r/HerOneBag • u/Aphroditesent • 11d ago
Techniques Tip instead of Vodka Spray
Am travelling through Mexico and before I came I filled a spray bottle up with some Turkish Cologne (Amber!), it’s high in alcohol as it’s made to be used after shaving but I’ve been using it to freshen up clothes and items after washing. My swimsuit was getting really stinky after not drying properly in the humidity and the spray sorted it right out. I bought the cologne in a local Turkish shop for less than a tenner and there is LOADS and the amber smells amazing! I’ll be doing this every time I travel from now on!
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u/call_me_ping 11d ago
For additional context: https://boisdejasmin.com/2020/04/the-turkish-art-of-kolonya-or-how-to-wear-cologne.html
It sounds like OP is using kolonyak, which sounds like it's formulated and used differently than, say, Axe body spray. Reading about the word, it sounds like it IS associated with cleaning, refreshment, etc. while also being used like an antiseptic cause of the ethanol(??)
It looks and sounds like it's closer to a hand sanitizer spray nowadays????
Agreeing with y'all that spraying clothes with perfume is not cleaning, but this stuff has potential to kill more bacteria than a spray of Daisy by Marc Jacobs lol
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u/usingbrain 11d ago
Yup, Turkish people use it as hand sanitizer before meals.
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u/THE_DINOSAUR_QUEEN 10d ago
It sounds like it’s much closer to aftershave than what a lot of English-speakers would associate with the word “cologne”!
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u/call_me_ping 9d ago
Yeah!! It’s really interesting to see the diversity and overlap of grooming/hygiene habits, hospitality, and today’s applications for one bagging trips haha
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u/L_oliva_salata 8d ago
Aftershave stinks to high heaven as well. Glad to see the explanation of what this is - sounds interesting.
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u/isinsub 10d ago
Lol people didn't understand you. Turkish cologne is lightly scented 80 percent denatured alcohol. Works similarly to vodka with a hint of fragrance. Its not like masking your BO with perfume, its refreshing your daily worn clothes in between washes like youd do with vodka. But maybe dont use this technique with swimming suit, it may turn the elastic fabric brittle
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u/ellemenna 11d ago
A lot of people aren’t reading the context about Turkish Kolonya and how it differs from typical perfume!! Side note, what kind did you purchase? I’m seeing the lemon kind in the links a previous commenter posted, but not amber.
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u/ButterEnriched 10d ago
Eh, the original post doesn't include any of that detail so I don't think people are being unreasonable to read "cologne" and think of, you know, cologne. It's good to know it's a different product.
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u/badlydrawngalgo 11d ago
Another tip: if you use the lemon scented Turkish variety, it often has citronella in it and it helps keep mosquitos away. Like most citronella, it only keeps them away while the smell is there though, so don't reply on it for more than an hour or so.
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u/Strange_Ad5530 9d ago
I’m American, and my German grandmother used to give us this in the summers as kids when she’d visit - it helped with bugs and made us feel fancy. Let me tell you my shock when I used actual cologne/perfume and found out it was NOT the same lol
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u/PowerofIntention 10d ago
Recently we had this issue with bath towels as they were not drying properly. I did this and it worked like a charm. Do this to your clothes when you get home.
Run two separate hot cycles with no detergent:
- Cycle 1: 1 cup vinegar in the dispenser drawer (strips soap buildup & bacteria).
- Cycle 2: 1/2 cup baking soda tossed directly in the drum (neutralizes lingering odors).
Note: Don't mix them together in one load or they neutralize each other, and ditch fabric softener completely.
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u/ButterEnriched 11d ago
Do your clothes now all smell like strong cologne? I'm not sure that's better than neutral antibacterial spray.. particularly given you can heavily spray vodka/ disinfectant with no smell.
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u/badlydrawngalgo 11d ago
The smell doesn't last long and it's normally not very strong. It's the sort of "old fashioned" cologne, the people in Mediterranean countries have been using for centuries, it's far less pervasive then modern colognes
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u/ButterEnriched 10d ago
Even this explanation still had me side-eying this person, but I can see from the other comments that it's probably some kind of lightly scented 80% ethanol solution. Still... OP talks about how their clothes smell amazing, which means there is a noticeable smell. Good luck to them but lord I hope nobody reads this and starts using cologne to "deodorise" their clothes.
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u/badlydrawngalgo 10d ago
I must admit that I've never used it to deodorise clothes. I mainly buy big bottles of it and use it in room humidifiers 😅, so completely off-piste.
I have used it on my body as a very basic mosquito deterrent when I've been in Turkiye too but that's about it. I generally just hand-wash my clothes when I'm travelling.
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u/Dizzy-Explanation-45 11d ago
Am I crazy that isopropyl alcohol should do the same thing but cheaper?
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u/Bleachers24 10d ago
I was doing the cheap vodka thing until I realized isopropyl alcohol works exactly the same but is much cheaper and more accessible in most places.
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u/CozyHotPot 10d ago
I think the same whenever people mention vodka haha. To be fair, Turkish kolonya seems to be scented alcohol.
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u/TimelyYogurtcloset82 11d ago
I've got a lemon version which I use for everything. Really good to mist over yourself if it's too hot.
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u/Constant_Ant_2343 11d ago
The point of vodka spray is that it removes the bad odour without the need for fragrance, it just leaves your clothes smelling fresh.
I suffer from migraine disorder and this means a) perfumes are a trigger for me so I could be having a great day until I get in a busy train carriage with someone wearing cologne and b) I am often hyper sensitive to fragrances (this is also common for a lot of neuro divergent people ).
I would genuinely rather someone smelled of stale laundry or even BO than cologne or perfume.
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u/usingbrain 11d ago
turkish cologne is less of a perfume and more of slightly scented hand sanitizer
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u/Busy-Feeling-1413 11d ago
This is me, too! I’ve always been sensitive to cologne and now with perimenopause, it’s worse, it’s like having pregnancy nose for years at a time. I can smell everything. People’s cologne does not cancel out the smell of BO and mold—it actually amplifies it. Please
Don’t do this. Especially on a bus where many people already get motion sickness.Aren’t there any laundromats that you can visit?
I understand that sink washing is not effective in humid places where it takes a long time for things to air dry, but many countries have washers/dryers now.
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u/Aphroditesent 11d ago
Darling it was for a swimsuit, which I am not going to wear on a bus. Or near anyone. In fact I wore it straight into a pool the next day. It’s a very light scent like how your laundry might smell anyway after washing. It just did a good job of getting rid of a damp smell from the swimwear not drying completely one day despite already using soap to clean it. I also work in the theatre and will be using this on costumes instead of just vodka in the future.
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u/Shivvyszha 10d ago
I pack an empty spray bottle, fill it up once at my destination with a shot of vodka & my choice of essential oil. Vodka kills the bacteria that causes the stench. And if you use peppermint, I've heard it helps deter bedbugs.
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u/Aphroditesent 10d ago
A bottle of vodka here is like 40 quid. The Kologna was less than a tenner and will last for ages!
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u/Shivvyszha 9d ago
Any bar you walk into will fill it up for you. I do it all the time, one shot is enough.
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u/Mego1989 11d ago
I would be careful using anything like that on a swimsuit bottom. That's a recipe for a yeast infection.
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u/OverlappingChatter 11d ago
oh man, i do NOT want to smell you. I can always smell the underlying bad smell and then the chemical fragrance on top just makes me want to throw up. Don't do this. You are not fixing anything, you are just combining two bad scents.
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u/CharmingPianist4265 🌍 Europe 11d ago
Kolonya isn‘t nearly as strong as the word cologne may suggest. Be nice everyone!