How to get the stank out of your running gear

Guest post by The Mrs. Gianni

Sometimes I wash my husband's running gear. Sometimes he washes it. We're both sick of the stink that running gear has, especially technical fabrics.

How bad does it smell? Like this:



You know it's bad when the sweaty stink smell is coming out of the dryer vent from what should be clean clothes.

Or when you are folding those "clean" clothes and the smell just knocks you down.

Or when you give your sweetie a kiss before he heads out for a run, and he already smells bad. Ugh.

It's one think to throw away a cheap running shirt - quite a different matter for those CWX tights.  I'm trying to lengthen the life of that expensive gear as best I can.

This is how we wash running gear now. I basically googled "get the stink out of workout clothes" and came up with several answers. I combined EVERYTHING and let me tell you, it works. No more stink.

Let's do this thing.

I wrote the process
on a big piece of chalkboard vinyl
that I stuck to the wall next to the washer.

• TEMPERATURE: Use the Warm/Cold setting on your machine. You can check your machine's manual, but the vast majority of washers do not let the "Warm" setting get hot enough to kill your elastic.

This is a crappy photo of all the stuff you'll need.

• SPOT TREAT if needed with your favorite spot stuff. Looks like I bought Zout this week.

• PREWASH. Your machine may call this "soak." Mine has both soak and prewash options, so I use the prewash. I think the difference is that the pre-wash agitates and the soak doesn't? I don't really know.

For the pre-wash, put in a big scoop (1/3 cup-ish) of salt and a small squirt of regular blue original Dawn dishwashing liquid. The salt is antibacterial, the Dawn helps break down body oils.

• WASH: Start the wash cycle and add a half scoop to full scoop of oxygen powder, a big tablespoon or two of the homemade powder detergent (if you like), and a 1/4 cup of Atsko Sport Wash.

- Oxy powder kills bacteria and such, and helps break down stain-causing things.

Atsko Sport-Wash and my little scoop.

- Atsko Sport Wash - available via Amazon and at some major sports &/or hunting chains. Hunters use it to remove the human smell from their clothes so deer won't smell them. There are similar products out there, but this one is a very good value and made specifically for technical fabrics.I have gotten fairly good results with the process leaving out the Atsko, so if you cannot find it, that's ok. I do think it improve the overall result, though.

I wrote the recipe on the jar
because it's so simple,
I can't remember it.

-Homemade Detergent: 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, 1 bar soap (grated).
These kill bacteria and break surface tension, which gets the clothes cleaner.

I use Fels Naptha or sometimes Ivory or Kirk's Castile bar soap. Anything works, though--pick your poison. I grate it with a cheese grater (take less than 2 minutes, seriously) and then throw it in the food processor with a bit of baking soda to prevent it from balling up. Makes a nice fine soap powder, and it's easy to clean up the processor because IT'S SOAP. I haven't had much luck with using the food processor for grating with anything other than Ivory; most soaps are too hard.

NB: My Walmart Supercenter had some soap flakes, which are hard to find. They were a Mexican brand I didn't recognize, and the name escapes me at the moment. Would save you some grating. 

Mix the grated soap together with other ingredients and you are good. I use 1-2 TB per load for all our laundry.

You can also add to your homemade detergent: Lem-Shine (citric acid--again, helps kill bacteria and freshen) or baking soda (for more freshness). Totally optional.

RINSE: Before washing, fill the rinse cup with vinegar and add a little capful of rubbing alcohol or cheap vodka. I had already used my cheap vodka to make vanilla extract with, so I have rubbing alcohol here.

Some people use Febreeze, and that's fine, but Febreeze is basically straight-up alcohol with loads of fragrance.

I keep my stuff in this little tub.

If the clothes can be dried, I recommend NOT using dryer sheets. Dryer sheets coat the clothes and make them less absorbent and wicking, which is exactly the opposite of what you want from running gear. I use dryer balls (you can get them at any discount or dollar store, or just use a couple of clean tennis balls) and I really like them.

You can put a drop of fragrance oil on the dryer balls if you need some fragrance in your running gear, but be careful--You know how when you start to sweat, your perfume gets really strong all of a sudden? Yeah. That. If I'm adding fragrance, I put it in the vinegar rinse.

Amazon links:

Atsko Sport Wash 1L Bottle
Chalkboard Contact Paper, 18" x 6'
Pentel Arts Wet Erase Chalk Marker, Chisel Tip, White Ink, 1 Pack (SMW26BPW)

How do the clothes smell now?