"Persistent Musty Odor Despite Repeated Washing" ... Tackling the Source of Stubborn Sweat Smells in Workout Clothes Boosted Sales by 316% [Interview]

Interview with Jeonghee Won, Head of the Fabric Care Research Team at LG Household & Health Care

"If you have any smelly towels at home, please don't throw them away—bring them to us instead."

For a while, the Fabric Care Research Team at LG Household & Health Care treated "smelly laundry" as a prized commodity. In order to develop a detergent that tackles sour laundry odors, they first needed to secure textiles deeply permeated with foul smells. Researchers brought towels, pillowcases, and jeans from their own homes, and asked friends and acquaintances, "If you have any laundry that reeks, please keep it for us." The worse the smell, the more valuable the sample was for research.

Taking out the finished laundry from the washing machine. Photo by Getty Images

Some researchers even set out to create "smelly workout clothes" themselves. For a week, they would store their running gear in a zip-lock bag without washing it and wear it again the next day, repeating the process. When news of the project spread, a colleague from an affiliated department offered up their own item for testing, saying, "No matter how much I wash the urethane part of this waist belt, the smell just doesn't go away." To verify the product's deodorizing power, researchers roamed in search of odorous laundry, to the point of "begging" for foul-smelling samples.

As challenging as it was to collect these samples, objectively assessing whether the odor had truly disappeared was even harder. Unlike stains, which can be visually compared before and after washing, odors are more complex. Results varied depending on the quantity of odor-causing compounds, the composition of microorganisms, and laundry or drying conditions—not to mention individual differences in smell sensitivity. Sometimes, clothes seemed fine right after washing, but a lingering odor would return when the fabric got damp or was worn again. The research team had to repeatedly recreate real-life conditions and establish new methods to evaluate odors.

Junghui Won, Head of Fabric Care Research Team at LG Household & Health Care.

Junghui Won, Head of the Fabric Care Research Team at LG Household & Health Care, said, "While stains can be checked visually, it was much more difficult to assess product performance for odors, since factors like washing and drying conditions as well as individual perception all varied. Because this product addresses odors that arise in everyday life, it was crucial to evaluate its performance repeatedly under a range of real-world conditions."

Even more unpleasant tasks unfolded in the lab: the team had to handle "4M3H," the main odor molecule produced by Moraxella bacteria. Even at an extremely low concentration of 0.1 ppm—one part in ten million—this compound produces the signature sour smell of laundry. A minor mishap during experiments could fill the entire lab with the odor. In severe cases, fellow researchers on the same floor would leave their desks, and after wearing clothes tainted with the smell home, some team members found commuters naturally distancing themselves on the subway.

The product that emerged after this long, odorous quest is "Pity Moraxella" from LG Household & Health Care. Won commented, "Ironically, while developing a deodorizing detergent, we ended up seeking out smelly towels. At one point, these odorous towels became rare and almost like treasure within the lab," she said, laughing.

The genesis of the product was a fresh look at customers. The research team focused on single- and dual-person households, often made up of working professionals. These consumers valued efficiency over spending lots of time on chores, and unlike in the past, were reluctant to go through laborious extra steps like boiling laundry or using additional odor-removing treatments. Surveys confirmed that "sour laundry smell" was among their top laundry-related concerns.

Won explained, "In the past, the emphasis for detergents was on cleaning power, but this time we started by examining why customers keep experiencing the same inconvenience. We found a clear need: they didn't want to spend extra time to eliminate odors, but rather preferred the problem be solved seamlessly during their regular wash cycle."

The team dug into the question, "Why does laundry still smell after washing?" Literature pointed to Moraxella as a major odor-causing microorganism, so the team wanted to see if this held true for household laundry as well. Analysis on towels brought from researchers' homes found Moraxella present in all samples. In some cases, Moraxella made up over 99% of all microorganisms on a towel.

LG Household & Health Care's Pity Moraxella Odor-Removing Laundry Detergent.

Moraxella feeds on contaminants like sebum left on fabrics and generates the odor molecule "4M3H (4-Methyl-3-hexenoic acid)." If sebum or Moraxella residues remain even after washing, the smell can return. According to the team, this is not a summer-only issue—odors may resurface in any season as long as Moraxella and contaminants are present on fabrics.

This is precisely where Pity Moraxella distinguishes itself from conventional detergents. While traditional products focus on removing stains and grime, this detergent is designed not to mask odors with fragrance, but to eliminate the very source of the smell. Drawing on over 60 years of LG Household & Health Care's expertise in laundry detergents, the product employs 15 types of deodorizing ingredients, including enzymes, phytoncides, and other odor-specific components. Its powerful cleansing action washes away both sebum and Moraxella—the bacteria's food sources—then removes the 4M3H compound to prevent recurring sour odors in laundry.

Deliberately including the lesser-known microbial name "Moraxella" in the product title was a strategic choice. Several alternative names were considered early on. Won said, "We worried that it might be too unfamiliar, so we asked consumers several times. But we felt we could explain the odor's cause intuitively, and convey our product's scientific credibility and authenticity, by putting 'Moraxella' front and center."

After about 18 months of customer surveys and product trials, the first product in the line—the Cotton Booster—debuted in July 2024. Launching with a booster, a single-use capsule added with each wash rather than a traditional liquid detergent, targeted young consumers keen on household efficiency. Responding to customer feedback, LG Household & Health Care then expanded the lineup with liquid detergents, sports detergents, deodorizers, and fabric softeners.

Market response surpassed all expectations. In July, the liquid detergent topped the laundry detergent sales ranking on Coupang, and from January to July 2024, sales of Pity Moraxella detergent jumped 316% year-on-year. Won noted, "We were confident in the product's performance, but didn't anticipate explosive growth in such a short time. I believe customers who related to laundry odor problems tried the product themselves and then spread the word."

What the team remembers most are individual customer reactions rather than numbers. On social media, posts like "The secret to starting the day on a happy note—Pity Moraxella" racked up 300,000 views, while other users commented, "I feel grateful to LG Household & Health Care every day," and "I love it. I can't live without it."

Won said, "Even towels at my own home used to smell, but after using this product, I can't use anything else. At first, it was tough just to find smelly towels for testing, and even harder to objectively judge the odors, but the greatest reward is hearing that customers actually noticed the difference in their daily lives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.