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Workout clothes are designed to help us move freely and wick sweat away more efficiently than our cotton fabrics. However, it is still important to maintain proper laundry habits, to prevent odours from developing.
Whether it's a tanktop or yoga tights, here are the best tips for keeping your gear odour-free.
Don't Leave Sportswear in the Laundry Basket
While we all have been guilty of being lazy after a gruelling workout, leaving your gym clothes in your gym bag or laundry basket is just bad practice.
Bacteria flourishes in wet and warm environments so remember to wash sportswear immediately to prevent odours from developing.
Use a Sportswear or Prewash Program
Certain washing machines have a specialised sportswear program to effectively remove biofilm and odours from microfiber fabrics.
Alternatively, choose a wash program for synthetic fabrics and add in a Prewash program, which runs an additional wash cycle before the main cycle.
Turn Them Inside Out
Most of the sweat and bacteria accumulate on the inside rather than the outside of our gym clothes. Consequently, it makes sense to turn them inside out when doing the washing. This will have the added benefit of preventing the colour of your garments from fading.
Less Detergent is More
Conventional wisdom would suggest that the dirtier your clothes are, the more detergent you need to use. Ironically, this couldn’t be any further from the truth and could actually make things worse! A washing machine’s standard cycle is designed to handle a certain amount of detergent. Going over this threshold may result in the accumulation of detergent deposits on your clothes. To be safe, use an optimal amount of detergent according to detergent label instructions and laundry load.
Avoid Fabric Softener
While a fabric softener will leave your towels and jeans with an extra soft finish, keep it away from your gym clothes. Aside from damaging anything that stretches, a fabric softener will leave a coating that locks in rather than get rid of odours.
Pop Them in the Dryer
While sportswear fabrics are made of breathable microfibers for fast evaporation of moisture, air-drying them will still involve a considerable amount of time and effort.
Use a sportswear program on your dryer to effectively remove moisture from your gymwear and they are ready to be stored in the cupboard until your next workout session.
