My Secret Shame

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  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,283 Member
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    ... and when you finally realize that yes, your clothes are quite ripe and rank, give them a good wash, make a small spray bottle of Sink the Stink, wet 'em down and let 'em dry.

    Leaving them in the sun for a day can help. The UV kills things, too. It also will shorten the life of your fabrics.

    The concern about cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins is real. If you can, look for phosphate-free soaps and detergents. @dewd2 mentioned specialty detergents. They are formulated to clean high-tech synthetics and rinse clean without affecting the properties of the fabrics. Try them if you can find them, and for sure, avoid liquid laundry soap; it almost always has fabric softeners which are really hard on synthetic fabrics. As long as we're on the topic of environmental impacts of washing clothes, even where there are ample supplies of water and no threat of shortage, it takes energy to pump all that water around, and heated water uses even more energy.

    But you already know that. Don't let it keep you from trying to get the stink out of modern high-tech fabrics.
  • Analog_Kid
    Analog_Kid Posts: 976 Member
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    neugebauer52 wrote: »
    I avoid plastic rubbish clothing and stick to natural fibres.

    I generally agree, but the problem is 100% cotton is getting very hard to find.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    Tread lightly with the baking soda. It's fine to throw your clothes into a tub with baking soda and vinegar and toss the water out but not down the drain. These brand new front loader washing machines can become easily clogged with dried baking soda....the drain pump filters. Ditto with old washers and bathtub drains. Then it's another process to rid the drain of clumped baking soda. Apple cider vinegar with washing detergent is fine and rinse twice if the vinegar residue is still there.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,283 Member
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    Don't use baking soda AND vinegar. Big mess, and they will neutralize each other.

    Baking soda treatment is very temporary. It seems to be able to neutralize the chemical that stinks. It does not necessarily eliminate the cause of the odor. Vinegar is an acid and can kill the organisms that make the stink. If you use them both, don't use them together. Vinegar reacts with baking soda and forms a lot of CO2. You actually can make a reasonably good drain cleaner by stuffing baking soda in a slow drain and pouring BOILING water over it. It creates a mild base that can react with soap build-up in the drain and get it flowing again.

    I've never heard of baking soda causing blockages since it dissolves in water. I suppose it could happen, but it should be self limiting. Adding vinegar will surely get rid of that. So would an empty load with really hot water.

    My experience is that even the vinegar only lasts for a while.

    I have a thermal layer I don't wear to paddle anymore. I wear it every now and then for warmth, and it starts to stink pretty quickly. I sometimes use it for pool sessions (roll practice). I find that the pool chlorine also kills the stinky stuff and keeps it away as long as Sink the Stink. I also know chlorine is tough on fabrics, so I only use this one, old, too-big top for the pool. It is definitely getting more threadbare from the chlorine.

    Cooking vinegar is only about 5% acetic acid. If you can find stronger vinegar, it should be more effective since you're already diluting it in the washing machine. I suspect the kill is more effective if you use it in a final rinse and don't fully rinse it out. Let that acetic acid work! But that's just a guess.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    https://observer.com/2017/08/how-to-wash-sweaty-workout-clothes/


    "Let the brew soak for an hour before dumping all gym gear into the washing machine with one cup of white vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda.

    Whatever you do, think dry. Odor-causing bacteria thrive in the damp, so don’t let your sweaty clothes ferment in the hamper."
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    mtaratoot wrote: »
    This makes no sense to me. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaCO3). Vinegar is acetic acid (CH3-COOH). When you combine them, they disassociate into sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water. I don't think sodium acetate will kill microbes, but acetic acid will.

    But if it works -- go for it!

    Generally, when I use baking soda and vinegar in my laundry, the baking soda goes in with the detergent and the vinegar goes into the *second rinse cycle* and it's primarily added to counter hard water residue, rather than bacteria.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,423 Member
    edited November 2019
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    My 16 year old daughter plays high level girls hockey. Tournament weekends have 4-5 games, practice weekends 3 eighty minute ice sessions. During the week she is on the ice three times at roughly an hour a session. Her gear resides in a mostly vinyl hockey bag, though it gets aired out (tournament and practice weekends) or hung in a special purpose dryer after at home practices. It smells revolting.

    The best thing we've found is basic distilled white vinegar. Every couple weeks we chunk everything that can be washed in the washer with 1-2 cups of white vinegar, use the heavy duty cycle and extra rinse. Kills the funk so she can start funking it up again, lol.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,283 Member
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    ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    This makes no sense to me. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaCO3). Vinegar is acetic acid (CH3-COOH). When you combine them, they disassociate into sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water. I don't think sodium acetate will kill microbes, but acetic acid will.

    But if it works -- go for it!

    Generally, when I use baking soda and vinegar in my laundry, the baking soda goes in with the detergent and the vinegar goes into the *second rinse cycle* and it's primarily added to counter hard water residue, rather than bacteria.

    Now THAT makes sense! Putting them in together didn't sound right. I forget the machines can dose up the water at different stages. Maybe I'll put some vinegar in my final rinse receptacle.

    If it truly was the final rinse water, I could put the enzyme in that compartment, but I think my machine keeps squirting a little more water through the laundry as it spins just to make sure it gets a good rinse because it's pretty water efficient. The last squirts would wash out the enzyme, or at least some of it. I'll stick to my spray bottle. Full dose assured.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I've found that a scoop of Borax along with the usual detergent gets the stench out of my workout clothes.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I notice a few people "disagreeing" with tips on how not to pollute the country. :disappointed:

    The people giving tips aren't saying anyone caused any harm on purpose.

    We're all in this together, exercising, posting, learning - for the love of enjoying Life!! :heart:

    Very smart.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Now THAT makes sense! Putting them in together didn't sound right. I forget the machines can dose up the water at different stages. Maybe I'll put some vinegar in my final rinse receptacle.

    If it truly was the final rinse water, I could put the enzyme in that compartment, but I think my machine keeps squirting a little more water through the laundry as it spins just to make sure it gets a good rinse because it's pretty water efficient. The last squirts would wash out the enzyme, or at least some of it. I'll stick to my spray bottle. Full dose assured.

    I have an old top-loading Maytag from the 1970's that I purchased from a laundromat specifically for laundering my baby's cloth diapers about 9 years ago...

    I just rudely interrupt the cycle and dump stuff in whenever it's appropriate, and that sucker is so loud, I can tell from the floor above, when a different washing phase has started.

    I keep thinking I might switch to a higher efficiency alternative, but the washer isn't dead, so I'm loathe to replace it until it is.

    Plus, the basement steps are only 30" wide, and shopping for anything that will FIT down there is a depressing activity that I'd like to put off for as long as possible. ;-)
  • daltontf
    daltontf Posts: 63 Member
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    Have hockey playing son, found that "Sweat X Sport Extreme Laundry Detergent" is also good for other sweaty items as well.
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    edited November 2019
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    This is not something that everyone can do, but when my front loader washer (they are awful junk and don’t use enough water to get the clothes clean) needed a repair that was too expensive to be worth fixing even with us doing it ourselves, the new washer/dryer set we got was speed queen. They actually use enough water to get the clothes clean, and it makes a HUGE difference. It’s the closest thing to your Mama’s Maytags that lasted 25-30+ years that I’ve seen on the market lately.
    Aside from that, as others have mentioned, white vinegar did help. Also, using wash soda or oxiclean to boost the detergent helped. I’ve even soaked the clothes in the sink with about a capfull of lemon pine sol, and that worked great but it’s not something you’d want to do on all colors because it may cause some to fade. It may also be that you need to give your washing machine a good clean. Your manual should have instructions for what parts are recommended for you to clean and how to get to them to clean them.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I've noticed that some are much better than others for avoiding the stink. Probably depends on the person which ones are going to work. But it's worth experimenting.

    Merino wool is great for avoiding body odor, but when it's soaked it can have the wet sheep smell.
  • Goober1142
    Goober1142 Posts: 219 Member
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    Ammonia in with the detergent works well
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    I've noticed that some are much better than others for avoiding the stink. Probably depends on the person which ones are going to work. But it's worth experimenting.

    Merino wool is great for avoiding body odor, but when it's soaked it can have the wet sheep smell.

    Water quality is a huge factor.

    As an aside, natural fibers from *animals* (wool/silk) need to be reset to an acidic environment (most laundry detergent being somewhat basic/alkaline) with vinegar in the rinse water. Natural fibers from *plants* (cotton/linen) prefer a slightly basic environment and do well with bleach and NO vinegar rinse. :)

    Sad things happen if you bleach your silk and wool. Lemon juice and sunlight are the best if you need to whiten an animal fiber garment.

    "Love, Grandma"
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited November 2019
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    Orphia wrote: »
    All this extra rinsing... :neutral:

    No wonder there are town water shortages, shrinking lakes and rivers, and bleach and detergent runoff causing algal blooms killing fish and plankton in oceans.

    Unless the Stink Police are asking you to leave the gym due to offensive odours, I'd try not to care too much about noticing your own sweat after a workout and needing to nuke the clothes from orbit. :smile:

    I kindly suggest asking a friend if any bad smell is noticeable nearby after a normal wash before being too ashamed of yourself. :heart:
    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    I notice a few people "disagreeing" with tips on how not to pollute the country. :disappointed:

    The people giving tips aren't saying anyone caused any harm on purpose.

    Sorry if anyone thought that was the intention.

    We're all in this together, exercising, posting, learning - for the love of enjoying Life!! :heart:

    I was one that disagreed. I love your sentiment (and agree with it), but it's not the bleach causing algae blooms -- it's mainly the agricultural run off and all the people wanting pristine lawns burying them in fertilizers. I've worked with algae startups (grown intentionally for supplements and fuel, when they thought biofuel from algae made sense). Bleach would actually kill algae. I don't like extra rinse cycles either, BTW. But if anyone wants to do anything about algae, start with demanding better sustainable agriculture and stop using Round-Up and Fertilizer on every dang weed in yards. When I lived in Ohio, I manually weeded, spot weeded (with Strong Vinegar and Orange Essential Oil) and let my yard go back to being more natural -- clover, wildflower, wild strawberries, onions were all growing. It's amazing when you don't bury your yard with crap how the ecosystem recovers. I would have so many bunnies in my yard it wasn't funny.

    Demand of your Congressmen more R&D into sustainable ag practices, not farmer handouts. There are things now going on in Ag R&D like robots that weed to lessen Round-Up and Microbiome Plant research to strengthen crops so they require less fertilizer and are more resistent to diseases and drought. Most of it's being done by the private sector, but a lot of it starts with federal grant money and university expenditures (and then funded by VCs). There's a guy from my alma mater that is making shoes out of algae blooms (synthetic foam) and removing it from the waterways.

    Don't feel bad about your post, just didn't agree with what you perceived to cause the algae blooms.

    Ah, I do know about algae caused by too much fertiliser and over-farming cattle.

    I had to report blue-green algae on our town's lake a couple of times. The blooms happen every summer. (My post missed going into a lot of detail.)

    Disagree about Roundup being a direct cause of harm. Too much, perhaps, but not just any amount.

    I have friends who work in our local pastoral research centre. They work on improving all sorts of aspects of agriculture - from soil, to seeds, to animals, all the interactions, and much more.

    I love the work being done in plant microbiology and new high-yield strains of crops.

    Shoes out of algal blooms, nice!! Want!!

    I saw a girl win an award today for compostable "plastic" made of fish scales and waste, and algae. 1,400 "plastic" bags can be made out of the waste of one cod. We do still need to drastically reduce single-use plastics.

    Another worry with washing clothes a lot are plastic microfibres. These get into the waterways and fish. Lots of studies on this have been done, and regular tests.

    Polyester is the worst, and I think there are calls in places to have it banned. Running clothes are very often made of polyester or polyester mix. I think viscose is supposed to be OK, but this is an area I really want to investigate more.

    Lots of friends now know not to wash clothes unless they're actually smelly or dirty. Before, it was only our imaginations that said they needed washing.

    It's cool how people are learning about the repercussions of our individual and society's habits.

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