You can soak or add to the wash baking soda and borax to help remove odors. I would choose the hottest water possible and a nice long soak, in a bucket or sink with your detergent and both baking soda and borax. Chances are the residue is fabric softener imbedded in the fibers.

For workout wear, I have several friends who swear by soaking the nasty items in white vinegar before washing!

Borax I have on hand for ants so that's easy to try - thank you! Because all items in the store have the same scent I think they must use something like Febreze because I know they don't wash every item and not every person who donates items would use the same products. It's really pungent.

Vinegar is another easy one to try - I use it for almost all cleaning. Thanks!

Sunshine. Wash them, perhaps with some Borax, and line dry in the sun, if you are able to. :)

Salt water works wonders on armpit odor. Let the items soak for a few hours then wash.

Clothing should smell fresh and clean even with a unscented detergent. I agree with Joel wash them in your normal detergent, add some borax and hang in the sun...try to use the hottest water possible. Do a cool prewash first if they haven't yet been washed.

The bedding from the resale shop really needs sanitizing temps.

If this hasn't removed all odors try a different unscented detergent. ..which one are you using now?

I agree with all the foregoing. Workout clothes are the worst because odors cling to synthetics. Using more water per wash load helps a lot. When all else fails, especially on things that can't be easily laundered, try the ballerina's secret. Vodka in a fine mist sprayer. The cheap, unscented kind of vodka. Hang in the open so the alcohol can evaporate.

There is an old conversation here about stinky workout clothing made from the wicking fabrics. You can find it by doing a search.

This link to an NPR report still works!

The culprit is a bacteria that takes up residence in the poly fibers and so far there is no cure.

I've had success by doing a pre-wash with BIZ, then an extended wash in a minimum of 100°F water or hotter with Charlies Soap (minimal ingredients, no OBAs or other things that cling to the fabric) , Borax, and STPP.

A perfumed detergent will do just that --- Perfume it and cover up the stink. We use unscented detergents, so I know if the stuff is rank or not. I've even taken some of the shirts and washed them on a Sanitize cycle. It helped.

Very good advise above.

I had the same problem with DH's clothing. The sweat and body oils were incredible and nothing seemed to get them out.

I learned on here about Borax. I need to buy it in bulk I think. I use 1/2 cup of Borax plus whatever powder laundry detergent (powder helps in these situations) in my full fill top loader. I let the load agitate a few minutes, then I stop the machine and let it soak anywhere from 30 mins to a couple of hours. I use the hottest temp water the clothing can stand. It's worked amazing over here. We are big fans of Borax and powder detergent (All, Tide, Cheer, Mexican Ariel)

One of my daughters adds 1/4 of Borax plus powder detergent to a communal front load washer that is abused by other users with too much liquid detergent and over packed wash loads. She finally doesn't have stinky clothing.

Biz, added to the wash works nicely as well, but I have issues with over sudsing on the exit pipe in the wall. I wish I could use Biz more often. I save it for extra terrible loads and I lean over the w/d with dry rags to scoop up the suds. Most people don't have this issue, I'm not trying to scare you.

I also try to air dry DH's shirts outside when weather permits. The sunshine, like mentioned above helps.

I hope you get some good results in upcoming loads.

Never mind on the powder detergent examples....you need unscented. Sorry about that.

A plethora of great advice here - thank you all. I do line dry whenever possible and we have abundant sunshine in western NC. In fact I line dried all these items today after washing and they are certainly better but the nose knows, you know?! My go-to detergent choices are Kirkland Free and Clear or All Free and Clear. I don't mind soft scents or what I think of as fresh soap smells if there are detergent suggestions like that but some of the stuff out there about knocks me over when I walk down the laundry soap aisle. I will re-wash after a Borax soak for sure.

mamapinky I did use the sanitize cycle on the coverlet :-)

I would not use Biz on colors or darks, save it for whites and lights as it is a oxygen bleach and enzyme booster. Oxygen Bleach fades colors and darks.

Cavimum hit on a subject here...poly and body odors..first of all sweat odors do not stink as they exit the body, but bacteria grows it it very quickly causing the stink, if you put on clean workout wear and start to sweat and smell odors its because the garment was not clean to begin with, it may have smelled clean until it gets wet.

As for poly fabrics they are water resistant and require special laundering. The water needs to be as warm/hot as the garment can tolorate, poly requires more water and more room to freely move in the water in order to better flush out those water resistant fibers...if not some of the soil laden water will remain in the fibers holding onto the stench. Rinse if at all possible in warm water with poly as that will help remove soiled water, remember cold water closes fibers. Always use a reduced spin speed for poly, that's why some machines have a poly cycle. High spin speeds will permanently set wrinkles.

This is all wonderful advice.

The sweet home dot com just reviewed detergents again and determined Tide Ultra Stain Release Free (only available at Target) is the best detergent plus it was also excellent at removing odors.

My DH is a marathoner and triathlete and creates a great deal of stinky workout clothes and he hates any scents. What works best for me is Kirkland F&C liquid plus All Oxi Stain Remover powder (just like Oxiclean powder but unscented) washed on the hot setting, plus I use vinegar in the rinse. I've never had any issues with fading and it removes all the lingering odors.

Tide makes rescue pods for whites and odor's.... I'm not sure if they are scented or not.

A little sudsy ammonia will remove any perspiration odors. Just be careful of fabric type.

MRB

I use Sweatx. It is made especially for workout clothes that must be washed in cold water. I use it for all my gym clothes as well as cycling shirts and even the pants with gel inserts. Removes odors and cleans in cold water.

You may be able to find it at Target or à store that sells workout or running clothes

Humor me here folks please...explain to me about these odor booster products on the market..how do they work? I'm not being a smart alik I want to know. Everything I have understood about some of these products is they either mask odors or neutralize them. But none appear to remove the source of the odor.

Workout clothing are generally a poly fabric right? We know ploy is water resistant, we also know cold water restricts fibers, closes them up...we know also in order to remove the soils, source of odors we must open the poly fibers in order to flush them out...as far as I'm aware none of these odor boosters have a magic iingredient to open the poly fibers...so how exactly is the soils causing the odors removed?

I too wash ALL my workout wear (which each week is a ton) in 105, up to 115F. Even my expensive LuLulemon athletic wear, that says COLD ONLY COLD ONLY...I wash 105-115, and for years & years I have no fading, no material damage, no elastic damage.

I firmly believe the damage is done in a hot dryer. I dry my workout wear on Low Temp Cottons or use Delicates or even air dry them. Perfect!!

For me and Sweatx I have no idea what it is doing. It makes suds and out of the bottle it smells...not good..kinda acrid. There is no scent in the wash or rinse water and no scent on the clothes when I remove them from the washer. I hang to dry...so no dryer help either. It says it removes 99% of bacteria, eliminates sweat related odors, and will lift grass,blood,mud, and clay stains. The dose is 1 fluid oz, 2 for extra dirty stinky stuff. It is not sold to be used in other regular laundry. Just sports clothes. I have not tried to remove grass or blood...just sweat stink.

All I know is that my stinky gym and biking stuff goes in and comes out with no odor,no scent at all using the cold water setting. The entire cycle..I use perma press medium spin, sometimes use delicates,but mostly perma press because it uses less water than delicates - the cycle is complete in 40 minutes, wash and two rinses.

So, the thing is that fabrics have improved but they don't change the tags. Up to 105° F. has probably been safe all along. Most synthetics, like poly and nylon, are colored in the vat before they're extruded, or surface printed with inks. Color isn't an issue. Elastics and spandex are. The more heat exposure, the more often, the more they disintegrate. But they're better now than they used to be...

ITA with Larsi about the dryer. All the golf and workout shirts spend 5-7 minutes in the dryer on low heat, to get the wrinkles out, then finish drying on a rack.

I've not had any fading from the Biz on colors. We're talking golf shirts and workout shirts that I wear outside. The sun causes more fading than the Biz ever will. Poly fibers are dyed differently and are more resistant to fading than cottons and rayons. When learning how to do machine embroidery, we were always told the poly threads' color will survive chlorine bleach.

I am wondering if poly fibers really expand and open like cotton. If I wash a load of poly the machine uses much less water than if I wash cottons, and the rinsing is faster,done with one rinse,so I always though poly fibers remained closed and would not absorb water or dirt like cottons. I figured poly retained oil spots because that's what poly is made from. I don't know the chemistry behind making it so I really don't know much. Lol.

Jerrod - I think you are right. Ive noticed that when a load of laundry is all poly, I have to reduce the detergent dose a little, compared to a cotton load of wash. I've often wondered about this.

Jerrod, as far as I know you're right about the oil. For sure, the fibers aren't cellular and don't open or absorb water. You can trap water between the threads. Some spins on garment fabric (rather than workout wear) are so complex and natural feeling, nowadays, that that trapped water, though technically different, behaves similarly to absorbed.

Cavimum, while it's true that the poly thread will stand up to a lot (though use enough bleach and anything will deteriorate), it also will cut the heck out of natural fibers. If you're machine embroidering, it's better to use similar fibers (e.g., cotton on cotton), or a heck of a heavy stabilizer, so the pull of the stitches doesn't make holes.

I had a few moisture wicking shirts that always smelled clean, until i put them on..and within minutes..EEEK

I cured them with a hot soak in the sink with Dawn. I knew that was the trick as you could just see the body oils clouding the water. After that several good rinses, then my normal sport wash with Charlie's liquid and liquid chlorine free bleach (hydrogen peroxide)

Very helpful suggestions! My husband's stinky running clothes are nasty. My laundering strategy has not been as successful as I would like. Last wash I used Wisk Free and Pure and Biz powder and that combo was better than Win sports detergent.

Poly is a thermoplastic fiber, its also hydrophobic (repels water) its never been easy to keep poly clean and odor free and doesn't take much to turn white poly into a hideous shade of dingy. Once its dingy there's little hope as chlorine will make it worse. Only thing you can try is a long oxy soak and go heavy on the OB's.

I'm not a fan of poly and certainly not in bedding. I know some people like the cotton/poly blend of bedding because of its wrinkle resistant qualities, but this is the type of fiber that will hold onto body oils causing the stink, very hard to remove this from poly. I'd rather iron. and the stuff doesn't breath. I've read in the past people on the home deco forum that want cool crisp sheets but consistantly buy cotton poly sheets because they don't need ironed and than wonder why they sleep hot or the sheets pill.

I stand by my washing practices with poly, extra water, more room to move in the water, extra detergent, warmer temps as long as there's a cool down before spin or the spin on hot poly will permantly set wrinkles.

I HATE poly or microfiber sheets! Yuck! Kids like the cheap cartoon character sheet sets but I cannot sleep on them and it's almost impossible to get certain smells out, in my sons case bed wetting aka urine. I've actually had to throw a set out that I couldn't wash right away because I had to be somewhere early in the morning, couldn't get to them til later, and the smell would NOT come out. They also don't last very long with regular laundering. I don't iron but I still use 100% cotton sheets. The wrinkles don't bother us and no one sees our sheets but us. Folding straight out of the dryer helps a lot w wrinkles.

The only poly I use is for the gym clothes. I much prefer cottons so all of my other clothes and bedding are cotton.

Who knew laundry could be so complicated? ;-)

Obviously I need to step up my game to get better results - my one process fits all approach (not really, but close) doesn't cut it here!

eta: bedding is all cotton, always - and I do iron so maybe I'm not such a slacker ;-)

One of the concepts that is gathering a lot more attention in the medical world is the idea of biofilms. This is a matrix some pathogens form that give them some protection from the chemicals we want to use to eradicate them. Biofilms are present in washing machines (detergent drawers and rubber gaskets) and in laundry. Some of the bacteria that stink have the ability to form them. It is interesting to read the research about breaking down biofilms. Heat over 165F will kill most pathogens but biofilms form in people and on very sensitive medical equipment where you can not use heat. Enzymes seem to work. They are looking at enzymes that break down the sugar molecules that form biofilms in people. In cleaning endoscopy equipment, they are finding protease to be very effective.

If you have odor or even discoloration, it can be from these biofilms. Many chemicals cannot touch them. Even if you use heat to kill the bacteria, it would seem that you would want to use enzymes to remove the yuck that is biofilm.

Eew.

Original dawn dish detergent (non-concentrated) can be a great way to "strip" items. In cloth diapering world, this is an extremely popular and effective way to de-funk microfiber diapers. 1tsp / load and I believe best for top loading machines. Someone above mentioned this method, so I thought I'd chime in on that. I came to this link with the same problem- having trouble getting funky smells out of laundry (especially synthetic fibers) when using unscented detergent. I do recommend a product called, Bac Out. The brand has many items, but their concentrated enzymatic cleaner is what I've always used for urinated items (kids live here). It works well for funky workout wear but it's just too expensive to use every day. For those without a large household, or perhaps a higher disposable income, I would highly recommend this product. You can find it at health food stores and, at times, your local grocer. It can be very pricey via Amazon, though, beware.

For those using the old vinegar standby, can you elaborate on how much you use and how you use it for your poly workout wear? Are you just pouring a splash into the rinse cycle, or measuring out a certain amount and using specific water temps, etc.?

Anyone have a negative reaction to using Borax? When I cloth diapered there were many people warning of Borax burns etc. I didn't use it due to many people claiming that it was dangerous. I'm also not a huge fan of powders because when used with hot water, I feel like I'm inhaling dangerous chemicals.

two more notes- I have not had luck with using liquid chlorine bleach. Poly fabrics simply emit a terrible bleach scent along with the b.o. once items are worn again.
Water hardness is also a factor in all of this. We live in an area with more hardness, but have a water softener. You may want to look up your area and find out how it may be affecting your laundry. There are products marketed to solve this issue. There is a company called, Rockin' Green and they have a line of detergents made especially for various water hardness levels. I believe their website has a water hardness map for U.S. residents as well. Their product, "funk rock" does the trick, but again, I just don't want to spend the money on more specialty products. Still, this could be useful for someone else.

Look up STPP on Amazon. (Sodium Tripoly Phosphates) its the same phosphate that used to be in laundry detergent. It will strip all residues from cloth diapers. ..add it to the first rinse. You won't find anything that preforms as well.

If you smell chlorine bleach in textiles its still there...rinse until chlorine scent is gone.

I'm curious how much effect a tiny dose of 1tsp / load of Dawn dish liquid can produce.

Regards to "unscented" detergent, my understanding is that such products may have a fragrance ingredient to mask what would otherwise be an unpleasant chemical odor.

I pre-wash my smelly sweat soaked lawn cutting shirt in the sink with Dawn dish washing liquid then launder.

I can attest that even if you can use chlorine bleach, it wont help went back to using bleach just for work shirts and it wont work no matter how much i use or how hot the water

i do have a cough from breathing the fumes in poorly ventilated space

learn from my mistakes