Stink, stank, STUNK...make it go away!

Febreze works well.  Or go to your local dive shop and pick up some "Sink the Stink".  It uses enzymes to break down the bacteria and other funkifying things that cause odors. 

Penguin Sports Wash! http://www.penguinapparelcare.com/

Huh? I also wash my clothes after every ride using regular liquid Tide and they smell great and are clean... don't understand the need for anything special than regular detergent.

The sport wash is best for that.

I shower in my base layers after every workout (shorts, sport bra, shimmel, t-shirt, socks--not tights, jackets, or long sleeves). Hang dry. They only get machine washed very very very rarely. Never had an issue with perma stink, and some of my stuff is a decade old (or more).

When I DO machine wash, it's gentle or active wear cycle; Unscented, allergy free detergent with some oxyclean. No fabric softener, no dryer.

I use liquid Tide and liquid Downy. I use twice the Downy I'm supposed to, though, and I hang dry them instead of putting them in the dryer so that the Downy smell sticks around longer. No problems.

Uh oh. Breathable fabrics will lose their wicking ability and breathability when you use fabric softeners and liquid detergents. The oils they use will clog the fabrics micropores.


ETA- for further confusion, see...

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/fabric+care.html

Edited by blairrob 2010-01-02 7:31 PM

Someone on another thread suggested adding a little white vinegar to the wash water. I've done that a couple of times and it seems to help.

True. Although supposedly those detergents like WIN and Penguin can restore the wicking properties.

For what it's worth, Consumer Reports tested all the specialized detergents and didn't recommend any of them.  Now, I'm sure triathletes are a bit different than the CR testers, but their recommendation was to use regular detergent.  They recommend Tide Coldwater.  I wash my PT gear after each use and don't have any issues.

I have a high-efficiency washer, use regular Tide HE, and vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser and have never had any stink issues.

Another vote here for NO fabric softener. Vinegar works just as well, IME.

I use the vinegar, wash on hot and frequently also add some Borax.  All shirts/shorts (except for cycle shorts) go in the dryer (to kill the bacteria).  Everything smells clean when I put it away, but 10 minutes into a workout, it stinks (and I mean STINKS) again.  The stink is more pronounced for DH but I get it too.

We've just bought some WIN so I'll update if that works.

I know the labels say to wash on cold, but really?  Clothes that you can't wash in hot are dead to me - they stink that bad.  FWIW, I have running clothes (Brooks) that date from 2000/2001 that I wash on hot with no apparent ill effects. 

Ha ha.   Oh, well. Was planning on upgrading some of my basics this year anyway.

I think everybody is different and we all have different odors.  I don't notice that any of my stuff smells but I notice my husbands.  After I wash it with Tide powder I can still smell them.  The other day I threw in some baking soda which helps with cloth diapers and that helped.  I will try the vinegar as well since I use that with the diapers occasionally too.  We never use fabric softener because it makes diapers repell water and sticks to the inside of your dryer.

There was an article in Bicycling mag from sept '09 that recommended using hydrogen peroxide.  I've been using WIN and adding hydrogen peroxide in the fabric softener dispenser.  Seems to work well (as far as I can tell ).
Now if someone can only figure out how to get that STANK out of running shoes!  Mine currently have to live outside in the garage!

I dunno...we're a two triathlete household and we just wash everything with Tide or All or whatever in the delicate cycle and throw the non-spandex stuff in the dryer on delicate.  Complete with dryer sheets.  Spandex wear gets to hang dry.  No funk.  No "loss of wicking properties" from the evil fabric softener sheets.  Regular products work fine.

Agreed on the periodic vinegar wash.  Just fill the bleach compartment with white vinegar and run them through a cycle.

I wash everything in regular Tide (sometimes with a scoop of Oxyclean, if I remember) and I throw it all *gasp* in the dryer with a fabric softener sheet.

Nothing has dissolved on me yet. Some of my tops are from 2003. So that's almost 7 years of washing and drying.  And I don't smell. (At least not in the beginning of a workout.)

I also wash and dry my swimsuits. Not always recommended, but I don't notice that they break down any sooner than if I didn't wash and dry them, so into the dryer they go! I don't have time for stuff to hang dry around my house.