How to Care for Workout Clothes
When you find workout clothes that are comfortable, you want to make them last as long as possible. But when you exercise multiple times a week, it can be hard to keep your clothes from wearing out quickly or developing a permanent funk. A few basic ingredients will help extend the life of your workout clothes and keep them smelling fresher longer.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Depending on how often you do high-impact exercise, you probably need new athletic shoes every three to six months. However, in the meantime, you can keep your shoes smelling fresh with baking soda. Before you go to bed, pour two or three tablespoons of baking soda into each shoe and tilt the shoe to distribute the soda evenly. If you can leave the shoes on the porch or another place they can sit in fresh air overnight, this will help the process. In the morning, shake the soda out of your shoes. If a little remains, it's not usually a problem-- it just acts as a deodorizing foot powder. Repeat a few times a week to keep them smelling fresh.
-
2
If your white athletic shoes are getting scuffed and grubby, then a mild abrasive cleaner and an old toothbrush can often brighten them up. If you're using a powder abrasive cleaner, mix it with a little water and apply to the shoe. Or you can use a liquid abrasive cleaner like Soft Scrub. Use the toothbrush to work the cleaner into the dirty spots on the shoe, then wipe off the shoe with a soft, damp cloth.
-
-
3
For athletic clothing such as shorts, sweat pants and T-shirts, be sure to follow the washing instructions. Most workout clothes are made to be easy to wash because the manufacturers knows they will get sweaty and dirty on a regular basis. But the surest way to wear your clothes out is to wash them improperly. If the label calls for cold water, don't use warm or hot water. Hot water and a hot dryer can make elastic in your clothing wear out more quickly. And even if your whites are going a little yellow, be careful of using bleach if the label cautions against it.
-
4
If you have white workout shirts that are going yellow in the armpits from sweat stains, try soaking them in white vinegar. You can also add a cup of white vinegar to the wash load. If that doesn't do the trick, try making a paste of baking soda and a little water and leave it on the armpits for an hour or so. Scrub the area with an old toothbrush and then wash as usual.
-
5
For sports tops that retain the smell of perspiration even after several regular washes, try a mild solution of Borax. Put a couple of workout shirts in the sink and fill it with lukewarm water. Dissolve about a quarter cup of borax into the water, and let the clothing sit for at least an hour. Then run your clothing through a regular wash load. You can also routinely add Borax to your wash loads that contain workout clothing as an everyday deodorizer.
-
6
Step Four can be followed for sports bras as well. However, to preserve the elastic in your sports bras, you may want to run them through a gentle cycle and then dry them on a clothing rack. Putting bras in a hot dryer too many times will make the elastic brittle and will make your bras less supportive more quickly than if you make a practice of air-drying them.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Borax is your friend. It's cheap, it makes your regular detergent work harder, and it's an amazing deodorizer. If you keep a box around the house, you'll find it comes in handy for a wide variety of household cleaning and maintenance tasks, not just for the laundry.
