Quick tips: Costume Spray Mythbusting
CW: Alcohol
Costume spray is what you get when you mix a pure or pure-ish alcohol with water, spray it on your clothes, and then they magically don’t smell like sweat anymore!
Lots of costumers and everyday people swear by the stuff, but many people also treat it like a magical cure that only works when the almighty spirits governing our world are pleased, and one must not question the spirits or else the costume spray won’t work. I’ve seriously had people tell me that I don’t need to understand how it works as long as it works, and no, that’s just BS, so let’s talk about it.
Let’s begin by saying yes, it works, and it’s an amazing tool, and it can save you up to 50% or more on your dry cleaning. But understanding HOW it works and WHY it works isn’t going to change that.
Spraying vodka or rubbing alcohol on your clothes does not disinfect them. Vodka is 40% alcohol. Bacteria stay plenty happy and alive at 40% alcohol. You can put your garment in a tub of pure 40% alcohol and it will not kill the odor-causing bacteria.
The costume spray works because the alcohol binds to the sweat (well, the stinky byproducts of bacteria eating your sweat) and then takes the smell with it when it evaporates. This is similar to how soap works.
Spraying alcohol on your clothes does not clean them. If you ever get a chance to go into a theatre’s costume stock area, especially an old theatre company, check out the oldest pieces that are heavily jeweled or very old and can’t be washed (like tutus). You’ll see the built-up dirt and dust and stains
The fact is, there’s dirt and dust and parts of sweat that get in the fabric, and it doesn’t evaporate away. If your dress is dry clean only, you can extend the amount of time between dry cleanings with costume spray, but you can’t get rid of the need to do it entirely.
Spraying undiluted vodka onto a garment isn’t any better than diluting it to 20%. First of all, stronger isn’t always better. Life tip: get over the idea that nondiluted products are superior to ones diluted as the manufacturer suggests. If a half cup of bleach in a gallon of water kills 99% of bacteria on hard surfaces, that doesn’t mean straight bleach kills 100%. It just exposes you to undiluted bleach. If a single scoop of laundry soap cleans a load of laundry, five scoops won’t get them any cleaner. If 20% alcohol by volume will de-stink your clothes, 40% doesn’t necessarily get them less stinky.
(I usually use even less than the 20% alcohol that most people recommend. I go 1/3rd vodka and 2/3rd water, or 1:2 or ~13% ABV if my math is right)
And there’s a second concern when using straight vodka: there may be alcohol-soluble components of your garment (like dye or parts of the fibers or glue in fusibles) that will be absolutely fine when you spray the garment, but start to decay much more quickly when they’re saturated with a more concentrated version. Most importantly, it’s a waste of money. If you can get the same results for half the cost (because you added 50% water), why on earth would you spend double to get the exact same result?
Vodka isn’t better for deodorizing than rubbing alcohol. I see people say that it’s because isporopyl is “manufactured” or “synthetic” and ethanol is “natural.” Your clothes seriously do not care if they’re being sprayed with GMOs or how natural your detergent is. The whole point of this technique is that the spraying agent evaporates away, so it’s not left in your clothes.
The secret is that you want roughly 20% alcohol, or less. This means if you’re using 92% rubbing alcohol, you can dilute it 4 parts water to 1 part alcohol. If you’re using 80 proof vodka, you can dilute it 1:1.
In the part of the USA that I live in, the liquor tax I just paid on 1.75l of vodka was under $1, but in some states there’s a flat $25 tax per bottle or even more. Depending on where you are, how old you are, what your local taxes are, and numerous other reasons, you might not want to use vodka. You can use rubbing alcohol (and can get the cheap 50% stuff from dollar tree) or solvent alcohol/denatured alcohol from the hardware store. Solvent alcohol is about 98% pure ethanol with a bitterant to stop people from drinking it.
Due to different dilution ratios, as well as local regulations having an effect on what you can get, vodka might not be your most cost-effective option.
I have a slight preference for vodka over iso. The smell of your spray evaporates completely when it’s dry, but it does stink up the room while you’re spraying, and I mildly prefer to smell like a cheap bar than a doctor’s office. It’s a very mild preference, but it’s mine.
How do I make and use costume spray?
Costume spray is very easy: mix up your alcohol and your water until the dilution is about 20% alcohol by volume. Put it in a spray bottle. Label that spray bottle.
I then like to take a drop of food coloring, mix it in about 1/4 cup of water, and then add two drops of that to my costume spray. This won’t color the water enough to have an effect on the clothing, but it makes it look like something that’s not water. It helps me tell at a distance which bottle is costume spray and which one is ironing water.
To use it, I like to put the garment inside-out on a hanger, and then just spray. You don’t need to make the fabric wet, but you do want to give it more than a couple of sprays. I usually spray armpits first, then the back, then the front, and maybe then armpits again. Spray lightly, wait for it to dry (which should be fast), and give it a sniff. If it’s still ripe, give it another spray all over.
In addition to making smells go away, the fabric usually feels cleaner. It’s not going to feel like it just came from the dry cleaner, but they usually feel better than if you hadn’t sprayed them at all. In addition to evaporating sweat smells, alcohol binds to grease and breaks up the chains of fats that hold them together. Costume spray doesn’t make that oil go anywhere, but it makes it feel like it went somewhere.
What should I use costume spray on?
Is it stinky? Did you wear some nice AP on a day that got too hot? Has it been in storage and smells musty? Do you really wish it was a little cleaner but don’t have the time? Did you wear it for part of yesterday and want to wear it again today? Does it look okay but you want to feel like you did some indefinable something to it?
Go for it.
Is it something that absolutely can’t get wet? Give it a light spray. It usually helps.
What shouldn’t you use it on?
Anything really dirty. Anything that absolutely has to go to the laundry. Anything that you know will run when it gets even a little wet.
When it has to go to the dry cleaner, send it to the dry cleaner. You can end up messing some garments up if they stay dirty for too long.
Well, anyway, since my show’s in tech and I don’t have any free time to do anything that isn’t directly related to either the show or personal hygeine, I hope you have enjoyed this quick post about laundry.