Clean Your Workout Clothes!

Sweat is the stuff your body produces when your workout is heating up and your body needs to cool down…. however sweat also happens to be the stuff that makes your workout clothes smell like a hot, salty mess – so today, I’m going to show you how to get the funk out of your fitness gear!

LET THEM AIR OUT

When your workout is over, don’t toss your wet workout clothes in the hamper or on the laundry pile and let them sit there till laundry day – that will just make the stank worse..it will also make all of the surrounding clothes in the hamper smell like death too!

Tossing wet, sweaty clothes in a pile can also lead to mold growth – which smells even worse and is difficult to get rid of.

If you can’t wash your workout clothes right away – hang them in the bathroom, or in your bedroom, or ideally outdoors if that is possible – just let the air start to make its way through the fabrics and dry everything out..it’s a good idea to hang them inside out since that’s where most of the moisture is anyways – the clothes should be pretty dry with a couple of hours and safe to toss in the hamper..

VINEGAR PRE-SOAK

Before we wash the clothes, we’re going to pre-soak them and to do so, we’re going to welcome back one of our favourite cleaning products here at Clean My Space headquarters – vinegar – and this stuff is going to do all of the work for you!

Pour 1 part vinegar for every 5 parts waster in a suitable size bowl or sink – and let the vinegar do it’s thing for about 30 minutes prior to washing.

This step really helps with heavy-duty odours.

If you’re looking for more vinegar hacks then we’ve got you covered with 5 Clever Vinegar Hacks!

WASH THE STANK AWAY

You want to launder your workout clothes in the hottest water that the fabrics will allow – so READ THE LABEL – the care label is your best friend, especially considering how some garments actually require cold water washes.

You’re going to wash the clothes, on a regular cycle.

Now if you are lazy and skipped the vinegar pre-soak – now’s your opportunity to make good with the vinegar and add some in during the rinse cycle – I find the vinegar pre-soak is more effective, but this will also do the trick!

Do NOT use fabric softener for this job – it will leave a residue and you don’t want that when you’re sweating all over these clothes all the time.

DRYING

Most workout clothes can be simply thrown into the dryer – usually on an air setting or a low heat setting – again, consult the care label for drying instructions!

If the clothes do not permit use of a dryer OR if you don’t have a dryer – you can hang the clothes to dry – and if it’s possible – hang them outside in the sun because the sun rays can help fight bacteria growth during the drying process!

KEEP YOUR GYM BAG FRESH

Sometimes we do not have the luxury of airing out our gym clothes right after a workout and sometimes we’re stuck leaving our sweaty gym clothes in a gym bag for hours on end – this sucks because it’s a dark, damp environment in there – BUT – if you whip yourself together a baking soda, rice and essential oil gym bag deodorizing sachet you will really help matters!

Just add about a half cup of baking soda – 3 or 4 tablespoons of dry rice and 10 drops of essential oils – I’m use tea tree oil for added bacteria fighting action.

This week’s comment question is – “what is your favourite way to work out” – get creative and leave us a response in the comment box down below – I love to read your comments so go ahead and say something!

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