How to get the smell of sweat out of clothes

[Drbrowns]

Any tips on how to get the smell of sweat out of gym clothes, especially tops. Even after washing two or three times they smell pretty bad. I don’t want to have to throw them out because they’re still in really good condition, and I can’t keep buying new gym tops every few weeks anyway. I don’t use fabric conditioner and I try to wash as quickly as possible after taking them off but not sure what else to do.

Why won't washing them remove the smell? I've never had anything come out of the machine still smelling dirty.

Biological washing powder

Sometimes stuff will come out still smelling of body odour, it happens

I soak the armpit area in the dettol stuff, then wash on a long wash with bio washing powder and the dettol and that seems to work

Don't use fabric conditioner either

We have a hygeine wash on our machine (Samsung). I do all dh clothes in there with biological detergent and it gets the stink out.

For stinky gym clothes, I use Dr Beckman's Odour Remover, wash at least 40/50, bio powder and don't use fabric softener. Drying outdoors in warm weather seems to help too.

40c wash. Wash powder (not gel or liquid) and a scoop full of soda crystals. I find washing myself with dettol soap helps too.

This might be obvious, but just checking that you know the detol laundry cleanser isn't a detergent? So you need to use an actual detergent for the washing part, and then the detol laundry cleanser stuff goes into the fabric conditioner drawer. That might be what you're doing already, but just to mention it in case you are using it incorrectly...

Thanks for all the tips.

I put the dettol laundry cleanser in the drum and bio washing powder in the drawer.

I don’t use fabric conditioner at all for any washing as I find it unnecessary.

I couldn’t find the Dr.beckermanns Odour remover but I did find a sweat stain remover that says it works on odour too.

Stocked up on white vinegar and a spray bottle.

Have two offending tops soaking in vinegar and will wash them tomorrow at a hotter temp, hopefully works otherwise they’ll be going in the bin.

Seems to be certain materials are worse then others. Some of my other tops wash fine and don’t smell but the two I have soaking really absorb the smell. It probably doesn’t help the gym is 25min drive from where I live so sweat we’ll dries in by the time I get home.

I had this. I put a capful of zoflora in the drum and it did the trick. Nice and easy, no soaking needed and on the quick wash too

You need to wash on a long wash with a pretty full machine for the best agitation. At least 60 to kill the bacteria killing the smell, with a scoop of oxygen bleach or similar if you want to be safe. A short, low wash won’t be killing the bacteria. Short washes are very unlikely to get up to a high temperature.

@Drbrowns i used to get the dr beckmanns spray in morrisons but haven't seen it for ages which is why i buy it online now

I think that might be the reason the detol isn't working for you - it has to go in the fabric softener drawer so it's the last thing to go onto the fabric, presumably so it doesn't get washed away or destroyed by the detergent. Might be worth trying it that way - I had the same issue as you and it works really well like that...

It doesn't need to be that exact brand, I use a different brand but the bottle shape is the same so it's probably same factory different branding.

Agree about fabric softener drawer - this adds the product during the final rinse.