How to Get the Stink Out of Gym Clothes
After a hardcore workout, the last thing you want to do is deal with laundry. Unfortunately, leaving your rotten gym clothes in a pile on the bathroom floor for a week will definitely make the situation worse. “Most gym clothes are made of fibers that repel waters, such as Spandex or Lycra. In order to wash these garments properly, water has to penetrate the clothing fibers,” said Eduardo Herrara of Slate NYC dry cleaners, a fully integrated laundry and dry cleaning service used by establishments like Bergdorf Goodman and SoHo House New York.
Other water repellants include detergent, skin oils and fabric softener. In order to combat this process, Herrera suggests pre-treating all gym items:
1. Dilute one ounce of laundry detergent in a half gallon of warm water.
2. Squeeze an entire lemon’s worth of juice into the solution. The citric acid helps to break up oils from the skin, especially useful for those foul-smelling gym socks.
3. Gently scrub the armpits, neckline, the bottom of your gym bag, and any other odorous areas with the solution and a brush before washing.
Herrera warns, “It is very important to check washing machine capacity and fill it to three quarters of the total for heavily soiled items like gym clothes.”
Use warm water on a regular cycle then, during the rinse cycle, add two ounces of white vinegar. Vinegar is great for killing bacteria. Tumble dry at a low temperature. If you can still smell sweat, repeat the process a few times until the garments and bags smell funk-free.
A great way to prevent bacteria build-up is to spray down your gym bag with vinegar between washes. NOTE: Limit soap to half of the amount used for regular clothes, and ditch the fabric softener. Increasing soap only works to increase water viscosity, which will stop the water from penetrating and ultimately, cleaning the clothes.
-Men’s Fitness
