Imported Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I sweat a lot when I work out. I mean, a lot. Eventually, every gym shirt I have smells musky...mildewy. I'd try washing them repeatedly, soaking them in baking soda, use the hell out of those expensive ass **** fragrance crystals, boil the clothes in a big pot of water with detergent....but those shirts always smell like mildew. They're fine up until the point I start sweating and that's about it. I don't think the smell is from me sweating at the moment, I think the smell is from the old sweat on the shirt being released when it gets wet. I mostly gave up trying to recover shirts once that happens and just throw them away or relegate those shirts to be used when I am not working out around other people. I buy a lot of these shirts for this reason. It is like my monthly expenditure.....buying more gym shirts to replace the ones I had to throw away. It seemed never ending. Then I started using Borax with Washing soda. Amazon.com: Mule Team Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda Variety Pack: Home & Kitchen One wash of shirts I knew would stink up and it didn't stink up. No mildewy smell. I even dug out shirts I was throwing away because they now stank up too much....washed it, used it at the gym.....and no smell. I was so amazed!!!! I drove out to Walmart and bought every single box of Borax and Washing Soda they had. I think it was $3.88 per box of Borax and under $3 for the washing soda.....which is waaaayy cheaper than what Amazon wants, so try to buy it local if you can. Just wanted to put it out there, because I thought I was using the best thing for getting smells out of clothes (Tide), but apparently some stuff less than a quarter of the price that I have never seen advertised works much better. Link to post Share on other sites
USMCHokie Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Yep, Borax is some pretty amazing stuff. I remember making bouncy balls out of Borax and some other random stuff when I did Chemathon back in high school... Link to post Share on other sites
tbf Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Did you know that sweat doesn't smell? It's the waste from bacteria that live off the soap that smells. So if you wash your gym clothing the minute you get home, making sure you run them through an additional rinse cycle to get rid of as much soap as possible, they won't retain any smell or mildew from being left lying around damp. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Imported Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) Did you know that sweat doesn't smell? It's the waste from bacteria that live off the soap that smells. So if you wash your gym clothing the minute you get home, making sure you run them through an additional rinse cycle to get rid of as much soap as possible, they won't retain any smell or mildew from being left lying around damp. I workout anywhere from two to three separate times a day most days. Morning before work, during work if we're not too busy and after work. It is not possible for me to wash clothes right after use and not really feasible. I knew sweat doesn't really stink and the stink was old putrid sweat that doesn't seem to go away once you allow it to set on your clothes. Maybe Borax isn't so much a detergent as it is a bacteria killer? I dunno, all I know is I washed a bunch of gym shirts that I know for a fact will smell very noticeably of mildew once I start sweating in them and no mildew smell or any smell I could sense. I washed everything I have with Borax+washing soda now. Been doing laundry non-stop for 3 days now Edited July 24, 2013 by Imported Link to post Share on other sites
Star Gazer Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Penguin Sport Wash. Trust me. And if that doesn't work, leave them out for the day in the sunlight. Sunlight kills odor. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
johan Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Great info, OP. Certain fabrics are terrible for hanging on to odors, and I hate to have to stop wearing a perfectly good shirt. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Imported Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Penguin Sport Wash. Trust me. And if that doesn't work, leave them out for the day in the sunlight. Sunlight kills odor. You have opened up a whole new world for me! Ended up getting the 3pack of Pro-wash which seems to be the best rated for the price, 500gram pack of Sports-suds and 21oz of Win detergent at amazon. Will just go buy Penguin locally since all the sports stores seems to carry it. I don't just know this stuff, people need to tell me! I read everything under the sun about training, but not once did I come upon things about really getting yourgym clothes clean. I'll try these detergents in comparison to the Borax...since that seems to have gotten all the stink out for me and cost far less than the stuff I just ordered. Hell, I even started adding Borax to my body wash. Link to post Share on other sites
quankanne Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 we add vinegar to the wash water, that seems to do a pretty good job at decimating odor ... Link to post Share on other sites
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