WASH WORKOUT CLOTHES - HOW TO

You’ve tried every laundry detergent for your stinky workout clothes. But every time you wash them, they just keep getting smellier. Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s them. Really. From using vinegar, to washing workout clothes in hot water only, there’s so much advice out there, it’s hard to know what actually works. And why are your gym clothes so smelly in the first place? Ooh, ooh, we know! We give you: how to wash your stinky workout clothes.

WHY DO MY GYM CLOTHES SMELL SO BAD?

So, what’s going on with your stinky workout clothes? Gym gear is usually made with synthetic material like polyester or elastane (spandex). These tightly woven, water-repellent fabrics are known for their ‘wicking’ properties: they encourage sweat and oil to travel through the fibres of the material. This means that when you’re going hard at the gym, sweat, oils, and, dead skin cells travel through your gym-wear, rather than being absorbed. This is what keeps you nice and dry during your workout. But! Not all the sweat, oils, and co, can be wicked away. Instead, some of it gets trapped between the fibres of your sports clothes, leaving a tasty meal for opportunistic bacteria. And it’s that bacteria that makes your gym clothes smell so bad.

HOW TO CLEAN STINKY WORKOUT CLOTHES

Don’t use fabric softener. And try (if you can) to avoid detergent. Fabric softener reduces the wicking properties of your workout clothes, meaning that even more oil, skin, sweat and bacteria can get trapped between the fibres, making your gym clothes even smellier over time. Detergent can be equally bad if you use too much. If you have too much detergent, it won’t dissolve in the machine and will also get stuck between the fibres of your smelly gym clothes. For best results, wash your stinky gym clothes like this: 

• Never just chuck your gym clothes in the laundry bin. Bacteria thrives in warm, dark conditions. Air them out over a rack or out in the sun. We read somewhere that this can reduce 90% of bacterial growth! 
• Wash your gym clothes as soon as you’ve worked out. This prevents bacteria from growing.  
• Turn your clothes inside out to protect the colours. Also, the majority of the grossness can be found on the inside of the fabric after working out.  
• Use half the amount of detergent you would normally use. You can even find special laundry detergent for stinky workout clothes.  
• Wash your gym clothes at a lower temperature (max 30 degrees). Hot water actually damages the fabric, reducing its life span even more.  
• Avoid tumble drying your workout clothes. Air dry instead. This prevents heat damage and allows the clothes to dry thoroughly.

HOW TO WASH REALLY STINKY WORKOUT CLOTHES

If your workout clothes are really stinky, it’s time to break out the big guns! Vinegar. That’s right, for workout clothes, a good soaking in vinegar really can do the trick. Just add one cup of white vinegar to some cold water in a basin and leave the gym clothes to soak for around 15-20 minutes. Then just wash as normal. The common worry is that the strong smell of vinegar will stay with the clothes. This is not the case. And white vinegar is extremely effective at getting odor out of workout clothes.

WASHING WORKOUT CLOTHES WITH BAKING SODA

You think you’ve got some baking soda lying around in the kitchen. Seems to work on everything else, why not throw it in with your stinky gym clothes? Well, yes, actually. Why not? Baking soda is alkaline which makes it excellent at getting rid of acidic odors that come from sweaty gym clothes. All you need to do to wash your workout clothes with baking soda is throw one cup of the stuff in with the wash. Easy. What you absolutely should not do? Wash workout clothes in hot water. This damages the fabric and reduces its life span.

DOES USING VINEGAR FOR WORKOUT CLOTHES ACTUALLY WORK?

Yes. Vinegar is around 5% acetic acid – great for killing bacteria and viruses. It’s also strong enough to dissolve alkali residues left by detergents that can build up between the fibres of your gym clothes. But does vinegar damage clothes? No. It’s generally mild enough that it won’t damage washable fabrics. According to what we found on the web, just half a cup of vinegar in the wash can give you brighter, cleaner colours, and is one of the best ways to get the smell out of gym clothes.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT FOR STINKY WORKOUT CLOTHES

Traditional laundry detergents were designed for natural materials like cotton in mind. So, it’s not a wonder they don’t work so well on your gym clothes. If you are going to use a detergent on your gym clothes, choose a detergent made special for your smelly workout clothes. There’s a bunch of brands available, and they’ll work to preserve your gear’s natural wicking properties, as well as prevent residue from building up between the fibres. If your gym clothes stink after the wash, try soaking them in water and vinegar. Half a cup is all you need.

ARE COTTON GYM CLOTHES LESS SMELLY THAN SYNTHETIC?

Yes. There's a study on it. Scientists tested the growth of bacteria on different materials after a one-hour spin class. The experiment included a t-shirt made of cotton, a cotton-synthetic blend, and a totally synthetic t-shirt. What happened? The synthetic t-shirt was by far the winner for growing the smelliest bacteria, and a panel of ‘smelling judges’ agreed! A particular odor-causing bacterium (Micrococci bacteria), was found to grow better on synthetic fabrics than in our own armpits. So, cotton might get drenched in sweat, but it grows less nastiness and smells better as a result. So it really might be worth swapping your synthetics for a natural alternative.