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When Your Workout Clothes Smell Like the Gym

 

This Thanksgiving, try a new tradition with your family and participate in a local Turkey Trot race. Typically a 5k, these races are a fun way to bond with siblings and cousins and parents during the holiday. Even if you’re not a runner, you can get out and add some movement to your day.

Find a Turkey Trot near you!

Once you’ve found a race to run (or walk), make sure your Spandex and Lycra is ready.

Workout clothes are typically made of non-absorbent fabrics to keep them from getting soaked with sweat. This is great when you’re 30 minutes into kickboxing and sweat is pouring from you like you’re a faucet, but not so great when you want to wash it all out and the sudsy wash water has trouble penetrating the fibers. Odors don’t always get washed away as a result, leaving your clothes still smelling vaguely like your gym.

Also contributing to the problem could be the use of liquid fabric softener, which can actually coat the fabric and make it difficult for the water and detergent to do their job. For an athletic fabric friendly alternative, try Dropps mineral based fabric softenerDropps’ magic? Tiny natural minerals that flow through your delicate fibers, making clothes breathable, comfortable and fragrant from wash to wash. 

Your best course of action is to wash your dirty workout gear with a detergent containing enzymes like our Active Wash or Stain & Odor Laundry Detergent Pod, and an Oxi Booster Pod to eliminate odors. Wash on a regular cycle according to the care label. 

Some fabrics can go in the dryer, but for those that can’t, take full advantage of the bacteria-killing powers of the sun by air drying workout clothes outside in the sunlight.