I remember when I started to buy clothing exclusively for running. They were more expensive than what I usually bought for myself for “normal” wear every day, and I remember my husband couldn’t believe how much it was costing us to be runners! For some reason, we thought it was a fairly “cheap” sport since it didn’t have a lot of “extras”…like rackets, balls, etc.

Now I know better…there is a TON of gear you can get for running!

Back then, I had 5 kids still at home and I did loads of laundry every day. I also had NO CLUE how to treat the fabrics that we used for our runs.

I just tossed them into the washer and dryer with the other clothes, thinking the warmer the temp of the water…the better.

The smell that started to come from the “clean” running clothes told me I was definitely doing something wrong!

No matter what I tried, the clothes were still pretty stinky. Going to the gym was getting embarrassing!

Finally, I researched how to clean the clothes, and I started buying detergent specially made for athletic wear. I also washed a sport load separately from everything else.

Here are the (painfully learned) rules of how to take care of your running clothes!

Rules for Washing Running Clothes:

1. If you are not going to be washing them immediately after wearing (and who does?), throw them over the shower curtain bar or over a chair to dry out before tossing them in the hamper. This will allow them to breathe as they dry out, preventing them from stinking up your other clothes and from breaking down if they stay wet with sweat.
2. Do not wash them in the same load with other clothes. “Technical” fabrics (the ones used to make athletic wear) are different from your cottons and linens of your regular clothes and need to be treated with care.
3. I like to throw in half a scoopful of “Biz” laundry booster in the bottom of my washtub, just for added cleaning. Then throw in the clothes, and use a “Delicate” cycle. This means the water is cold, which goes against what one would think for sweaty fabrics. But it really does help them keep their shape and lose the stink! Heat causes the more elastic material to stretch out, and you don’t want to be hiking up your leggings on a run!
4. Use a detergent meant for sportswear. I like to use Rockin Green. A little scoopful is all you need, and I have not had any issues with “stink”.
5. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT add fabric softener! The fabric will soak this in and actually cause the sweat and odors to cling to the fabric. If you ignore everything else DON’T IGNORE THIS!! This was my number 1 mistake!
6. Dry on the lowest setting on your dryer. My dryer has a sensor, but it also thinks the sports fabrics are dry when they aren’t. I set it for 40 minutes on the air dry and this seems to work.
7. For women I read somewhere that your sports bra should never have a birthday. Meaning, only keep bras for under a year. I won’t go that far…they are one of the most expensive things I have for running and I keep them longer than that. But, when they start to stretch out, cause chafing or if you gain or lose weight and they are no longer fitting properly it’s time to get some new ones!

Taking good care of your clothes will keep you smelling fresh and keep your pants up for a long time if you take some time to do it right.

One note if you have been washing the clothing wrong…once I found out the right way to take care of them, I did some recon and threw my already washed clothes in the washer with 1/2 cup of vinegar and then washed them AGAIN with sports detergent.

I found I was able to salvage the ones I thought I had ruined and have been washing them following the rules above ever since.