This is a good question for Larsi, our resident, sweaty, fitness expert..I only have experience in the non excersise type of sweat, lol, but I would recommend Wisk Deep Clean, there have been a number of people here that have had good luck with it encluding me.

I hope larsi comes to the rescue :-) I've been sweating more than usual due to the "change" recently. I think I used Wisk Deep Clean once (got a sample) a few years ago. I should look into it again.

Hi there! Larsi, the sweat expert is here! :) I teach high intensity Group Fitness 5+ days a week. I mean....heart pounding, I think I might die, clothes drenched to the point where they literally drip kind of Fitness classes!!! :)

First off, wash in HOT water. Yes, HOT. My workout clothes consist primarily of LuluLemon Athletica. If you don't know Lulu clothes...they are CRAZY expensive, but the quality is phenomenal, and many items come with a 5 year guarantee. The directions say wash in Cold water. Cold water will NEVER get the sweat funk out!

HOT water, Wisk Deep Clean Liquid is good, but so is Tide with Bleach powder. I also love Arm in Hammer 4in1 powder detergent pods.

Also, I swear by adding one Tide Boost Febreeze Sport pods in Victory Boost scent to the wash drum, in addition to your detergent. These pods are near impossible to find in stores, I have never been able to find them in any store...but Amazon always has them. They really, really boost detergent and are phenomenal for sweaty clothes!!

I always use a small amt. of fabric softener too (even though you are not supposed to for workout clothes!), and if the load if particularly funky, I will add a small cap of Downy Unstoppables In-wash scent pellets. Downy even makes odor control ones now (blue and green bottle). They work very well!!!

Dry in a warm, but not hot dryer. Good Luck!!

Thanks larsi! Great to hear from you again! I have not been active on this forum for the last couple of years but you and I discussed various laundry topics before :-) Great to see that some of the old timers are still around.

I will rewash all my stuff on Hot tonight and report back. Euro Persil Color and borax, probably. Wondering if some kind of a prewash would be helpful? I read somewhere that soaking the bras in salt water helps....

Glad to see you on our forum izeve!! Us old timers keep it going, LOL!!

Air dry your bras, or dry them on gentle in a garment bag in the dryer.

Add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the wash cycle and white vinegar to the rinse cycle. I use All Oxi(same company that makes Wisk) and it works great.

I often do a lukewarm prewash, I have tons of dirty sweaty kids and adult clothes here, its shocking how sweaty kids can get. For prewash I usually use about 1/4 amount of detergent that I'd use to wash, and its usually something I have a abundance of , like sears ultra plus.than followed up with a hot wash in one of my detergents of choice.I rarely use LCB and if I do I add it the last 5 minutes of the wash cycle and use 2 deep water rinses. Now oxygen bleach I use in all my whites, love the stuff.

So I rewashed all my gym clothes and gym undies last night in hot water using Euro Persil Color powder and a capful of In Wash Febreze Odor Eliminator that I got at Walmart. Has anyone tried that? I used just a little bit of FS. Then dried the load in the drier on low. Everything came out smelling fresher but the real test will be when I work out tomorrow morning. Usually the bras start emitting their underlying stink as I start getting warm....

You need to eliminate what is causing the odor not mask the odor, Febreze will work temporarily but it doesn't kill the bacteria.

Old Thread On Stinky Gym Clothes

Yes, cleangeek, I agree. But other than boiling the crap out of the stuff (can't be done because it will kill the elastic) or bleaching it (can't be done because they are all dark colors), I'm really not sure how to kill the bacteria. I did wash the items in hot water, and I think it helped some. I don't know how Febreze Odor Eliminator works. It doesn't seem mask the smell by using a fragrance, so there may be something else to it.

Just back to report that I worked out this morning and the funk appears to be gone. I will continue the hot washes with detergent and Febreze Odor Eliminator as needed. It seems to be a winning combination.

When I have really stink stuff like dog blankets or camping type gear I use odoban in a prewash. It kills germs without killing fabric. I also use it on my husbands work clothes.

OdoBan

My local Home Depot sells odoban its next to laundry detergent.

Our wicking atheltic clothes started to get that funk last year. Some of them smell fine after laundering, but five minutes after wearing, the odor begins. This link explains the bacteria that causes it: Stinky t-shirt bacteria loves polyester (eeeew!)

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/09/05/346055067/stinky-t-shirt-bacteria-love-polyester-in-a-special-way

Last year, at the end of the summer, I washed my workout stuff on HOT or SANITIZE (can't remember but my washer has a built-in heater, so HOT is HOT). This year, I've been washing them in HOT water with oxygen bleach. We don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets, so the clothes are clean with no residue. I think the HOT wash really helps.

I had some polyester items that got the funk. I just sprayed the "affected areas" (okay, arm pits) with some Sagrotan, which would be Lysol in the US, let it sit for a moment and washed it warm 104F water. It didn't harm the fabric in any way but got the smell out.

Alex

Alex would that be the Lysol in the little brown bottle in the US? OFF TOPIC HERE:

Little history about Lysol, many years ago I think in the 20' but could be wrong about that...are you ready for this?? Women douched with Lysol..I am not pulling your leg, somewhere I seen old magazine ads advertising Lysol and telling woman to douche with it and that they wouldn't have to worry about odors chasing their men away..lmao this is about the sickest feminine hygene product I've ever heard of..hope I didn't upset anyone by sharing this, just everytime I hear about Lysol I think of this and cringe.lol

I can remember as a kid if you got cut or stepped on a nail you soaked the place in lysol water to kill the germs. You also took the nail that stuck in your foot and greased it and laid it up. End of soreness of the foot. (Old remedies) ha

Pink you ever heard that?

Isn't the Lysol in the brown bottle the stuff that stinks you clothes and washer up? The Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner looks like the closest match I could find.

I, too, remember those ads and instructions on how to be a proper wife... *yikes*

Sparky, no I don't remember the nail remedy, did it work lol.

I bought a bottle of the brown bottle Lysol a few years ago, but it smells so bad and no matter how small of an amount you use the scent just lingers forever, hated it. I think it is a good disinfectant and used to be widely used in hospitals.

OMG Mamapinky....You have traumatized me now, with the Lysol Douche thing. Please tell me this is NOT the reason my Grandma kept that brown, glass bottle of Lysol in her bathroom. Oh Jesus....please no!!! Lmao!! :-o

Hahaha...well Larsi, I have some elderly folks in my family that have that brown bottle in their bathroom still and it always reeks of the stuff in there, I never gave it any thought until I read the douche story, so now I wonder, lol, but surely not, but I will ask my old aunt she will tell me lol. Back in the early 1900's they made a special soap for that purpose, lmao, I happen to have a box..lmao

ROFLMAO...WRONG PIC..its not my douche machine

Larsi..omg the shop vac...lmao

LMAO....I almost spit my coffee out Mamapinky when I saw the steam shop vac pic as your douching device. OMG....you MEAN business with your feminine hygiene!!! HA HA HA HA!!!

Larsi I have a shop vac to go with that...lmao