I have a sports bag that I use when I go to work out or play wallyball, and it always ends up with a funk in it from the sweaty clothes and towel. There are a few expensive bags out there with anti-microbial protection in the fabric, but I was wondering what people here might use to combat odors without constantly saturating my bag with isopropyl alcohol. I was hoping to find something well reviewed on amazon or google that would work but I don’t see anything obvious.
Any opinions that might be helpful? I sweat a LOT when working out or playing sports and the smell is NOT pleasant when it has had time to sit in the gym bag.
How about anodor-eating insert?
Or one or more smaller bags in which to keep your smelliest items, that can be thrown in the wash and/or rotated?
I have tried odor-eating inserts and they are largely worthless…I need something that prevents the microbes from getting a stronghold inside the bag.
I tried using sturdy plastic bags to keep the smelly stuff but though you would think it would be easy to clean them out, the funk seems to cling to them despite efforts to clean them out.
I work out 4-5 times a week and am a pretty sweaty dude. I also only do laundry on weekends, and try to get at least 2 uses out of 1 set of gym clothes, meaning they sit in my gym bag for at least 24-48 hours after being sweaty.
Here’s my process:
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Wash your gym bag on the weekends with your other stuff. If it’s too big, try to use a smaller gym bag. Mine’s dopp-kit sized, but holds gym clothes, 3 sets of headphones, chalk bag, deadlift straps, phone holder, bandaids, and a few other odds and ends.
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For really sweaty / dirty stuff, wrap them in a plastic bag (either plastic grocery bags or disposable plastic bag provided by gym) and roll the bag up tight before putting it in. You don’t want to clean these out / reuse these, you want to use for a day or two just to get the smelly stuff home and throw them away.
Those have been good enough to keep the funk down for me, although sometimes I forget to bring a fresh set of clothes on the 3rd or 4th day and end up working out while smelling like a gorilla longshoreman who’s rolled around in gym socks.
But basically, washing regularly keeps the microbe load down, and isolating the worst of the smelly / microbial stuff with plastic bags until it gets home seems to do a pretty good job for me, so adopting either one of those may help you.
Thanks Textual_Inuendo, for the suggestions. I am not sure how you can stand to put those sweaty clothes back on for a second workout though? Ew!
It looks like I am going to be simply keeping my smelly gear in a bag-in-a-bag to prevent the funk from leaving its mark. I’m considering these because I don’t like the idea of constantly throwing out plastic bags:
https://www.amazon.com/Apera-Fit-Pocket-Zippered-Organization/dp/B0172124MQ?th=1&psc=1
Are you wearing clothes made of synthetic wicking fabric? That stuff provides an ideal habitat for bacterial growth and the smell can be difficult to impossible to completely remove and the smell penetrates everything around it … like your bag or backpack.
If you are using synthetic wicking fabrics, consider ditching it for synthetics without the wicking action or simple cotton, or if you’re not in very humid conditions try lightweight merino wool which has good wicking action and does not retain odors. If you hang wool to air out for a day you can alternate between two merino wool shirts pretty much forever without washing them and without them becoming smelly.
I do use wicking fabric, because I really hate the feel of damp cotton sticking to my body. However, I wash it well and use a special sports soap formulated for wicking fabrics, so it does not remain smelly after a washing.
So, the bag is not washable? Have you tried Febrez spray?
Why not carry a few gallon sized Ziploc bags with you, and put your sweaty clothes in them, zip 'em up, and toss them in the laundry when you get home. It should cut down on the smell.
Do they have to stay balled up, wet & smelly in your bag? When I had a gym at work, I’d either throw my bag back in my car after use & spread out the sweaty attire / towel or I had a hanger or two under my desk to discretely dry the attire; then I’d pack it into my bag. It was still dirty but at least it would be dry so there was no wet funk odor.
It’s tough to beat direct sunlight and fresh air for getting rid of odors. Preventing them with the plastic bag idea above is even better.
I know, I know - I’m mostly trying to minimize unnecessary water/energy/washing to be eco-friendly. They’re 100% cotton, so the smell isn’t that noticeable on the second workout. But yeah, it’s gross, especially if I’ve forgotten fresh ones and am going for workout round 3 on the same clothes. :-/
And the reason I do THAT (wear 3 day-old gym clothes on rare occasions) is I’ve made a commitment to myself that working out is the primary goal, and I shouldn’t let secondary considerations derail it (and I’ve deemed grossness / smelling like a musk ox a secondary consideration).
This has ended more than once in me working out in full professional work clothes rather than gym clothes if I’ve forgotten my gym-bag entirely, with bench-pressing ruining at least 2 button-up shirts, and squatting ruining one pair of pants so far. But hey, it’s important to have priorities! 