Woolite - yes or no?

[ms.etta kitt]

Woolite was invented to care for our Wool items that we hold dear. The reason it is bad for cycling wear that is Not made of wool is this:
Woolite leaves a film on your clothes, making it softer, blah blah blah-- right? well this becomes a problem when you are investing money in these awesome clothes that are quick drying or offer moisture transfer, etc , because that thin film is now preventing the garment from living up to it's original level of awesome. then your jersey that is no longer awesome, starts to smell bad cuz it's holding the sweat in and with that bacteria. not to mention you may find yourself a little overheated or even soaking wet. yuck.

another reason to avoid it:
it makes the waterproofing on garments go bye-bye.

[Irulan]

Woolite was invented to care for our Wool items that we hold dear. The reason it is bad for cycling wear that is Not made of wool is this:
Woolite leaves a film on your clothes, making it softer, blah blah blah-- right? well this becomes a problem when you are investing money in these awesome clothes that are quick drying or offer moisture transfer, etc , because that thin film is now preventing the garment from living up to it's original level of awesome. then your jersey that is no longer awesome, starts to smell bad cuz it's holding the sweat in and with that bacteria. not to mention you may find yourself a little overheated or even soaking wet. yuck.

another reason to avoid it:
it makes the waterproofing on garments go bye-bye.

it's just detergent with conditioners added. Use baby shampoo instead.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The reason it is bad for cycling wear that is Not made of wool is this:
Woolite leaves a film on your clothes, making it softer, blah blah blah-- right? well this becomes a problem when you are investing money in these awesome clothes that are quick drying or offer moisture transfer, etc , because that thin film is now preventing the garment from living up to it's original level of awesome. then your jersey that is no longer awesome, starts to smell bad cuz it's holding the sweat in and with that bacteria.

Polyester type jerseys get really stinky no matter what soap or detergent you use. The man-made material encourages bacteria under your arms, that's just the nature of the beast. Wool can be worn quite a few times without it getting underarm odor.
I have cycling tops of both kinds that i like, and have used various soaps on them. Polyester gets stinky quickly when you wear it, wool does not. I wear the poly tops once then wash them, and the wool a few times before washing.

[OakLeaf]

Polyester type jerseys get really stinky no matter what soap or detergent you use.

Surely there must be a way to get the B.O. out of them? They can't be made to throw away after ten wearings???

And it's not all polyester. Regular old-fashioned brand name Lycra never retained odors. But I had any number of blouses (some of them pretty expensive) that I *did* have to throw out, because unlike on the bike, clothing that stinks even when it's clean just doesn't cut it at the office.

Anyway, is citric acid any good as a laundry booster? That's what I use for removing lime scale and soap scum. Thorn recommends white vinegar... but don't your clothes smell like vinegar, then?

[violette]

I use baby shampoo. Works great, is gentle and has barely any fragrance.

[Dianyla]

Surely there must be a way to get the B.O. out of them? They can't be made to throw away after ten wearings???

Boy, I dunno. I have this one synthetic shirt that I took traveling and ended up loaning it to my friend for a few days. I've washed it at least a half-dozen times and it still smells like her. It's not the end of the world, but it just freaks me out a little if my clothes don't smell like me.

[Brandi]

Used to use BioKleen (good stuff!) but now pretty much use nothing but Dr. Bronner's castile soap in either peppermint, lavender, or eucalyptus. I've always used Dr. Bronner's on me, but it does just fine on my hand wash clothes. Haven't seen BioKleen around in a long time. There is an unscented version.

for the machine I use Trader Joe's powder detergent.

Edit: oops, I meant the Dr. Bronner's comes in an unscented version! Sorry!

Ditto that. Trader joes is really nice. And the scent is very natural. I hate fake smells and tastes.

[indigoiis]

I just go into the shower, shorts, jersey and all.
I shampoo me all down, then strip off the wet jersey, shorts, socks, and rinse them out while my hair is being conditioned, and hang them on hooks in the shower with me. When I am done, I take them out and hang to dry in a sunny window.

[sundial]

There's a product called Nature's Miracle Stain and Odor Remover that takes odors out of pretty much everything. You can find this product at Petco, Petsmart, or most pet supply stores. The label states: Removes all organic stains and odors, including food, blood, vomit, feces, grease, dirt, grass, smoke, and perspiration.

It uses nature's enzymes to remove the offending odors. Here are the directions for laundering:

Laundry prewash: Saturate stained odor areas with Stain and Odor Remover at full strength, wash as usual.

Ingredients: Water, Nature's Enzymes, Isopropryl Alcohol, Natural Citrus Scent.

[Bklynmom]

I wash my bras in this organic stuff called "Forever New". It gets them very clean and washes everything out. I occasionally use it on bike shorts and expensive jerseys - they do seem to last much longer, and they feel truly clean. Shampoo is good for removing body residue too, but it's hard to rinse out.

[onimity]

We use 'penguin sport wash' ... they have it at our grocery store & rei. I've never had an odor stick around with it... it did get some seriously nasty smells out of a north face shirt that i had with me for 5 odorous weeks hiking, biking & camping in south america. I thought that shirt would never be odor-free...

Anne

[silver]

I'm using this WIN detergent and it's working on getting the stink out.

http://www.windetergent.com/

It's specially made for athletic clothing.

[VeloVT]

There was a feature in the NYT Thursday style section a few months ago reviewing 5 or 6 different brands of "sports detergents." Meant to keep it but didn't -- I"ll have to go look for it online. As I recall, the cheapest one ended up being the most effective (though all were more expensive than regular detergent).

I think they had Tim DeBoom do the testing .

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We should keep in mind here that there might be a need to use separate products for the two very different issues we are discussing:
--long term care of good wool
--getting the stink out of polyester/man-made "tech" fabric sports clothes

[Duck on Wheels]

One thing about wool, if you have garments made of wool with the lanolin left in, the lanolin interacts with sweat, or even urin, by turning into soap. No stink, just sheepy-wooly smells (which I happen to find quite pleasant, brings back memories of bottle-feeding lambs). But eventually, after many rounds sweat and laundering, the lanolin is used up. There are lanolin renewer products. I just checked our laundry room for the name of the one we use, but we're out. We get it from a friend who raises sheep and produces his own yarn. I think he imports it from Germany.

What I did find in the laundry room is that the Norwegian version of Woolite, called Milo, now comes in a scent-free version.