How to Wash Workout Clothes, According to Experts | 2025

If you happen to train often (or have a go-to activewear set that you just put on on repeat), it may be actually useful to know easy methods to wash exercise garments totally—as a result of pulling out your favourite leggings, solely to note a lingering sweaty funk, isn’t precisely nice health club motivation.

Fortunately, it simply takes a pair further steps to take away cussed odors out of your gear and get it smelling like new once more. Right here, we spoke to sportswear and laundry consultants to get their greatest tips about washing, drying, and stopping pungent exercise garments.

The perfect presoak remedies for exercise garments

“By pretreating your garments, you give your detergent a head begin,” James Joun, cofounder and chief working officer of Rinse, an on-demand laundry and dry cleansing service, tells SELF. He recommends utilizing an odor-specific product like OxiClean’s Odor Blasters Odor and Stain Remover Powder, which is formulated to focus on stink-causing micro organism in material, and following the directions on the packaging.

Or you possibly can soak your garments in a vinegar or baking soda answer, as each have odor-neutralizing properties. Joun recommends mixing one half white vinegar with 4 components chilly water and letting your garments sit within the answer for half-hour. If you happen to’re utilizing baking soda, he says to combine half a cup of it right into a bucket of chilly water and soak your garments for 30 to 60 minutes.

It’s additionally a good suggestion to present a bit of further consideration to any notably, er, aromatic components of your garments, just like the underarm space of your shirts, Wendy Saladyga, a cloth care knowledgeable and supervisor of technical efficiency at Henkel for Persil, tells SELF. “Deal with this space as you’d a stain, by pouring a small quantity of liquid detergent on the realm and permitting it to soak up into the odor,” she says. “It might be useful to show your garment inside out to higher attain the scent.”

wash exercise garments

First, be sure to use the precise detergent. Joun recommends in search of ones made with enzymes like protease and amylase (which break down physique oils, sweat, and proteins left on clothes), oxygen bleach (which is gentler on materials than chlorine bleach), and surfactants (which loosen and take away filth, oils, and sweat). You could find these components in loads of normal detergents, however the merchandise beneath include our consultants’ seal of approval for particularly tackling physique odor and sweat residue.

As for the precise washing course of, at all times learn your objects’ care directions, Edward Zebrowski, a product specialist at REI, tells SELF. Some clothes include particular wash labels that it is best to comply with to keep away from injury (and REI simply so occurs to have a useful information to material care symbols, in the event you want it). Saladyga notes you possibly can additional lengthen your health club garments’ lifespan by turning them inside out and fastening any zippers earlier than throwing them within the washer.

On the whole, it’s greatest to clean activewear in chilly water on a mild cycle, Joun says. “Whereas it might appear counterintuitive, the gentler agitation protects the integrity of efficiency materials and prevents them from carrying out or shedding their stretch over time,” he explains. “Warmth can injury artificial materials, breaking down their elasticity and efficiency options like moisture-wicking. Moreover, scorching water can set odors into the material, making them tougher to take away over time.”

If you happen to’re coping with some severely built-up stink, think about the two-wash-cycle strategy, Joun says: Run your garments via a chilly water cycle first, then change to heat water for the second. You possibly can even add an additional rinse cycle for good measure.

dry exercise garments

Right here’s the place you could have to deviate out of your garments’ care directions: Joun and Saladyga say it’s greatest to air-dry activewear or use your dryer’s lowest warmth setting. “Drying will solely additional seal in odors and stains, making them tougher to take away sooner or later,” Saladyga says. Hold your garments in a well-ventilated space—and bonus factors in the event you go away them to dry outdoors (analysis reveals that the solar’s ultraviolet rays can work as a disinfectant for garments).

stop your activewear from smelling

The earlier you clear sweaty garments after you put on them, the better it’ll be to freshen them up, so don’t let your exercise gear hand around in your hamper or health club bag for too lengthy, Zebrowski says. He provides you can keep away from stink earlier than it begins by carrying activewear that’s naturally moisture-wicking and breathable, like items made from alpaca or Merino wool. These supplies are additionally antimicrobial, that means they stop the expansion of microorganisms like odor-causing micro organism. Artificial materials like nylon and Lycra can be made with antimicrobial brokers, so test your clothes’ labels to make certain.