keeping your running/ workout clothes stink-free?

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  • ltkl7
    ltkl7 Posts: 7 Member
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    I have the same problem. I run hard and workout hard. Most times when I am done you can't tell If I have been working out or swimming in my workout clothes. The bad part is most of the time I workout during my workday so the clothes have to go back in my gym bag. In the summertime they stink up the whole car and in the winter time they sometimes freeze. I know it's disgusting. I used to get embarrassed walking out of the gym but now I am used to it.

    Either way I haven't found anyway to get rid of the funk. I try to buy new shirts about every three months. ****s has Reebok workout shirts on sale for 15.00 and get the 2nd one half price. So I usually buy seven new ones every three months. It gets expensive but it's better than the alternative.
  • samb330
    samb330 Posts: 328 Member
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    Fill the washer, add 1 cup of ammonia to the water, then toss in your funky clothes. Do not use detergent. Let it run thru a wash cycle. Warm water, then rewash with your regular detergent. Works every time. You can do the ammonia thing once a week, you won't need to do it every time you wash your workout clothes. They will be "funk free".:smile:
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Tide has a version with Febreze. Works very well. Why go to all that trouble of diluting bleach and soaking, or using vinegar or ammonia . . .
  • jdm_taco
    jdm_taco Posts: 999 Member
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    burn them and get new
  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
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    We have a sanitize cycle you can run on our washer I always use that for workout clothes or for anytime anyone is sick and I add a little baking soda also to the washer that helps alot with getting things really clean.
  • padams2359
    padams2359 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Fill the washer, add 1 cup of ammonia to the water, then toss in your funky clothes. Do not use detergent. Let it run thru a wash cycle. Warm water, then rewash with your regular detergent. Works every time. You can do the ammonia thing once a week, you won't need to do it every time you wash your workout clothes. They will be "funk free".:smile:

    I have gotten funky smells way worse than BO out of clothes using this. Ammonia and baking soda in wash cycle, and vinegar in the rinse cycle. My son had a bad habit of throwing wet towels in a pile at boarding school, and they also used mothballs in his dorm to control a water bug problem. If it can fix that combination, it can fix anything.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    I wash them after every use. Once a month or so, I throw a cup of vinegar in with the wash.

    Don't have any problems with stinky clothes.
  • sarahg148
    sarahg148 Posts: 701 Member
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    It happens mostly with my sports bras. So I end up just tossing them after 6 months to a year...once the funk is permanent. :\ I wash my workout clothes every few days. I sweat a lot and I also try to rotate what I wear so the funk doesn't build up. I'll have to buy some white vinegar...try that soon. Or maybe just stop working out. :wink:
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
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    As ADINA749 said "I wash them" lol I love that reply! Washing them always does it for me as well...

    I wash my workout clothes every day but it still doesn't get the stuck in sweaty funk that is reactivated when you sweat out.

    Then perhaps you need a new washing machine? Maybe you're still using a wash board, down by the river?

    My clothing comes out smelling fresh everytime, with just hot water, the washing machine and some detergent.
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    ah, so many great responses! i've heard it's just part of working out but as i said before, i can't stand the funk! and there's nothing worse that being in a sweaty yoga studio with a major skunk!! at least on a run, it's just you and your funk ;-)

    i think the key is to not let them get stinky in the first place.. this might prove to be impossible, due to the natural bacteria we have on our skin that reacts with our sweat = reason why things closest to our skin gets the most stinky..

    i've also thought about oxy-clean, but was afraid the bleach would ruin the threads in the clothes, esp. anything with compression!

    personally, what i do is.. first rinse really well in a large bucket and swish everything around.. let it sit.. then i empty out the bucket.. add a lot of detergent (ecos from costco) add water and then add everything back in.. i really swish everything around again and let it sit for a while.. then, usually right before bed, i rinse everything super well and hang dry under an a/c vent.. if i do find something is stinky, i hit that area with bac-out and let it sit.. then rewash.. usually it works, but there are a few things i might need to retire soon!

    oh, and the reason i do everything by hand is b/c i find i really need to keep things soaking and i don't want to do such a small load in the washer.. i hang dry b/c i was told the dryer ruins the clothes, esp. things with compression..

    also, if anyone wants to add me, go right ahead! i'm looking for other runners for motivation.. or anyone else that works out, stinky or not!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    I use this wonderful new invention called a washing machine and detergent ....it is a fairly new thing, so you may not have heard of it yet...
  • JDHINAZ
    JDHINAZ Posts: 641 Member
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    I use a detergent called WIN. Made for workout clothes, but didn't leave a strong odor like Tide Sport. Can order on the internet from the company, and used to be from Amazon. Works great. Vinegar didn't work that week for us.
  • DonaGail
    DonaGail Posts: 190 Member
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    Im in a navy blue polyesther uniform for 10-12 hours a day and usually have it sweated up in the first hour or two, then have to wear it all day..yuk.
    I know that amonia works wonders. A friend uses it on bed sheets for a child with bladder issues, so if it can get pee stink out, my sweat has no chance!
    I also like Odo Ban from Sams club.
  • ostrichagain
    ostrichagain Posts: 271 Member
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    Washing Soda!! I got the smell of puke baked in a hot car out of a blanket by soaking it in washing soda for a day. Rinsed with vinegar. Works for urine odors too.

    Best of all: It's cheap.
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    awesome! i'm going to try this!!
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    There is this detergent that I get from RRS (RoadRunnerSports.com). It is called Penguin Sport-Wash. Seeing as both my husband and I run, we have a LOT of stinky workout clothes and this stuff does the trick!



    mel: i'll have to look into that penguin solution you mentioned.. with all that running you and hubby are doing.. you might just be onto something ;-)
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    Washing Soda!! I got the smell of puke baked in a hot car out of a blanket by soaking it in washing soda for a day. Rinsed with vinegar. Works for urine odors too.

    Best of all: It's cheap.

    awesome! i'm going to try this!!
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    I soak mine in a very strong solution of biological washing liquid every now and then. I leave them overnight to allow the enzymes to break down the bacteria that causes the funk but there is a point where all the washing in the world won't get rid of it.

    Make sure your work-out kit is made from a material that 'wicks'...i.e. absorbs sweat away from the skin but is breathable, These wicking properties also allow the fabric to 'let go' of the bacteria whereas cotton, for example, will hold on to it.

    notdieting: is the biological washing liquid bac-out, from bio-kleen?
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
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    I sweat a whole lot, but I don't find that anything beyond regular washing is necessary.
  • BOOBYKAT
    BOOBYKAT Posts: 11
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    My husband works for the Forest Service and he has to work out in the field for 8 days in a row every other week. They camp so there is no shower after hiking in the mountains all day with his 80 lb. pack. On top of him being stinky he usually puts his sweaty, muddy clothes and socks in a plastic trash bag until he gets home! You wanna smell some funk... I'm an expert at getting the funk out of his work clothes after 10 years of washing them, haha.

    codapea: 8 days in a row, inside a plastic bag.. wow! how do you manage to even open the bag?! gross!! lol

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