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Workout apparel is worn for a short period, but it is washed often because of intense sweating.
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Odors are caused by bacteria that develop in the moist environment created by sweat.
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Follow 4 simple tips to eliminate them and reduce the chance that, by staying on your clothes, they will irritate your skin or worse.
What is the clothing you wear for the least amount of time and wash the most often? Well, the answer is easy: it’s what you use during training. Unless in fact it’s really hot and you happen to sweat profusely in your regular clothes, the technical garments used in training are worn for a relatively short time but they get completely soaked and you have to wash them.
Enemy number one is not the bad smell they give off, or not only that. First of all: from what is it generated? Well, mainly from your own sweat and, more specifically, from bacteria that are activated and proliferate due to the humid environment, which is particularly conducive to them. In fact, sweat has no odor but acquires it through bacteria that proliferate due to the moist conditions created by it in contact with the skin.
Therefore any cleaning of your garments should be done first with this goal in mind, and that is to eliminate as much bacteria as possible.
How to accomplish this? Simple! Following our advice ;)
1. Wash them at the right temperature
Most bacteria are eliminated at temperatures of 60°C or higher, that is the rule. If you wash them at lower temperatures you will get fragrant but only *apparently* clean garments. They will smell clean, at least limited to the scent of the detergent you use, but they will not really be free of all bacteria. The reason is simple: at temperatures below 60°, bacteria resist and remain on your running clothes.
2. Wash them with the right products
I can already hear your objection, “But technical garments bear high temperatures very badly, and 60 degrees is too much!” And I couldn’t blame you because that’s the way it is. Maybe your favorite tee holds up, maybe it shrinks a bit in size, but it is almost certain that repeated washings at high temperatures can shorten its life.
Now what? There is a solution and that is to use additives to regular detergent that are specifically designed to kill any bacteria.
3. Use antibacterial garments
Another solution is to use garments that are already treated to be antibacterial. There are some that, for example, incorporate percentages of different substances into the yarns, including quaternary ammonium, silver ions, PHMB and triclosan. Beyond the more or less obscure names, read on the label if they are treated to be anallaergic or antibacterial.
4. Dry them well!
The last tip is perhaps the least followed and most underrated, yet it is just as effective: dry them well!
In fact, do you remember where we started from? Washing them is not enough. In fact we said that the moisture that forms on garments due to sweat is the perfect place for bacteria to proliferate. In short, think about how pointless it is to wash them at the right temperature and with the right products…only to fail to dry them perfectly and perhaps stick them in a drawer waiting for the next use. What do you think bacteria will do on those garments? A beautiful (for them) celebration!