AIBU, My clothes stink and I blame DH?

[Jojimoji]

DH took early retirement and as such is now responsible for almost all household tasks as I still have to work.

This is mostly marvellous, as I come home to clean house, dinners made, dogs walked .......and clothes washed. Herein lies the problem.

I workout almost every day. Intense workouts and I sweat a lot and my gym wear ends up pretty wet. I did the washing for almost 30 years in this family and never had a problem, but DH insists on not doing a load until there is enough dirty laundry to fill the machine stuffed to the gills. No half or three quarter loads permitted on his watch. And worst of all, he washes everything at 30 degrees. This just doesn't cut the mustard with my gym clothes.. often they've been rotting in the basket for a couple of days and then they are put through a coldish wash, bacteria remains, I put them on again, start to sweat and then I STINK. Or rather the clothes stink.

I've told him they need washing at a higher temperature. I've no problem separating my washing and doing my own. DH says that this is completely unreasonable. He pointed out the label on the clothes ( which does inexplicably actually advise to wash at 30!! ) says that it's unreasonable to separate my clothes for separate washes as the machine won't be full and then he reckons washing at 40 is worse for the clothes, and even reckons 30 degrees is more environmentally friendly and he is saving the planet.

YABU..let him wash the stuff at 30 and just put up with stinking out the gym

YANBU ..those clothes need washing at least 40 degrees. DH is wrong and you must wrestle the responsibility for the laundry away from this mad man.

Yeah. About two minutes ago.

I was going to suggest a pre-soak. My place beat me to it. Perfect compromise.

I’m sorry but this is pathetic, wash your gym clothing yourself when you want and anything else

I think your DH is right for not using a higher temperature as you shouldn’t use it for synthetics with Lycra etc in them. They need gentle treatment.

if they are so smelly that normal detergent is not working, you can add a bit of dettol or similar. Works brilliantly.

He needs to stop overfilling the machine as that will likely shorten it's life and that isn't very eco friendly. I would get a nappy pail and leave your gym stuff to soak in bio washing liquid with a dash of dettol cleanser or zoflora etc. If you get stains on the armpits of clothes I find spraying them with washing up liquid and water before putting in the machine helps with that.

Spray the stinky clothes with white vinegar.

If he's stuffing the machine full, I'm surprised anything is getting clean. The clothes need room to move around in the machine to get clean.

We have an old nappy bucket that we keep for stuff like gym gear, tea towels and cleaning cloths which I empty twice a week and run on a 60 degree wash along with any towels. We just let the stuff mostly dry before bunging it in the bucket so it doesn’t get too grim. I would tell him it’s embarrassing being in a class and as soon as you finish your warm up your nether regions start smelling of onions, so it’s either this or you’ll be putting a tiny 60 degree wash on as soon as you’re in the door.

I don't believe some of these responses! This man is arguing with someone who has 30 odd years experience doing the wash and thinks he knows better, but doesn't. And people are telling you to just do it yourself?
This is another example of learned incompetence to get out of having to the job or maybe just ordinary mansplaining!

Don't put up with it OP! Tell him how you want it done and don't let him talk you down.

We don't have massive full loads for gym gear so I will put a bath mat in or some small hand towels that need washing as no fabric conditioner for those. Have you tried using something specific for sweaty gear or adding some dettol wash to it? That's helps my husbands cycling gear from smelling.

Buy a specific Sports Wash (e.g. Halo) and put the wash on a half/ small load. I wash my gyms clothes at 30c but pretty much soon as I take them off and they seem fine ( or I am nose blind 🤔)

I find that tell my DH how much it all costs for Sweaty Betty focuses his mind .

Do you use biological washing powder? The enzymes in that will get rid of the bacteria, and the enzymes don't work at higher temperatures. If it were me I'd just wash my own gym kit though. He doesn't get to tell you what to do with your own washing!

I use

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/halo-sports-laundry-liquid-1l-25-washes-?istCompanyId=1e096408-041f-4238-994e-a7cf46bf9413&istFeedId=689af7a8-5842-4d88-be59-1ee5688a81b5&istItemId=wxwqmapim&istBid=t&&cmpid=cpc&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20291373287&utm_content=shopping&utm_term=%257Bsku%257D&utm_custom1=&utm_custom2=759-449-0952&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19671802987&gbraid=0AAAAAD17J_D9zDdvfISUmZ9pHTzYOIjzJ&gclid=Cj0KCQjwss3DBhC3ARIsALdgYxPcZWwbsetP-Q0i9OXmNpQzCK1UuT03lX5qcjnJr4t9aiNFEUStigMaAlJPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I sweat loads...literally dripping and only wash my kit once l have load full.... mine is smell free

When my husband kept complaining about me shrinking his tshirts (he buys cheap...) I just stopped washing his stuff. Bought him a seperate basket and told him to crack on, he soon stopped moaning!

If you want something doing in a certain way, it is best just to do it yourself. He can't stop you from using the washing machine. I love the king of the washing machine comment 😆

I always wash the gym gear separately because it will start to smell if left. So if I were you I’d come home, shower and immediately wash the gym stuff at 40. If he moans, tell him it smells as soon as you start exercising because it isn’t clean. You could ‘womansplain’ to him that 30 is ok for light soiling but not for a load of sweat 😐

Exactly.

I could do it myself.
Of course I could.
But I don't want to.
I want him to do it properly.

I do whites, bedding, towels separately on forty. Everything else gets done on thirty partially for environmental reasons and partly to avoid checking labels.
it does mean dh gym stuff sometimes smells but hanging it on the line normally solves it. Luckily he doesn’t care

YANBU I'd be annoyed. He's either deliberately trying to get out of doing laundry because he'd rather not. Or he's trying to sabotage your exercise regime. He's literally telling you you're "not allowed" to wash your own clothes in an effective manner. He's being completely unreasonable and controlling. I'd nip it in the bud before he get other such notions about pushing you around into his head.

His job includes laundry, you could tax him. A service wash at the launderette out of his spending money. He'd soon start doing the laundry properly.

Do you use the Dettol laundry cleanser? That works a treat on gym gear even at lower temperatures. We chuck our gym gear in a different laundry bag and it all gets washed together a couple of times a week, our machine has a sportswear wash which is 30 but it's fine with the Dettol stuff

This is the problem really, that bacteria is allowed to grow on wet clothes for a while before they get washed.
We have a food caddy sized bucket with some water and tea tree oil, and I drop the baby’s bibs in it when I change them, or if anyone runs outside with no shoes and their socks get soaked, or tea towels etc. Anything damp really, to stop the wash basket getting stinky.

And 30 is my preferred wash for everything. We use super basic wash powder from any supermarket own brand, add a few drops of the tea tree oil (lemongrass and eucalyptus also have antibacterial properties) and everything smells great!

YABU. Do your own washing if you're that bothered.

My gym gear is washed each night as I wear two lots per day. Goes on a 15 min 40 wash with laundry cleanser and washing liquid. Straight out on the line or airer and no smells which is great as I am disgusting after a spin or Hiit class.

I have a teen son and the smell from his PE kit/gym stuff/anything sports related is vile

I have some special washing liquid (I want to say dylon?!?) that he stuff gets washed in and I do use a 40 wash I’ve tried the 30 and it just doesn’t get it clean or the smell out…

I never over load the machine it’s always 3/4 full as I find completely full doesn’t actually get the clothes clean

My guess it's either the soap powder or hes over filling the machine - probably a mix of both.

As often is the case the first answer puts it correctly in a nutshell!