Hitting the gym is awesome. Getting exercise is awesome. Staying fit is awesome. What’s not awesome? Stinky gym clothes. Gag. Of course they’re going to be gross after you’ve been sweating non-stop for an hour or so. They contain all sorts of bacteria, all sorts of bodily fluid. And they typically are crazy smelly. So how do you fix that when a regular old wash won’t do?
- Dry ‘Em: You need to give them time to dry out before you start the cleaning process. If you just toss them into a laundry basket, bacteria will grow and the smell will get so much worse!! They need to be placed in a space where they can dry out before you place them in the laundry if you can’t wash them right away.
- Soak ‘Em: Before you toss them in the wash, soak them in a mixture of 4 cups of water/1 cup of vinegar. You can soak them for a few hours or overnight if they’re super gross. Then pluck them from the soak and toss them right into the washing machine.
- Wash ‘Em: But use very little detergent and no fabric softener. Sounds weird, right? Well actually, too much of either of those will clog up the fibers of your clothes and affect their wicking ability. If you’ve followed the first two steps, an excess amount of detergent or fabric softener won’t be necessary! You can always toss in a cup of vinegar right into the wash if your clothes are extra icky.
- Freeze ‘Em: If you’ve tried all 3 steps and your clothes come out still reeking, it’s time to go to extremes. Place your dried clothes in the freezer for a few days. Yep. The freezer. It kills bacteria dead and will hopefully be just what you need to finally get those gym clothes smelling fresh again!
Any tried and true methods all you gym rats use to get your clothes clean? Do tell!
~Mavis
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Rosaleen says
Atsko Sport Wash is a good start for synthetics. If they REALLY stink (like backpacker’s clothing usually does), it also helps to disinfect clothes. All that bacteria build up that Mavis mentioned sometimes actually needs to be , not just washed. Some sort of oxidizer or germ killer helps here-oxygen bleach, borax, whatever is available. On the trail, one of my friends was presoaking clothes, using a little very diliuted chorine-based stuff he uses to make his drinking water safe. I never was brave or desperate enough to risk bleaching the color out of my trail clothes. I supposed I could get over that.
Deborah says
Mavis, I renamed my bathroom (John) to Jim. Now, I go to the Jim everyday. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. Have a great day, everyone.
Kristina says
Also, line drying can help. Sunlight is awesome for so many reasons.
Deborah says
I have good luck with getting the teenager (boy) stink out by using the detergent found in the hunting department of stores like Walmart. It gets rid of the “human” smell. It is expensive, but you just use a small amount. It should work on gym clothes too.
We buy and sell used clothing so this is also helpful to get the “thrift store odor” out of our purchases.
KCB says
When my husband was flying he often would preflight in 100 degree weather in lower Alabama. Then fly in that heat. His flight suits & undershirts were horrible, stinky, sweat stained messes. I used 20 Mule Team Borax in the wash. That seemed to be the only thing that would destink & destain them.