We all know that washing is the never ending chore that we never seem to get on top of! Especially Workout gear. No matter how many clothes you wash, the pile always seems to just come back again. I’m not sure about your household but I know in our house we wear a lot of athletic clothing. The beauty of “workout gear” or “athleisure” wear is that it is usually made from moisture wicking performance fabrics which do a great job of sending wetness to the surface of the fabric to keep you cool and dry, but the problem is they also tend to have nooks and crannies that cling to dirt and in particular odours!
There is a new buzzword in fitness and this is called the “rebloom effect”. It refers to recently washed workout gear that starts smelling bad again shortly after you put in on. I don’t know about you but this is certainly something I have experienced and I have tried and tested a couple of different things to try and avoid that dreaded smell!
After trying a number of different detergents and soaks used to wash workout gear, I seem to have found something that works for me, now I am no expert on this topic but want to share with you my washing method.
The first thing I do to try and avoid the smells is to air dry my clothes by hanging them on a clothes horse straight after my workout. This stops the bacteria from all breeding in a sweaty ball of mess that stays wet until you remove it from the laundry basket in preparation for a washing cycle.
The second step is to pre soak the clothes. Again I have tried a number of different things but the easiest method I have found is to soak in hot water and dissolved Bicarb soda. I generally do this for a couple of hours or until the water has gone cold. There is also the option of using vinegar, something I have tried but the vinegar aroma hung around post wash so I decided this wasn’t for me.
After the pre soak everything from the soak bucket gets tipped in the washing machine. Then I add my regular washing liquid as well as some NapiSan as if I were doing a regular load.
I then add two capfuls of a product that I stumbled upon during a trip to Costco. The product is called Canestan Antibacterial and Antifungal Hygiene Laundry Rinse. This is the lifesaver it seems!
Sometimes, and this is seasonal due to fruit availability, there is an additional step. Sprinkle more bicarb soda (usually about two handfuls) on the washing in the machine and then also the juice of about 5 lemons. I am lucky as I have a very fruitful lemon/lime tree this year so I am don’t holding back with this step. Due to the acid from the juice this does fizz a little bit and I leave this for a few minutes.
Then I wash as normal but on a hot wash. I know lots of people only wash in cold water and I was one of these people but this was one of the problems with the stink, apparently the heat kills the bacteria.
Once the cycle has finished then I hang everything to air dry completely before putting away or wearing it again.
Do you have any other tips and tricks? This is something that I would be keen to hear more from people about.
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