6 ms·

> The polyester T-shirts smelled significantly less pleasant and more intense, compared to the cotton T-shirts. This is consistent with my experience. I stoppe

by pards 3y ago

> The polyester T-shirts smelled significantly less pleasant and more intense, compared to the cotton T-shirts. This is consistent with my experience. I stopped buying expensive exercise clothing many years ago because they only last a season before they smell too bad. Instead, I buy them at the end-of-season sales or at discount retailers like Winners [0]. Unfortunately, in Canada it isn't feasible to hang them out in the sun to dry - for much of the year they'd just freeze. [0]: https://www.winners.ca/en/how https://www.winners.ca/en/how

rmellow 3y ago
> in Canada it isn't feasible to hang them out in the sun to dry Collapsible drying racks are a thing. IKEA sells them for cheap. Just leave them by your window, vent or fan. > I stopped buying expensive exercise clothing many years ago because they only last a season before they smell too bad I'm very confused. It still smells despite washing with laundry detergent after each use? My gym clothing has zero smell & I've had them for >5 years, with weekly use for each piece.
- petesergeant 3y ago
  Once the smell gets in, it’s very hard to get it out again, ime. If I’m always able to wash the stuff ASAP after wearing and with hot water, it’s fine, but if I’ve only got access to cold water washers and air drying for a month or so, they’ll never be the same again, even if I boil wash them.
  - Broken_Hippo 3y ago
    Drying doesn't remove smells, though: As long as you wash them properly, air drying shouldn't be an issue at all.
    - petesergeant 3y ago
      Right, but staying damp over a period of time because they’re air-drying in a humid country presumably allows the bacteria a more hospitable environment? I’ve found clothes can smell musty from air-drying unless you’re able to get them in the sun very quickly
      - Broken_Hippo 3y ago
        Where I live, it is common to air-dry clothes on dryer racks. It isn't as common for folks to have dryers inside the house. The catch: I'm in Norway, and can promise you these clothes aren't seeing sun for most of the year. People don't stink - and it isn't due to being used to the smell. Folks didn't stink when I moved here a decade ago either. Clothes don't stink more in the winter, even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures. You can't leave them for hours in the washer, but that's true even if you are using a dryer. Of course, there are exceptions. You really should hang them up soon after you take them out of the washer.
        Eisenstein 3y ago
        > even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures. However when it is very cold the air is much drier. Contrast that to a temperate but humid climate where everything sits at 20C - 25C w/80% - 100% humidity. Practically a microbial incubator.
        atchoo 3y ago
        That's basically the UK and I haven't experienced a problem with indoor air drying. I would give some basic guidelines though. It's the sort of things that you don't think you need to tell people until you see what they do... - ideally machine washed with a significant spin to remove water. Air drying hand washed items that are sopping wet is a lot harder - might take 4x longer - hang in a room with decent ventilation and some active air flow. Trying to air dry in the equivalent of a cupboard would be doomed - hang fully spread out with decent space between the clothes. Drying time will be significantly extended if densely scrunched together with pieces touching. Buy multiple racks to get enough hanging space. - don't put used wet gym clothes in a laundry bin to fester. If you aren't washing them immediately, hang them up to dry first and put them in the bin later
        Broken_Hippo 3y ago
        I've done the second for a few years when I lived in the US - Indiana, to be exact, which is quite humid. I couldn't really afford the driers at the laudromat, so I brought stuff home to dry inside. No issues, summer or winter. Drying time here (Norway) in winter is about the same as high humidity was in the US. Summer is the dry season here - there is often a forest fire watch and a ban on open flames/fires. In general, as long as there is air flow, you are fine. It'll take longer/shorter depending on humidity and air temperature.
- Broken_Hippo 3y ago
  Collapsible drying racks are a thing. IKEA sells them for cheap. Just leave them by your window, vent or fan. I live in a cold climate - Norway - and this is the common drying method. Dryers aren't common in homes. Folks will put the rack on a balcony on nice days, and wherever they will fit in when it isn't.
- cassianoleal 3y ago
  > My gym clothing has zero smell & I've had them for >5 years I don't understand this either. I've been seeing loads of articles and posts about smelly gym clothes but I have both gym and outdoors clothes that have been going strong for much longer than 5 years and none of them smell after a wash. In fact, most can be worn for multiple sweaty sessions before they even start to smell.
JohnBooty 3y ago
I have the opposite experience with cheap, synthetic "moisture wicking" style clothing. My experience is that it lasts literally forever (assuming I don't tear it) and does not develop an odor problem over time. It actually feels fairly miraculous to me: space-age style comfortable breathable indestructable clothing. We have active lives here in the NE USA where summers are hot, humid, and tropical. We sweat a looooooot in these clothes: dog walks, tennis, gym wear, yard work, etc. A loooot. I get the majority of this clothing from Old Navy because they're cheap and sell most items in tall sizes. I've used other cheap brands that are also just as good; I don't think Old Navy is doing anything special in terms of materials but I think they deserve a shout-out for consistency and dedication to extended sizes both large and small. I stopped buying expensive exercise clothing many years ago because they only last a season before they smell too bad Good news! Absolutely doesn't have to be this way. Something in your clothes washing routine needs an upgrade. It may be as simple as cramming less laundry into the washer for each load so that the water:clothing ratio is higher. Another common mistake is using too much laundry detergent. Or maybe the washer is musty. Assuming it's not either of those things a method that works for me is occasionally doing the "laundry stripping" hot water presoaking method.[1] "Recipes" for this vary and I'm not sure that the commonly recommended triple-ingredient mix is necessary; I suspect a few drops of laundry detergent alone would work just as well. However all of the ingredients are cheap as dirt and this method works so I haven't felt the need to experiment. Note that this isn't specific to synthetic fibers; cotton clothes can have their life multiplied this way as well. Seems like a lot of work but it really isn't. I have a plastic bin in my basement next to the washer and dryer. I have Load B pre-soaking in the hot water mix while Load A is in the washer. You don't need to do this every time you wash your clothes. Just once every $SOME_OTHER_NUMBER loads. Vinegar is also really effective in destroying odors. I have saved extremely moldy clothes with vinegar. Vinegar stinks but evaporates fast. If you truly can't stomach the smell (some can't) then tumble dry in the dryer until the vinegar smell is gone. Also, for goodness' sake, don't toss wet sweaty clothes into the hamper. Let them air dry somehow first. _______ [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=laundry+stripping https://www.google.com/search?q=laundry+stripping
fuzzy2 3y ago
Others already provided great tips, I have one more: immediately remove them from the washing machine once it finishes and hang them to dry.
natedub 3y ago
One more tip: try Gear Aid Revivex Odour Eliminator (formerly Myrazime). In my experience it’s like a reset switch for your synthetics - no matter how far gone.
sp332 3y ago
Ice sublimates after freezing, so they would still dry.
- sojournerc 3y ago
  Sure, in the sun, which is less available in winter, especially in Canada.
  - bawolff 3y ago
    Not really. I grew up in northern Alberta. Yes there are less daylight hours, but the sun was often very intense during those hours. Winter tends to be dry so you have bright winters with little cloud cover, for the hours of sun you do get. It just happens to set at 4pm. Of course eventually that changes if you go far north enough, but very few people actually live past the artic circle. People living on the coast will probably also have very different weather. Of course i dont think i ever saw anyone hang clothes outside in -40 weather. I feel like drying is not what would happen but i dont know
  - davidjade 3y ago
    Water can go directly from ice to vapor without melting. So you don’t need sunlight or heat.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
KennyBlanken 3y ago
Atsko (also known as Penguin) sport wash will get out that smell, guaranteed. In the wintertime just hang your washed clothes on a drying rack, either wall-mount or free-standing or what have you. "Free" humidification. Also air-drying works a lot better with front-loaders, which you should be using anyway because they use vastly less water and detergent and are much gentler on clothing. My expensive-ish cycling clothing, after a ride, goes straight into a bucket of lukewarm water (spandex/lycra deteriorates in strength and stretch very rapidly at surprisingly low temperatures) with about a third of the bottlecap of sport wash. I give it a good swish and go shower. I give it some agitation after I'm done showering and changed. At some point I'll rinse it thoroughly. The cycling shorts get rolled up in a cotton towel and stepped on to wring them of excess water. Everything goes on a clothes hangar out in open air. If I'm riding again in the morning, or if it's humid, I point a small fan at everything so that the pad dries out quickly.
- JohnBooty 3y ago
  In the wintertime just hang your washed clothes on a drying rack, either wall-mount or free-standing or what have you. "Free" humidification I agree with this. I have tried a number of humidifiers (evaporative and ultrasonic) and they are all freaking maintenance nightmares in one way or another. Nothing comes even remotely close to wet towels or wet clothes on a drying rack with a little fan pointed at them. I sleep with a fan on for background noise anyway. Thick bath towels will soak up enough water to last a whole night or more.
  - TylerE 3y ago
    The problem is just how much water air can hold... humidifying even a small room takes gallon and gallons.
    - JohnBooty 3y ago
      Can you share your thinking here? That doesn't seem right. A cubic liter can hold 0.017 mL of liquid water at an average room temperature. If I'm borrowing this math correctly that comes to less than a liter of water in an average room at 100% humidity. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%280.023+atm%29*%281+L%29%2F%28gas+constant+*+298+K%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%280.023+atm%29*%281+L%... Certainly, when we look at the tanks of popular humidifiers on Amazon, the tanks hold less moisture than a rack full of wet laundry particularly if there are wet towels. I haven't measured this objectively but commercial humidifiers and the "wet clothes on a rack plus fan" method both palpably raise the humidity in a room.
achenatx 3y ago
soak them in a very light bleach solution - around 20ppm. (1tsp in a few gallons of water).
- justinator 3y ago
  I've had good luck spraying clothes while hanging with vodka. Or washing them with some vinegar.
adrr 3y ago
I never have issues with highend work gear smelling. They advertise they have silver ions infused into the fiber to control bacteria growth. Seems to work. Personally I prefer cotton since we have dry heat and cotton keeps me cooler than synthetics or wool.

by pards 3y ago

rmellow 3y ago

> in Canada it isn't feasible to hang them out in the sun to dry Collapsible drying racks are a thing. IKEA sells them for cheap. Just leave them by your window, vent or fan. > I stopped buying expensive exercise clothing many years ago because they only last a season before they smell too bad I'm very confused. It still smells despite washing with laundry detergent after each use? My gym clothing has zero smell & I've had them for >5 years, with weekly use for each piece.

petesergeant 3y ago
Once the smell gets in, it’s very hard to get it out again, ime. If I’m always able to wash the stuff ASAP after wearing and with hot water, it’s fine, but if I’ve only got access to cold water washers and air drying for a month or so, they’ll never be the same again, even if I boil wash them.
- Broken_Hippo 3y ago
  Drying doesn't remove smells, though: As long as you wash them properly, air drying shouldn't be an issue at all.
  - petesergeant 3y ago
    Right, but staying damp over a period of time because they’re air-drying in a humid country presumably allows the bacteria a more hospitable environment? I’ve found clothes can smell musty from air-drying unless you’re able to get them in the sun very quickly
    - Broken_Hippo 3y ago
      Where I live, it is common to air-dry clothes on dryer racks. It isn't as common for folks to have dryers inside the house. The catch: I'm in Norway, and can promise you these clothes aren't seeing sun for most of the year. People don't stink - and it isn't due to being used to the smell. Folks didn't stink when I moved here a decade ago either. Clothes don't stink more in the winter, even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures. You can't leave them for hours in the washer, but that's true even if you are using a dryer. Of course, there are exceptions. You really should hang them up soon after you take them out of the washer.
      - Eisenstein 3y ago
        > even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures. However when it is very cold the air is much drier. Contrast that to a temperate but humid climate where everything sits at 20C - 25C w/80% - 100% humidity. Practically a microbial incubator.
        atchoo 3y ago
        That's basically the UK and I haven't experienced a problem with indoor air drying. I would give some basic guidelines though. It's the sort of things that you don't think you need to tell people until you see what they do... - ideally machine washed with a significant spin to remove water. Air drying hand washed items that are sopping wet is a lot harder - might take 4x longer - hang in a room with decent ventilation and some active air flow. Trying to air dry in the equivalent of a cupboard would be doomed - hang fully spread out with decent space between the clothes. Drying time will be significantly extended if densely scrunched together with pieces touching. Buy multiple racks to get enough hanging space. - don't put used wet gym clothes in a laundry bin to fester. If you aren't washing them immediately, hang them up to dry first and put them in the bin later
        Broken_Hippo 3y ago
        I've done the second for a few years when I lived in the US - Indiana, to be exact, which is quite humid. I couldn't really afford the driers at the laudromat, so I brought stuff home to dry inside. No issues, summer or winter. Drying time here (Norway) in winter is about the same as high humidity was in the US. Summer is the dry season here - there is often a forest fire watch and a ban on open flames/fires. In general, as long as there is air flow, you are fine. It'll take longer/shorter depending on humidity and air temperature.
Broken_Hippo 3y ago
Collapsible drying racks are a thing. IKEA sells them for cheap. Just leave them by your window, vent or fan. I live in a cold climate - Norway - and this is the common drying method. Dryers aren't common in homes. Folks will put the rack on a balcony on nice days, and wherever they will fit in when it isn't.
cassianoleal 3y ago
> My gym clothing has zero smell & I've had them for >5 years I don't understand this either. I've been seeing loads of articles and posts about smelly gym clothes but I have both gym and outdoors clothes that have been going strong for much longer than 5 years and none of them smell after a wash. In fact, most can be worn for multiple sweaty sessions before they even start to smell.

JohnBooty 3y ago

I have the opposite experience with cheap, synthetic "moisture wicking" style clothing. My experience is that it lasts literally forever (assuming I don't tear it) and does not develop an odor problem over time. It actually feels fairly miraculous to me: space-age style comfortable breathable indestructable clothing. We have active lives here in the NE USA where summers are hot, humid, and tropical. We sweat a looooooot in these clothes: dog walks, tennis, gym wear, yard work, etc. A loooot. I get the majority of this clothing from Old Navy because they're cheap and sell most items in tall sizes. I've used other cheap brands that are also just as good; I don't think Old Navy is doing anything special in terms of materials but I think they deserve a shout-out for consistency and dedication to extended sizes both large and small. I stopped buying expensive exercise clothing many years ago because they only last a season before they smell too bad Good news! Absolutely doesn't have to be this way. Something in your clothes washing routine needs an upgrade. It may be as simple as cramming less laundry into the washer for each load so that the water:clothing ratio is higher. Another common mistake is using too much laundry detergent. Or maybe the washer is musty. Assuming it's not either of those things a method that works for me is occasionally doing the "laundry stripping" hot water presoaking method.[1] "Recipes" for this vary and I'm not sure that the commonly recommended triple-ingredient mix is necessary; I suspect a few drops of laundry detergent alone would work just as well. However all of the ingredients are cheap as dirt and this method works so I haven't felt the need to experiment. Note that this isn't specific to synthetic fibers; cotton clothes can have their life multiplied this way as well. Seems like a lot of work but it really isn't. I have a plastic bin in my basement next to the washer and dryer. I have Load B pre-soaking in the hot water mix while Load A is in the washer. You don't need to do this every time you wash your clothes. Just once every $SOME_OTHER_NUMBER loads. Vinegar is also really effective in destroying odors. I have saved extremely moldy clothes with vinegar. Vinegar stinks but evaporates fast. If you truly can't stomach the smell (some can't) then tumble dry in the dryer until the vinegar smell is gone. Also, for goodness' sake, don't toss wet sweaty clothes into the hamper. Let them air dry somehow first. _______ [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=laundry+stripping https://www.google.com/search?q=laundry+stripping

fuzzy2 3y ago

Others already provided great tips, I have one more: immediately remove them from the washing machine once it finishes and hang them to dry.

natedub 3y ago

One more tip: try Gear Aid Revivex Odour Eliminator (formerly Myrazime). In my experience it’s like a reset switch for your synthetics - no matter how far gone.

sp332 3y ago

Ice sublimates after freezing, so they would still dry.

sojournerc 3y ago
Sure, in the sun, which is less available in winter, especially in Canada.
- bawolff 3y ago
  Not really. I grew up in northern Alberta. Yes there are less daylight hours, but the sun was often very intense during those hours. Winter tends to be dry so you have bright winters with little cloud cover, for the hours of sun you do get. It just happens to set at 4pm. Of course eventually that changes if you go far north enough, but very few people actually live past the artic circle. People living on the coast will probably also have very different weather. Of course i dont think i ever saw anyone hang clothes outside in -40 weather. I feel like drying is not what would happen but i dont know
- davidjade 3y ago
  Water can go directly from ice to vapor without melting. So you don’t need sunlight or heat.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

KennyBlanken 3y ago

Atsko (also known as Penguin) sport wash will get out that smell, guaranteed. In the wintertime just hang your washed clothes on a drying rack, either wall-mount or free-standing or what have you. "Free" humidification. Also air-drying works a lot better with front-loaders, which you should be using anyway because they use vastly less water and detergent and are much gentler on clothing. My expensive-ish cycling clothing, after a ride, goes straight into a bucket of lukewarm water (spandex/lycra deteriorates in strength and stretch very rapidly at surprisingly low temperatures) with about a third of the bottlecap of sport wash. I give it a good swish and go shower. I give it some agitation after I'm done showering and changed. At some point I'll rinse it thoroughly. The cycling shorts get rolled up in a cotton towel and stepped on to wring them of excess water. Everything goes on a clothes hangar out in open air. If I'm riding again in the morning, or if it's humid, I point a small fan at everything so that the pad dries out quickly.

JohnBooty 3y ago
In the wintertime just hang your washed clothes on a drying rack, either wall-mount or free-standing or what have you. "Free" humidification I agree with this. I have tried a number of humidifiers (evaporative and ultrasonic) and they are all freaking maintenance nightmares in one way or another. Nothing comes even remotely close to wet towels or wet clothes on a drying rack with a little fan pointed at them. I sleep with a fan on for background noise anyway. Thick bath towels will soak up enough water to last a whole night or more.
- TylerE 3y ago
  The problem is just how much water air can hold... humidifying even a small room takes gallon and gallons.
  - JohnBooty 3y ago
    Can you share your thinking here? That doesn't seem right. A cubic liter can hold 0.017 mL of liquid water at an average room temperature. If I'm borrowing this math correctly that comes to less than a liter of water in an average room at 100% humidity. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%280.023+atm%29*%281+L%29%2F%28gas+constant+*+298+K%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%280.023+atm%29*%281+L%... Certainly, when we look at the tanks of popular humidifiers on Amazon, the tanks hold less moisture than a rack full of wet laundry particularly if there are wet towels. I haven't measured this objectively but commercial humidifiers and the "wet clothes on a rack plus fan" method both palpably raise the humidity in a room.

achenatx 3y ago

soak them in a very light bleach solution - around 20ppm. (1tsp in a few gallons of water).

justinator 3y ago
I've had good luck spraying clothes while hanging with vodka. Or washing them with some vinegar.

adrr 3y ago

I never have issues with highend work gear smelling. They advertise they have silver ions infused into the fiber to control bacteria growth. Seems to work. Personally I prefer cotton since we have dry heat and cotton keeps me cooler than synthetics or wool.