Smelly Gym Clothes?
Ever wonder why even after washing your gym clothes the smell just doesn’t come out completely? Or you think it is out and as soon as you wear them and start sweating, the smell comes back? Well, over the years I have created a whole lot of sweaty clothes and as the mother of two active teenage boys, I am no stranger to this problem.
There is a simple answer to why this happens. Bacteria. Plain and simple. Just like the bacteria in your mouth can cause bad breath, bacteria feasting on the body oils produced in sweat cause horrible odors in your clothing.
You would think that washing your clothes would take care of this problem. After all, we brush and floss our teeth and tongue then follow with mouthwash and the problem of bad breath disappears. The problem comes in because of the nature of the high tech sythetic materials that we look for in gym clothes does not allow water to fully penetrate the fabric. That water wicking perk that we look for to help keep our bodies dry, also prevents the water in your machine from really getting through the fabric. If that’s not bad enough, the build-up of body oils and fabric softeners further hamper water’s ability to penetrate the fibers of the fabric and really clean it.
Over the years, I have tried several “home remedies” like using baking soda or vinegar in the wash, but never found them to be all that effective, nor convenient. I recently read that hand washing in dish detergent works, but have not tried that yet. With six people in my house, I look for convenience. I found two easy to use laundry detergents that work very well. The first, Penguin Sport Wash, I found in Sports Authority, but is a little less expensive on Amazon (the link I provided.) The second, I just bought off Amazon, Atsko Sport Wash, was a bit cheaper than the Penguin brand ($18 for 64 oz, as opposed to $18 for 42 oz.), and worked just as well.
Say good-bye to those smelly clothes ☺
KATHY CONLON, TBBC TRANSFORMATION COACH, TBBC BOOT CAMP CONSULTANT, FMS LEVEL 1, ISSA CFT