Got Smelly Workout Clothes? This Can Help

Is there anything worse than the stench of smelly workout clothes that have been left in your gym bag or car for a couple hours (or days) too long? Okay, so there are probably some things that are worse (namely, anything involving boys or dogs), but that smelly workout clothes stench is pretty darn stanky, no? Well, seeing that we’re always looking for unique ways to take the smell out of smelly, when we recently got the chance to review two new products—Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator and the Tide Odor-Absorbing Sports Laundry Bag—we got our clothes as sweaty and gross as we could and put them to the test.

Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator

At first I thought Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator was an actual laundry detergent, but it’s not—it’s actually a laundry aid that works with your detergent to clean up odors of all kinds including aforementioned smelly workout clothes, cooking oil, grease, motor oil, pets, garden soil and mildew.

Using the same kind of technology that the sprayable Febreeze does to get smells out, this stuff does work. I tested this on my and my husband’s stinkiest of gym clothes (and he can smell like a gorilla in the summer), and just a small capful is all it takes. While I do kind of wish there was a one-step way to do it (Hear that Febreze? Put this and detergent all in one bottle!), it certainly comes in handy for times when the smelliest of the smelly is hanging out and causing a, well, stink in your laundry hamper.

Tide Odor Absorbing Sports Laundry Bag

Getting stinky out in the laundry room is good and all, but what if you are traveling or your smelly workout clothes have to sit in your gym bag for hours? Then what? Well, Tide has a solution for that, too—and I put it to the ultimate test. After working out with the one-and-only Bob Harper (!) in the heat, I’m sure you can imagine that my workout clothes reeked to high heaven and then some. But instead of putting them in with my other clothes in my suitcase on my way back home, I stuffed them in the Tide Odor-Absorbing Sports Laundry Bag.

With fabric that traps and helps eliminate those odors and microbial resistant properties, this little bag kept the rest of my suitcase contents smelling fresh. While I can’t say that my workout clothes in the bag came out smelling any better by the end of my trip, they didn’t smell any worse after more than eight hours hanging out in there, including a layover in hot-hot Phoenix. So I’ll take that as a success.

How do you deal with smelly workout clothes? Any other tips or products you love? Tell us about ’em! —Jenn