Deodorize Your Smelly Workout Gear With One Key Item You Already Have At Home

Nothing feels as good as showering and throwing your clothes in the laundry after a big sweat session. Working out is rewarding, but the fresh feeling that comes with laundered workout gear is just as good, especially if you went particularly hard during your exercise routine. However, sometimes your clothes might come out of the wash feeling and smelling less-than-clean. Your gym gear is susceptible to germs and bacteria more than most articles of clothing, which is why they might need to be washed with more than just laundry detergent. Because of this, you may want to consider also using baking soda. 

By adding in some of this household staple, you can get your sweaty, smelly items to feel brand new thanks to its superior cleaning power. Baking soda has been dubbed as one of the most useful and versatile products that can be found in almost every home, with the ability to freshen up everything from laundry to carpets, and even scrub dirty bathrooms or kitchens. If your workout clothes are in need of some heavy-duty help, just grab a scoop of this powder and get ready to be blown away by this baking soda laundry hack.

Gym gear is typically made of synthetic fabrics, which tend to be a lot more prone to keeping odors trapped in their fibers. Mold and bacteria can grow in the moist parts of your workout attire, causing them to smell even after you've run them through the wash. The more you use and wear these items, the more they might smell over time, especially if the fabric isn't getting a solid scrub to release the bacteria that are clinging on.

Adding too much detergent to a load of laundry can result in creating buildup on your clothing, which is actually detrimental. Detergent residue will result in the pieces feeling gummy and the materials getting damaged, rather than clean and debris-free. The build-up will also just trap all the bacteria you are trying to get rid of, leaving odors behind. Baking soda particles work to scrub fibers, remove detergent buildup, deodorize, and leave everything feeling soft after a wash cycle.

With just a ½ cup of baking soda, you will notice a significant improvement to the smell and feel of your gym clothes. You don't need to do anything different during your laundry routine, just add this ingredient directly into the drum along with your standard detergent or laundry pods on wash day.

You can also try soaking your gym items in a ½ cup of baking soda and water before washing them. To do this, fill your sink up with water — it doesn't need to be hot — room temperature works fine. These can either be left overnight or for a couple of hours if you don't want to soak them that long. Then simply put them through your washing machine using your standard detergent methods. Additionally, it's a good rule of thumb to, after a big sweat session, place your fitness apparel somewhere they can breathe until you are ready to wash them — then keep the baking soda handy to ensure odors stay far, far away!