use microwave to disinfect stinky dri-fit clothes?

Personally I'd try putting them in a bag in the freezer overnight before the microwave.

Have you tried just bringing them in the shower with you after you wear them? My shirts seem to get a lot cleaner if I do that, wringing them out a few times in the shower, than through the washer.

from what i have read about dri-fit - it becomes a great place for bacteria to live because of the fiber structure of the fabric, which also traps secreted proteins from (apocrine?) sweat for them to thrive on.

For some reason, the fiber design negates the effect of normal laundry detergent the way a cotton shirt would normally get cleaned. So you can wash them all day long, and the bacteria will still be there, and get all funky on you when you wear the clothes while working out.

There is a specialty oxegen-acting detergent you can buy just for these types of garments, but that is getting ridiculous and expensive.

I just wanted to know if anyone had a good reason not to use the nuclear option on them periodically the way you can dis-infect a kitchen sponge or wash rag.

I buy a gallon of vinegar super cheap. Use 1/2 detergent you normally would and 1/2 vinegar. Helps a lot.

Stankonia wrote:

Have you tried just bringing them in the shower with you after you wear them? My shirts seem to get a lot cleaner if I do that, wringing them out a few times in the shower, than through the washer.

fyi, I battled the dri-fit funk with no luck, including expensive laundry detergent.

Started doing the bring-in-the-shower immediately after a run, wringing them out a few times, and then hanging them up. They are 20x better now.

Please post back if you try the microwave. Good and bad results.

I'm also curious about trying the freezer.

The washing instructions generally recommend against it, but a quarter cup of chlorine bleach during the wash cycle, added after the tub has filled, works wonders and I've never had any apparent damage to the clothing.

The problem is hard water, which is becoming more prevalent due to corporations abusing the water supply.

Basically, hard water is hard to get dirt out of clothes.

I rinse my running togs in the shower warmup water in a bucket, then hang them in the shower or outside in the sun.

The best solution is to get a water softener, which you can install yourself.

Vinegar helps, but not as well as having soft water.

release high, revise low wrote:

Stankonia wrote:

Have you tried just bringing them in the shower with you after you wear them? My shirts seem to get a lot cleaner if I do that, wringing them out a few times in the shower, than through the washer.

fyi, I battled the dri-fit funk with no luck, including expensive laundry detergent.

Started doing the bring-in-the-shower immediately after a run, wringing them out a few times, and then hanging them up. They are 20x better now.

Please post back if you try the microwave. Good and bad results.

I'm also curious about trying the freezer.

+ 1.

I love Dri-Fit but have gone back to cotton tee shirts for running due to the stench. I'm weary of bleach. Did vinegar help anyone?

thanks for the tip on a water softener - a little bit of sticker shock ( ~ $400 for a decent one at lowe's it looks like ) but the reviews are very positive. i have never really thought about getting one of these before ( i am in chicagoland and we use lake michigan water ).

dude, Tide Sport with Febreeze. Once I started using that stuff, I never had a problem again with stinky tech shirts

Your water might not be hard since it's coming from the lake. You should be able to find out the grains of hardness by checking with the city or whoever sends the water to you.

I'm planning to get a fleck softener from online for about 450 for a 32,000 grain unit. That's quite a bit but should last 20 years and I want the higher quality of the water, also it is better for RO systems. A rayne guy came out and wanted to sell me the same thing for 1400, I said no thanks.

I find that overnight soaking in a sodium bicarbonate solution cures smelly technical gear. I find the freezer method doesn't work and I would be weary of putting my stinking clothes in the microwave. I eat food from that thing.

As a general rule I remove and hang up all technical gear immediately after running until it is dry before putting it in the laundry hamper. This seems to help gear not get funky in the first place.

Vinegar.

Many uses with tea tree oil. Scroll down to laundry.

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/05/the-miracle-of-tea-tree-oil-80-amazing.html#

!bqCKX3

Sounds like a lot of hassle how about wearing cotton. Is it really that much different

White vinegar or Odo-Ban. The latter is used in nursing homes to clean the sheets of incontinent seniors. It works and it's cheap compared to the sports detergents. We buy it by the gallon at Costco. If I forget and leave my clothing in the bag a couple of days, they smell like cat urine, but a wash with either of these products gets rid of the smell.

My dri-fit clothes don't get funky. A cold wash is enough to get any smells out. My girlfriend had that problem until I told her to drink more water.

If I tried the microwave thing I'd us a spare microwave.

I certainly wouldn't cook any food in it again.

Did you try microwaving your clothes? Interested to see how that turned out.

why do you care what your running clothes smell like? All you do is run in them right?

If they start off mildly musty or smelling like a rose within a few miles they'll be back to stinkin like sweat again.