm up to facilitate evaporative cooling. This is a process by which the heat energy from your body converts sweat into water vapor, transferring heat away from the body via evaporation.
So, sweating is an essential bodily function. But all is not lost, because sweat is actually largely odorless. Almost all of the body odors you associate with sweaty armpits are caused by the bacteria that thrive in damp, warm environments and the nutrients in your skin and perspiration. This means that we can eliminate armpit odor by taking a dual approach. First, we reduce sweating as much as possible. At the same time, we take measures to prevent the proliferation of odor-causing bacteria.
Armpits are particularly smelly spots and prone to BO for several key reasons. These include:
1. High sweat gland density
As we’ve already mentioned, the sweat glands under the arms are especially densely packed, so more sweat is produced in a smaller, more concentrated area. At the same time, they feature a higher number of apocrine glands, which produce sweat that’s particularly rich in the lipids and proteins bacteria require to grow. As such, they provide a better environment for bacterial growth.
2. Warm, moist, and lacking ventilation
The nature, position, and shape of the armpits (it’s a concavity squeezed between the arm and torso and often covered closely by clothing) mean they trap moisture, stay warm, and lack good airflow. All three of these factors encourage bacterial growth.
3. Hair and skin folds
Underarm hair and the folds in the skin trap moisture and provide excellent conditions for bacterial growth. They trap and retain microorganisms like bacteria, too. Slower evaporation means damper skin that’s more hospitable to microorganisms, while tricky-to-clean skin also means it’s harder to get rid of the bacteria responsible for the smells.
4. A unique microbiome
The armpits often host particularly odor-prone types of bacteria, too. These bacteria enjoy the moist environment and, given the right nutrients, are even more pungent than many of their fellow microorganisms.
Without further ado, here’s our top 15 armpit odor removal tips for anyone struggling with sweaty and smelly underarms.
1. Wear breathable clothes
Choose fabrics that are breathable and promote good airflow rather than trapping it close to the skin. The more breathable your fabric is, the less it allows heat to build up, reducing sweating and armpit odor-causing bacteria in the process. With this in mind, go for linen, bamboo, and merino wool fibers whenever possible.
2. Choose loose-fitting cuts
It’s not just the type of fabric that’s important. It’s also the cut and design. Choose loose-fitting cuts and avoid tight garments if possible. This further enhances airflow and circulation, resulting in better ventilation and less sweating and armpit odor.
3. Wear clothing treated with antibacterial solutions
Polygiene StayFresh™ is an advanced antibacterial solution that’s integrated into textiles during the product manufacturing process. By preventing the growth of bacteria in the fabric, it ensures clothes stay fresher for longer, boosts confidence, and reduces the need to wash items as regularly. Whenever you can, choose Polygiene-treated fabrics to stop bacterial growth and stop unpleasant smells in their tracks.
4. Be prepared to change your clothes
If you’re a heavy sweater and find that you quickly soak through a top or that your body odor tends to get into the fabric very easily, you may need to consider carrying a spare T-shirt or shirt with you. Though this requires a little preparation, a quick change will ensure the smell isn’t as strong (just make sure to wash your armpits at the same time, even if it’s a quick sink wash). Knowing you have a backup shirt is a welcome confidence boost, too.
5. Rotate your clothes regularly
Rotating your clothes so you’re not always wearing the same items over and over again will help keep them smell-free a little longer. Though it may be easier to pull on the top you wore yesterday, bacteria will already have begun to build up in the fabric, and you’ll start smelling more quickly.
6. Go for antiperspirant over deodorant
Many people mistakenly believe deodorants prevent sweating. They don’t. They just mask any smells that may arise as a result of your sweating. On the other hand, antiperspirants actively reduce armpit sweating by blocking sweat glands. If you can, choose an antiperspirant over a deodorant. As different brands and products work in distinct ways, you may have to shop around and try out a few alternatives before you find the right one for you.
7. Apply antiperspirant twice daily
Once you’ve found a good antiperspirant, make sure you apply it twice daily. Even the most effective products become less effective over time, and reapplication is a great way to top up the protection before things get out of hand. Try applying once in the morning after your shower and once at lunch. This will help limit armpit odor throughout the day.
8. Consider prescription-strength antiperspirants
While you can get some pretty decent antiperspirants online or from your local store, you may also want to take a look at prescription products. These will require your doctor’s approval, but they tend to be more effective and are a great option if the standard antiperspirants just aren’t cutting it. Prescription antiperspirants can help remove underarm odor permanently if used over several weeks.
9. Find a good antibacterial soap
Heavy sweaters can also wash with a mild antibacterial or antimicrobial soap when showering. This will reduce the bacterial load in the underarm area and, as we’ve established, fewer bacteria means less odor. We recommend you do a little research and go for gentle cleansers to avoid skin irritation or other complications.
10. Always shower
It may sound simple, but the single most important thing you can do to stop unpleasant underarm smells is to ensure you always start the day with a shower and, when possible, wash regularly throughout the day. When life’s busy and a lot’s going on, it can be tempting to pull on whatever clothes are around and rush out the door without showering, but that will make bad BO more likely.
11. Trim or shave armpit hair
Armpit hair can act as an effective odor trap, encouraging bad smells to accumulate. At the same time, it can make it more challenging to apply your antiperspirant properly. As such, keeping your underarm hair trimmed or shaved can be a good option if you struggle with heavy sweating and underarm smells.
12. Stay hydrated
Though common sense would suggest that the more water we drink, the more liquid we have to sweat out, it just doesn’t work like that. In fact, staying hydrated is really important when it comes to minimizing sweating and bad BO. If you’re well hydrated, your body regulates its temperature much more effectively and doesn’t have to rely on sweating for that control. This means less moisture, fewer bacteria, and no odors!
13. Watch your diet
As well as watching your H20 intake, you also need to think about what you’re eating. Certain foods – especially pungent ones like onion and garlic – often contribute to smellier sweat. Similarly, things like spicy foods and coffee can also have a big impact. This is usually a very personal thing. Every individual responds uniquely to foodstuffs, so it takes a bit of trial and error to find out what does and doesn’t work for you. Keeping a food diary can help you establish what foods make their way into your sweat and body odor.
14. Actively manage stress
Stress makes us sweaty. We all know that sweaty-palmed feeling when we’re nervous. And most people will have experienced an uncomfortable level of sweating before a big interview or work presentation. So managing stress is crucial if you’re going to keep armpit odor at bay. Stress management techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or squeeze balls may help reduce episodic sweating.
15. Look at alternative anti-odor agents
While a combination of antibacterial soap, antiperspirant, and Polygiene-treated clothing is by far the most effective solution to excess sweating and underarm odor, there are other agents you can incorporate into your hygiene regime. For instance, some people use natural agents like tea tree oil, witch hazel, or diluted grapefruit seed extract to help suppress bacterial activity on the skin. However, care must be taken to ensure that these do not irritate the skin or cause adverse reactions.
We’ve told you how to prevent smelly armpit odor,, but occasionally you may find yourself with sweaty, smelly underarms even after trying preventive measures. Here are a few armpit odor removal strategies you can use in an emergency.
The Polygiene Freshness portfolio includes our two principal anti-odor solutions, Polygiene® StayFresh and Polygiene® OdorCrunch.
Polygiene StayFresh is our advanced antibacterial odor control solution. It leverages an innovative silver ion solution to prevent bacterial growth in three main ways. First, it binds to the bacterial cell wall, preventing growth. Second, it disrupts enzyme functions and, as a result, energy production. Finally, it interferes with the bacterial cell’s DNA and replication. In doing so, the solution keeps textiles fresher for longer, stops odors in their tracks, and reduces the need for frequent washing.
Polygiene OdorCrunch tackles environmental odors, such as cooking smells, smoke, and certain body odors. It does so using a unique silica-based formula that captures and crunches the molecules responsible for bad smells, such as sulfur and nitrogen, that cling to fabric fibers. By absorbing, cracking, and releasing these smelly molecules, Polygiene OdorCrunch ensures they lose their potency and textiles retain their freshness.
Integrated quickly and easily into textiles during the manufacturing process, Polygiene solutions provide long-lasting, around-the-clock odor protection. They can be used individually or in combination, and are regularly used by brands looking to enhance the value of their apparel and meet the needs of consumers who demand more from their clothing. For instance, you can find Polygiene StayFresh, OdorCrunch, or a combination of the two in the following tops:
If you’re a clothing brand or textile manufacturer looking to enhance the value of your apparel and deliver consumers exactly what they’re looking for, partnering with Polygiene is the solution. With extensive experience and a dedicated marketing support system, we’re also set up to ensure you maximize customer awareness and promote the benefits of Polygiene technology in a way that drives measurable business growth.
Get in touch and speak to the Polygiene team today.
