Perfume and attar marks on clothes: removal and prevention

Why scent leaves a mark

Spray perfume is mostly alcohol carrying fragrance oils. The alcohol evaporates quickly, but the oils stay in the fibres, and some fragrance ingredients darken over time when exposed to air and light. That is why a spot you could not see on the day can appear as a pale yellow or brown patch weeks later, often after the garment has been stored.

Attar and oud oils are more concentrated and oil-based from the start, so they leave a darker, translucent ring straight away, a little like a drop of cooking oil. On silk and some dyed fabrics the alcohol in spray perfume can also shift the dye slightly, leaving a ring that looks like a watermark.

Treating washable fabrics

For cotton, lawn, cambric, linen and most polyester, this order works for both fresh spots and older ones. Do not iron or tumble dry until the mark has gone, because heat can fix oils and their yellowing in place.

• Blot fresh oil with kitchen paper. If it is still wet, cover it with cornflour or talc for a while to draw some out, then brush it off.
• Degrease from the back. Work a drop of washing-up liquid into the mark with a fingertip or a soft toothbrush and leave it for a few minutes.
• Rinse with warm water if the label allows, cool water if it does not.
• Wash as normal, then check the area in daylight before drying.
• For yellowed marks on white or colourfast fabric, soak in an oxygen-based stain remover made up as the packet says. Repeat rather than using anything stronger.

Silk, chiffon and embellished pieces

Leave these to a dry cleaner, and tell them the mark is perfume or attar oil and roughly how old it is. Rubbing water or detergent into silk often leaves a bigger ring than the one you started with, and a metallic thread or glued stone near the mark can be damaged by home treatment. The same applies to a printed silk or cotton silk kameez, where a strong treatment can lift colour along with the stain.

A sheer dupatta is the piece most often marked, because it sits right where scent is applied. Our chiffon guide explains how the fabric behaves, and our general stain removal guide covers food, makeup and henna marks on cotton.

Where to put scent so it stays off your clothes

Prevention is easier than removal. A few habits keep fragrance on you and off the fabric:

• Apply scent before you dress, to the skin at the wrists and behind the ears, and give it a few minutes to dry.
• Keep attar to the skin. Dab it on with the applicator rather than rubbing it into a cuff or dupatta.
• Never spray onto silk, chiffon, velvet or embroidery. If you like your clothes to carry scent, put a little on a cotton handkerchief or a card and keep it in your bag.
• Store perfume away from your wardrobe. Scent stored with clothes can transfer marks onto folded fabric, as our article on storing dupattas and embroidered suits explains.

If a favourite piece is past saving

Some old perfume marks on pale silk never fully clear. If a new outfit is the answer, we make women’s clothing to your measurements in Pakistan and ship it worldwide; read how custom stitching works or request a quote.