Does your gym bag reek? You’re not alone, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With proper care, you can keep your workout gear stink-free. The key is to do yourself a favor and start taking care of everything before it starts to smell. But even if you’ve already let things get bad, I have some tips for you.
A lot of gym clothes these days are made of synthetic fabrics because they provide stretch or sweat-wicking features to keep us comfortable. The downside is that bacteria can cling to synthetic fibers in a way that makes them nearly impossible to wash off. So it’s important that we don’t let those germ colonies grow in the first place.
Nip this problem in the bud by rinsing the sweat out of synthetics as soon as you take them off. I do this in the shower, squeezing out each garment and hanging it to dry. A set of extra shower curtain hooks will give you a place to hang them. I put up a basic tension rod in the back of my shower for exactly this reason. If you shower at the gym, squeeze those garments out and roll them up in your towel until you get home.
What to do if your clothes already smell bad
You may never be able to completely remove the stink, but you’ll have the best luck with detergents that contain enzymes or that bill themselves as being good for “sport” or “performance” fabrics. I’ve had good experiences with both Hex (a detergent) and Lysol laundry sanitizer (which you add to the rinse, like a fabric softener). I use one or the other, not both. Either of these can also be used for a soak: soak your gross clothes in a bucket with the Hex or Lysol laundry sanitizer, and then wash as usual.
Look, you can try baking soda or vinegar (not together), but I haven't found those to help. If you want a chemical answer to your problems, just get a bottle of Hex.
If your bag has a mesh compartment for sweaty gear, make use of it. And if you can tie objects to the outsides of the bag—hanging your shoes by their laces, for example—that will help, too. But ultimately what you really want to do is open up the bag as soon as you get home. I always make sure that if my knee sleeves are deep inside the bag, I bring them up to the top to make sure they can get some air. And my shoes are in a mesh compartment, but if I have an extra minute, I’ll open up that compartment and loosen up the shoes so they get as much air flow as possible.
What to do if it’s already gotten bad
Just as with clothes, another good option is to hang or lay out your items in the sunshine and fresh air for a few hours. Sunlight will kill some bacteria, and a good airing-out never hurts.
Rinse your shaker cup as soon as you finish your shake
Finally, we come to the bane of many a gym bro’s existence, the stinky shaker cup. If you leave residue from your protein shake in there—especially a milk-based one, like a shake made with whey powder—it can go rancid, and the smells can seep into the plastic where they may never really go away.
What to do if it’s already gotten bad
Your Hail Mary hope is to wash it really well. Use soap and hot water. Soak it for a bit if you like. Scrub all the little nooks and crannies (like where the spout meets its cap) to make sure no residue is left. Air it out to dry for a few days; you can even try the sunlight trick above. But if that doesn’t work, buy a new shaker cup, and treat this one right.
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