7 Tips on Washing Your Workout Clothes
Washing workout clothes!
Your workout clothes dirty more than your normal clothing AND they are actually more delicate. The stretchy, supportive, and breathable fabric used in workout attire (men and women), actually react poorly to 2 things: detergent AND fabric softener. We have some tips below for washing workout clothes that will help you get more use out of them for a longer period of time!
The below goes for – Leggings, Athletic Shorts, Tops and Sports Bras
- Wash when necessary
- if you just wore your leggings out and about or around the house you can wear them multiple times just like you would jeans
- If you did a vigorous workout and sweat it out a ton they need to be washed!
- Let it breathe!
- After a workout avoid putting your sweaty clothes back in your gym bag all soaking wet. Let them air out OR even better rinse them with cold water and THEN let them air out. Keep them separate from other clothes because the lovely odor can pass on to others! It sounds gross but mold and mildew can start to grow within hours, yuck!
- MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR LEGGINGS – WASH THEM INSIDE OUT ?
- As you do with any laundry wash likes with likes
- You want to avoid any snags from zippers, Velcro (NOTE: throwing an athletic sweatshirt with a zipper in with athletic clothes can cause snags and wear and tear sooner)
- Avoid throwing in towels with your leggings otherwise be prepared to be covered in lint!
- Cold Water
- I know you’re thinking that you need the hottest water to kill the post-workout smell BUT most performance materials prefer cold water – (NOTE: Double check the care label to be sure.)
- Avoid bleach and fabric softener but USE vinegar!
- Bleach is too harsh, and, as Lululemon reminds us, fabric softener coats technical fabric and inhibits its wicking capabilities. The environment does not need the added toxins, anyway.
- Throw in about a half a cup of vinegar and that will help with extracting smells and act as another disinfectant!
- Dry with Care
- Most athletic gear prefers to be air dried some even so picky that they prefer to be dried flat so that they do not lose their shape. Personally, I just throw mine on a drying rack and call it good ?
One of the overall sport/fitness specific detergents out there is listed below! Don’t forget the ½ cup of vinegar a long with it!
