After a particularly challenging or sweaty work out, your favorite athletic wear might smell a little worse than usual. Odor developing on clothing—especially items made from synthetic fibers— is extremely normal, but, your routine laundry habits may not be enough to get extra stinky workout clothes smelling fresh again.
Since synthetic fibers typically found in activewear wick away moisture and odor, sweat and bacteria from skin can’t be absorbed by the fabric, which can lead to more odor emittance in general.
“A lot of the reason workout clothes smell bad is because of the surface area of the actual fabrics,” said Andrea Barnes, Wirecutter’s expert on cleaning appliances. “The same thing that makes them breathable makes them very easy for bacteria to grow [on].”
We spoke to several experts to figure out the best way to treat and clean your high-performance athletic wear to make sure you get the stink out on laundry day.
Don’t let damp clothes sit for too long
“One thing we do whenever gear is especially wet is try to get it washed as quickly as we can,” said head equipment manager for the US Women’s National Soccer Team, Jake Schoch. “The longer you let the clothes sit while wet, the harder it is [for] the gear to bounce back and continue to be durable.” Leave damp exercise clothing in a gym bag or on a bedroom floor for too long, and it could even mildew.
If you can’t launder your sweaty items right away, consider hanging them up to dry. Christina Colizza, lead editor at Wirecutter and author of our sports bra guide, swears by rinsing her compression shorts and sports bras—and then hanging them to dry—before a full wash. If you can’t do that, you should do what you can to avoid crumpling your damp activewear into a ball and leaving it like that.
“If you think about how bacteria grows, they like moist, dark environments,” Andrea said. “So if you funnel something into a ball, you’re creating all these pockets for bacteria to grow.”
When picking a hamper for your not-yet-washed-but-no-longer-sopping-with-sweat activewear, you might want to go for a well-ventilated laundry hamper, like our top-pick, the Sterilite Stacking Laundry Basket.
Turn items inside out
The inside of your favorite workout gear is exposed to the most sweat and dead skin cells (odor-causing bacteria thrive on these), so before you dump them in the machine, take the time to turn them inside out. As Jolie Kerr, a cleaning writer who has written about washing workout gear for The Times before, noted, doing so will allow water and detergent to better access those smellier regions.
When sorting, consider separating synthetic performance fabrics (Lycra, polyester, nylon, mesh) from natural fabrics (cotton, wool) so that you wash items of similar weight and structure together. And heed the care labels on your garments.
Start with a strong detergent — and use the right amount
Since synthetic fabrics need to be washed in cold water to protect their performance and longevity, you’ll want to lean on a high-performance detergent when washing activewear. All of our laundry detergent picks performed exceptionally well in both cleaning and odor-removal during our tests, but Andrea suggested using a liquid detergent because it may be able to absorb into the fabric better.
It may seem counterintuitive, but doubling down on detergent won’t get your favorite pair of workout leggings any cleaner. Over time, detergent has the potential to build up, trap odors, and encourage mildew. Stick to our recommended dose—just two tablespoons’ worth— and skip fabric softeners, which can film over performance fabrics and hamper their abilities.
Spot treat the extra smelly spots
With a particularly sweaty load of laundry, even the best detergent might not be enough to totally knock out the odor left behind. In that case, Andrea said you’ll want to reach for a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
To treat the odor, you’ll have to identify the smelliest parts of your clothes, but once you find the area in need of treatment, just spray a bit of the hydrogen peroxide on the spot. (Before doing this, you should spot test the hydrogen peroxide on a discrete part of the clothing you’re treating to ensure it won’t bleach or ruin the fabric.)
You’ll want to spray your clothing sparingly, and once you’ve sprayed it, you don’t want to let it sit for too long before putting it in the machine and running a cycle.
If something is particularly smelly and sweaty and seems nearly “unsalvageable,” Andrea recommended letting it soak in oxygen bleach for a while, before loading it into the machine.
Synthetics demand cold cleaning cycles because heat can shrink, break down, and even melt some fabrics. As a result, hot water, which is frequently used to kill bacteria, can’t be used to treat odor-creating bacteria on synthetic fabrics. A lot of brands are now selling “laundry rinses” to help combat odor in cold water cleaning, but Wirecutter has not yet tested these.
Make sure your laundry machine is clean
If you’re taking all the right steps to treat your stinky workout clothes, but they still come out of the laundry smelling a little funky, your laundry machine might be the culprit.
Depending on if you have a front-loader or top-loader, your laundry maintenance steps will look different, but you should be deep cleaning your machine once every six months. You should wipe down the inside of your machine once a month, just to prevent a build-up of stink, mold or bacteria. For a front-loader, you should clean out the gasket once a month as well.
If you’ve never washed your washing machine, it might be time to give it a try. All of your clothes, not just your activewear, will benefit from a clean machine.
A previous version of this article was edited by Tracy Vence. This version was edited by Hannah Rimm and Ingrid Skjong.
