The stink

Who's got a great way to get that stink out of all the polyester bike jerseys? I know there are magic formulas out there, so I'd love to hear them.

Back when I was doing cloth diapers with my kids (both toilet trained now - hooray!) I read that hanging diaper covers to dry in the sunshine could help clear up stains and odor.

That's the sort of stuff I'm looking for. I use unscented laundry soap, hang all my bike stuff to dry (and don't use fabric softener/scented dryer stuff anyway), and don't consider myself to be an exceptionally stinky person.:D But still, my jerseys are smelly.

I've heard wool jerseys don't get the stink, but it's too warm for me to use those in the summer.

Ideas?

I'm sure this has been discussed somewhere on the forum, so please direct me to any thread that may already exist...

Thanks for any suggestions!

putting some baking soda in the wash worked for me.

my special stinky bike gear recipe:
Soak in "Biz" overnight, at least 12 hours. this is an enzyme
based presoak that goes after organic matter, not your regular presoak.
Then, rinse that out and then run through the wash with a laundry product
called Oxyclean, which is not an detergent it's an additive. You should be
able to get that at any supermarket.

Edit: Before anyone goes suggesting WIN or other sports specific detergents, just know that it's regular detergent with oxyclean added in a fancy package that costs more.

TE offers Penguin Sport Wash that is touted as removing odors from high tech fabrics. I've been thinking of ordering some myself. Darn, I just placed an order that qualified for free shipping and I forgot about this stuff. Time to put it in my stash so that I'll remember next time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Irulan

Edit: Before anyone goes suggesting WIN or other sports specific detergents, just know that it's regular detergent with oxyclean added in a fancy package that costs more.

---

Hmmm...there's nothing in the product description for Penguin Sport Wash that would dispute this.

I've had good luck getting odors out of things with vinegar in the rinse cycle (sheets, towels, sweaty summer clothes, sports gear, etc).

I typically wash my bike gear (and other wick-away sport clothes) in a gentle powder like Ivory Snow and if it was an especially sweaty day or I'm wearing my bike shorts "traditionally" I put plain white vinegar in a downy ball so it releases in the rinse cycle. Vinegar is a natural fabric softener and helps get detergent residues off of fabrics so that the fibers aren't coated and can dry properly. It also is a mild disinfectant so that helps with residual stink. Ever notice a musty/funky odor in your bath towels? The coating from the detergent residue prevents them from getting all the way dry, run them in a cycle with vinegar in the rinse and it goes away.

It helps to use vinegar or disinfective laundry additive. You can smell the vinegar after washing but the smell goes away when the laundry dries.

But the only thing that really gets rid of the stink is to wash in hot water. Most sport fabrics should not be washed hot, but I still do it once in a while - haven't had a problem yet. After that I hang them out in the sun if possible.

My wool jerseys don't stink as much, but to say they don't stink at all wouldn't be true ;)

I've never had a problem with jerseys stinking. May I ask what brands you have? I do remember when I first started riding (2000), some of the jerseys I had, and particularly, the ones DH and DS had were thicker,had more polyester, and held odor more.
I wash my shorts in hot water and hang to dry, but I've never washed jerseys in hot water.

Another vinegar user here. I put in about a 1/2 to full cup depending on the size of the load. I use plain white vinegar and it takes away odors. So far it's never harmed anything of mine yet.

Biz. I do the soak that Irulan recommended if the clothes are really foul. After that, a 1/2 cup added to each load of cycling/fitness clothes keeps the odor under control. With the Biz, I never have to wash anything in water warmer than "warm".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crankin

I've never had a problem with jerseys stinking. May I ask what brands you have? I do remember when I first started riding (2000), some of the jerseys I had, and particularly, the ones DH and DS had were thicker,had more polyester, and held odor more.
I wash my shorts in hot water and hang to dry, but I've never washed jerseys in hot water.

---

Ditto, I've never had an issue with stinking exercise gear. I put all of it in the washer on the 'warm' cycle right after exercise or the day after, hang everything to dry (indoors). If I have to wash it the next day, I make sure it is aired in the meantime (not crumpled and damp in a hamper). I use some ordinary Arm & Hammer detergent that I pick at a Target.

I have had the problem with my Buff headbands. I add some oxyclean powder in with the clothes and wash on gentle with my regular detergent.

Dandruff shampoo works very well to get the stink out of man-made fibers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Artista

Hmmm...there's nothing in the product description for Penguin Sport Wash that would dispute this.

---

That's a new product I haven't seen. I'd like to pass the ingredients list on to my detergent specialist and see what they say. I do know that WIN is a regular detergent with oxygen boosters.

Y'all do know not to use fabric softeners with wicking fabrics? They build up residue that reduces the wicking function.

My jerseys usually smell okay, though sometimes they maintain a faint sunscreen odor. But sometimes I have to wash my shorts twice to get them fresh-smelling.

I think I will try vinegar.

You may want to consider "washing" your washer every so often too. If there's residue in the washing machine, my athletic clothes are the ones that still smell after washing. Just run a cycle of hot water with a couple cups of vinegar (some people suggest adding baking soda as well).

Borax seems to help. And if they are really bad I have used Dawn (yes dishwashing liquid) to strip some residue out of the fabric.

I haven't done it with cycling gear but my husband's work out gear gets really bad and that seems to work.

Lots of great ideas to try - thanks, everyone!

Crankin - they are mostly Primal jerseys. There's not a major stink on them all the time, but I think enough has built up that after a ride I can get whiffs here and there that aren't so pleasant. :eek:

trickycoolj - I love your username! My son loves old LL Cool J songs, so your name really caught my eye.

For using vinegar in the wash - I have a front loader machine. Would I just pour some in with the clothes, or do I need to put it in the bleach/fabric softener dispenser area? I think those only allow 1/3 cup or so, though. Maybe they Downy ball is my best bet?

I had a problem with Oxyclean turning some of my white gear yellow. It washed out eventually, but it was scary for a while. It seemed to turned sweatier areas the most.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sookiesue

Lots of great ideas to try - thanks, everyone!

Crankin - they are mostly Primal jerseys. There's not a major stink on them all the time, but I think enough has built up that after a ride I can get whiffs here and there that aren't so pleasant. :eek:

---

You just said that it is after the ride that you smell it, not before.

Do they smell ok before you put them on? If so, it has nothing to do with washing and it is just the smell of your hard earned sweat!

I always smell gross after I ride, but that is what happens when you work up a sweat outdoors for a few hours, especially in the summer heat.

Could it be the type of fabric or the treatment it gets for printing designs? As far as I remember, most Primal wear jerseys have images and designs on them. The jerseys I use the most are whole color (different color details are in the zipper or different fabrics in the sleeves and neck) -- the brands I use are Giordana and Castelli.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jessmarimba

You may want to consider "washing" your washer every so often too. If there's residue in the washing machine, my athletic clothes are the ones that still smell after washing. Just run a cycle of hot water with a couple cups of vinegar (some people suggest adding baking soda as well).

---

I do that now and again to my washer. As a side note, it would probably be best to use one or the other. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda a base so one would cancel the other out? If I accidently leave towels in the washer overnight I rewash them with just vinegar to get that musty smell out. Works.

My front loader manual states to use bleach, not vinegar, for a monthly cleaning. Bleach will actually sanitize by killing nasties, not sure about vinegar.

Anti dandruff shampoo like Head and Shoulders and others that contain zinc.

I'm a Researcher for a large consumer goods company and work on laundry detergent. Dandruff shampoo contains zinc. Zinc is an antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal.

Dose it into your washer (if you're using a toploader) like a normal liquid detergent dose. Use less for a frontloader as it is high sudsing. There isn't any suds suppressor in is.

You can also use it to clean the inside of your washing machine, soak your dish sponges in it to get rid of germs and stink.

That bit of knowledge isn't worth the trouble and expense of making legal claims on it but I'll give you that info for free. :-)

Jeni

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TrekJeni

Anti dandruff shampoo like Head and Shoulders and others that contain zinc.

I'm a Researcher for a large consumer goods company and work on laundry detergent. Dandruff shampoo contains zinc. Zinc is an antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal.

Dose it into your washer (if you're using a toploader) like a normal liquid detergent dose. Use less for a frontloader as it is high sudsing. There isn't any suds suppressor in is.

You can also use it to clean the inside of your washing machine, soak your dish sponges in it to get rid of germs and stink.

That bit of knowledge isn't worth the trouble and expense of making legal claims on it but I'll give you that info for free. :-)

Jeni

---

I would bet you are the one who posted this information a couple years ago and got me started using the dandruff shampoo. It works great!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BodhiTree

I would bet you are the one who posted this information a couple years ago and got me started using the dandruff shampoo. It works great!

---

:) yep!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TrekJeni

Anti dandruff shampoo like Head and Shoulders and others that contain zinc.

I'm a Researcher for a large consumer goods company and work on laundry detergent. Dandruff shampoo contains zinc. Zinc is an antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal.

Dose it into your washer (if you're using a toploader) like a normal liquid detergent dose. Use less for a frontloader as it is high sudsing. There isn't any suds suppressor in is.

You can also use it to clean the inside of your washing machine, soak your dish sponges in it to get rid of germs and stink.

That bit of knowledge isn't worth the trouble and expense of making legal claims on it but I'll give you that info for free. :-)

Jeni

---

Good stuff to know. Thank you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bike Writer

I do that now and again to my washer. As a side note, it would probably be best to use one or the other. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda a base so one would cancel the other out? If I accidently leave towels in the washer overnight I rewash them with just vinegar to get that musty smell out. Works.

---

I think it's supposed to be vinegar in the start, baking soda in the rinse cycle.

I'd guess bleach would work just fine, but I don't actually own any so I can't personally vouch. I bought a gallon of vinegar to clean up cat accidents because my blind one would keep re-using the same spots if I washed with anything else, and I've used it ever since.

I tried the vinegar and it worked pretty well! I poured it into both the bleach dispenser and the fabric softener dispenser and that must have been enough for a load of clothes because my jersey didn't seem to stink anymore.

I'm fine with good old hard-earned sweat smell. These jerseys would stink after a ride, I'd take them off and sniff myself and my own body didn't stink like that, it was just the fabric. Glad to have found some ways to remedy it!

TrekJeni - would using the powder from zinc supplement capsules be effective? If that is the ingredient in the shampoo that does the trick, I was wondering if you could just pour a couple of capsules' worth of zinc into the wash with your clothes to the same effect. Any thoughts on that? Might solve the problem of oversudsing.