The stronger the hot pot smell, the more additives it has? What is it that is stuck on your clothes?

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi

Postdoctoral fellow in Nutrition and Food Safety, China Agricultural University

Whenever friends get together and worry about what to eat, hotpot becomes the best choice. Who doesn’t love spicy and delicious hotpot? After the “hotpot party” is over, we will find that our clothes are full of smell!

Source: pixabay

So why do clothes smell so strongly of hot pot? And how can we get rid of this smell?

Why does hot pot smell so strong?

When eating hot pot, it must be fragrant and spicy to be enjoyable. There are many different opinions about this "hot pot smell". Some people say it is the additives in the hot pot, some say it is caused by nitrite , and some say it is caused by a seasoning called "a drop of fragrance".

It is quite normal for hot pot to contain nitrite, as long as the content does not exceed the standard, because nitrite is widely present in hot pot ingredients. After the ingredients are put into the pot, the nitrite in them will enter the soup as they are cooked. "A drop of fragrance" is a flavor food additive, which is an additive allowed in my country. But these two statements cannot actually explain the lingering hot pot smell on clothes.

In fact, the hot pot smell on clothes comes from volatile small molecules . When hot pot is cooked, the oils in the hot pot base, various meat ingredients, and spices will evaporate into the air during the continuous heating and boiling process. These small molecules will then attach to clothes, and when we taste hot pot, the smell on our bodies will become stronger and stronger.

So, what determines the strength of the hot pot flavor?

Sweaters are a material that easily absorbs odors. Source: pexels

The retention time of these odor molecules on clothes is related to the material of the clothes and the ventilation of the hot pot restaurant. The softer and fluffier the clothes are, such as sweaters and down jackets worn in winter, the easier it is to absorb these small molecules.

Some hot pot restaurants will prepare some plastic bags for storing coats to reduce the smell on clothes. If the hot pot restaurant cannot provide continuous ventilation, the longer you stay in it, the stronger the smell on your clothes will be.

Eating clear soup pot will make the smell on clothes lighter Source｜pexels

At the same time, the choice of soup base will also affect the taste. For example, some people are not used to eating chili peppers, so they will order a clear soup pot, and the taste will be much lighter than that of the chili oil hot pot.

How to remove the hot pot smell

One of the most concerning issues for many people is how to quickly get rid of the smell after a hearty hot pot meal. Today, I will tell you a few good ways to quickly get rid of the smell.

1. Steam method

After eating hot pot, in order to get rid of the hot pot smell on your body, you can take a hot bath when you get home. After taking a bath, the bathroom will be shrouded in steam. At this time, you can hang the clothes with the hot pot smell in the bathroom, close the door, and let the odor molecules attached to them have "intimate contact" with the steam.

Source: pexels

After the steam in the bathroom has dissipated, take out the clothes and place them in a well-ventilated place such as a balcony to let them blow. Once the clothes are dry, the hot pot smell will disappear. If conditions permit, you can also use a humidifier to remove the odor molecules through the water vapor it produces when it is working.

2. Spray lemon water

You can put some water in a small spray bottle, then drop one or two drops of lemon juice, shake it well and spray it on the clothes. Then hang the clothes in a ventilated place, and the hot pot smell will be basically eliminated.

Because amines are the main component of hot pot odor, the citric acid in lemon will dissolve the volatilized amines and other small molecules, thereby achieving the purpose of deodorization. In addition, the fragrance of lemon itself can also cover up the odor of hot pot.

Source: pexels

If you don't have lemon, you can just spray water, but the effect will be less effective. Try not to use perfume to cover up the smell of hot pot on your clothes, because the smell of perfume and hot pot mixed together will only make the clothes smell worse.

3. Use a hair dryer

Turn on the hair dryer to the hot air setting and blow it repeatedly on the clothes for about 7 minutes. The advantage of this method is that it works quickly and does not get the clothes wet.

In addition, we can also prepare before eating hot pot to prevent clothes from being stained with odor. According to professionals in the laundry, denim fabrics are the least likely to be stained with odors, followed by chemical fiber fabrics. Sweaters and down jackets often worn in winter are the most likely to "absorb odors." Therefore, when eating hot pot, you can put on a denim or chemical fiber apron on the outside of your clothes to reduce the odor.