I get asked this quite often and I thought it might be useful to put the Hanafi answer on my blog.

Question:

Will our prayers an salath be accepted by almighty if the dresss we were has alcoholic perfume on it or deo on our body?

Answer:

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits. Non-wine alcohol is not ritually impure. As a result, it is permitted in external uses, such as in perfumes and soaps. [Mufti Taqi Usmani, Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim; Shaykh Mustafa Zarqa, Fatawa]

It is, therefore, permitted to pray wearing such perfume or deodorant. However, one would be rewarded if one avoided it out of scrupulousness, though there is no intrinsic legal dislike in using them in the Hanafi school. This is because this is a matter of legal difference of opinion and it is recommended to avoid that which is genuinely differed upon.

Please see the following related SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):

Is using alcohol in any form haram?

Jazakum Allah khayr.
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani

Source: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?id=14424&hd=1&cate=0&t=rss