Five Easy Ways to Deodorize Your Athletic Wear Namely Those Yoga Pants

Those running shorts and tops need a deep-cleaning after a season of wear.

If no one else is going to tell you, I will. Those yoga pants you practically live in...they stink. It's not completely your fault but this is what random individuals polled are saying about how they smell. It makes perfect yet smelly "scents" as we get hot and sweaty working our butts off in athletic wear that often is NOT very breathable and made of synthetics. Nylon, Spandex are all polymers and like similar plastics, naturally hold odors.

The goal is to destroy these smells, not simply cover them up (which doesn't work for long anyway). As soon as the heat gets turned up, the odor causing bacteria in the garment gets reactivated. Yuck.
So here are some tried and true methods to blast your exercise clothes free of odors after a full, hot, humid summer:

My friend Mariel Heather, CEO of Think Always Apparel

1.) Hand wash and add BAKING SODA to the water: I only hand wash my active wear which includes my running and bicycle shorts, chamois and tops. Add up to 1/4 cup of Baking Soda to the wash basin. Rinse thoroughly and air dry. Using a dryer will shorten the life of your stretchy pieces so hang them up.

Sunlight destroys bacteria.

2.) Let The Sun Shine In: Air drying in the breeze and bright sunshine is another effective way to eliminate deeply set odors. That's because the sun's intense UV light destroys bacteria. Turn your pieces inside out to avoid fading. Line drying is very simple, uses no electricity or fabric fresheners. The sun will also oxidize many stains and the clothes smell like sunshine and fresh air. Try it!

In Wash Odor Eliminators

3.) In Wash Odor Eliminators: Three of my favorite in wash odor eliminators are:

Atsko Sport Wash - This is a detergent which completely eliminates any and all odors from synthetics and sportswear. Rinses out and leaves NO fragrance or residue. Find it many Sporting Goods Stores or online at Atsko.com or Amazon.com

Febreze In Wash Odor Eliminator - This laundry detergent additive does a decent job of eliminating deep set odors. Add it to the wash load along with your favorite detergent as it does A LOT of clothing. Takes care of sweat, mildew, food, pet and smoke odors. Febreze is available at most major retailers in the laundry section.

Oxyclean - OxyClean is also good on odors but especially when combined with sunshine and air drying. There are a lot of knock offs of this product and most are quite good as the main ingredient is hydrogen peroxide. You could even make your own with a combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide which also works on stains. To do that make a paste of these two ingredients. Find Oxyclean in stores everywhere or on Amazon.com

Change It Up with looser fitting exercise wear.

4.) Overnight Soaks - Overnight Soaked Oats aren't the only thing that improves with time. You may need to get out a little wash basin and place the offensive pieces in the soaking solution overnight. This is for stubborn odors of course as well as cycling chamois which need special care. 

Rotate your athletic pieces and wash quickly & frequently

5.) Rotate and Wash Frequently: Obviously if you continue wearing THE SAME yoga pants and tank tops day in and day out, smells are going to build up quickly. So you may need to buy 5 pairs of yoga pants at a time if you wear them a lot. Take them off after a day of sweaty activity (yes I see them on the running trails in the park). They may SEEM fine but as soon as your body heats them up, just like magic those odors will re-offend. Same thing for your footwear. Give them a quick foamy scrub with an old toothbrush and hold them upside down to rinse. Air dry in the sunshine and they will freshen right up. See my easy steps HERE to Renew Your Running Shoes

Give those athletic shoes some fresh air and sunlight.

Disclosure: Amazon links included in this post are affiliate links for which I earn a small commission if purchased from. All opinions and reviews are strictly my own however.