Stinky Laundry

[bethram]

What do you do to get the stink out of your running clothes? I've tried soaking and washing them with baking soda, Arm and Hammer detergent, the expensive detergent you buy at Dick's and various combinations of the three and I still can't get the stink out of some of my clothes. I'm not so worried about some of my older stuff, but I really don't want the new clothes I got for Christmas to get ruined by my lovely post run odor

 

[Fievel]

I use the Tide that's made for tech fabrics, and it works pretty well. Some of the cheaper compression items that I use under my work uniform still won't lose the stink, however. It seems to be that the better made items wash better.

 

[dreamfinder]

Baking soda + vinegar is supposed to be good. I do a vinegar load, then a 4x concentrate load. Works reasonably well, but they still get stanky after a few months, and ripe by a year.

 

[Clamman73]

I know for wetsuits, if I would use Sink the Stink to get rid of the smelliness. Don't know if it's OK for running gear.

 

[Ariel484]

I don't like the Tide Sport stuff (I think it has Febreeze in it?)...I used that for awhile and found that rather than masking the stank it just sort of mixed with it, so not only did my clothes smell like sweat, now it was sweat mixed with this over-powering floral odor. Since then I've moved on to the Tide with Downy - my clothes still smell but it's not as bad as with the Febreeze stuff. I wash everything on cold/delicate and hang to dry.

The best stuff I've had was Tide with Baking Soda, but they don't seem to make that anymore. Very interesting in trying a vinegar/baking soda mix at some point.

 

[Master Yoda]

Continue with you hot water soaking and you might want to consider adding either Dirty Jobs laundry booster and/or frebreze laundry order eliminator. I would also give drying in the sun a shot. Supposedly, the UV radiation of sunlight is good at getting rid of stubborn orders.

I have also heard good tings about a product called Zorbx, but have never used it.

 

[joel_maxwell]

From day 1 of pulling shoes out of the box, my closet shelves looks like this:

When they get wet, I always take my shop vac and reverse the tube and put the hose into the shoe and turn it into a blower. They dry within 3 minutes.

I have never had shoes that stink. They bottom Hoka's have 700 miles on them in this picture and dont stink. The top ones were brand new at the time.

 

[JillC LI]

Regular Tide seems to work ok for me.

 

[bethram]

Thanks everyone! I'll try the different ideas and see what works best for us.

 

[mufasa0505]

I use Oxy Clean with my regular detergent and haven't had a problem.

 

[monorail81]

Throw about a half a cup to a cup of white vinegar in with your regular detergent. It works great on out stenchy clothes and acts as a fabric softener. No more stinky clothes!

 

[lukacseven]

You actually shouldn't use "regular" detergents on tech/wicking clothing. There's a chemical used in nearly all regular detergents that reduce/destroy the performance of the fabric. I use either Penguin wash or Win Wash. Both remove odors well & are specifically made to tech clothing. Win leaves a bit more of a fresh scent to the fabrics after wash - the Penguin tends to be almost odorless. Both are meant for cold water, another recommendation that affects the fabric performance - You shouldn't wash in hot water. Should never use fabric softener and if using a dryer, only low heat settings. No experience with vinegar or other homemade detergents.

 

[GoofyFan1]

From day 1 of pulling shoes out of the box, my closet shelves looks like this:

View attachment 43933

When they get wet, I always take my shop vac and reverse the tube and put the hose into the shoe and turn it into a blower. They dry within 3 minutes.

I have never had shoes that stink. They bottom Hoka's have 700 miles on them in this picture and dont stink. The top ones were brand new at the time.

If you don't have a shop vac, stuff them with newspaper and they will be dry by morning. My track and field kids swear by it and we coaches carry extra newspapers on the team bus for after the meet. Never have had a problem with wet shoes the next day. It also cuts down on the stink.

 

[joel_maxwell]

If you don't have a shop vac, stuff them with newspaper and they will be dry by morning. My track and field kids swear by it and we coaches carry extra newspapers on the team bus for after the meet. Never have had a problem with wet shoes the next day. It also cuts down on the stink.

I do that on the drive home if Im not going to be near the shop anytime soon. I always pick up the local free paper of the Thrifty Nickel.