Gi/rashguard Washing Remedies?

BJ@LW&WW

BJ@LW&WW

Gold Belt
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,739
Reaction score
1,785
This has been done many times, I know. But really, the world can only benefit from yet another clean-your-filthy-gear thread anyway. I've tried a few things but my BJJ clothes still smells pretty damn bad sometimes once I start breaking a sweat. Now days, I let my clothes soak for a maybe an extra hour or so in the detergent after the initial wash. Then when it gets to the rinse cycle, I add in baking soda. The baking soda thing seemed to work great at first, but I don't know. I think my odors have evolved.

Are there any other remedies you guys go with? I'm considering maybe using hot water on the clothes that can handle it.
 
I know I may be stating the obvious, but are you sure it's the gi that needs to be taken care of and not yourself?
Also, make sure to use some oxy based product which not only makes the gi whiter if you have a white gi, but also kills bacteria. It works as well on colored gis.
 
1) Buy Tide 2x Ultra Sport Detergent with Febreeze, Pinesol, and Vinegar.
2) Put your gym clothes in the washer, set the temp to hot, and add generous amounts of the aforementioned ingredients.
3) After the washer has filled and has agitated the wash some, stop the washer and let the clothes soak for about 30 minutes in the detergent/pinesol/vinegar solution.
4) Finish washing and drying the clothes as usual.
5) After they're dry, put your clothes in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
6) Fold and wear accordingly.

If you follow these steps you're training partners will comment about how good you smell. I prefer lavender pinesol.
 
Vinegar.

I tried everything but could not get the smell out. Dumped a little vinegar in wash and it worked. Now I put a little in each wash. Its cheap and easy. Just to let you know how strong the vinegar is at killing smells - I use 'natural' laundry wash which is not as good as regular detergent at all and with the vinegar the smell is gone.
 
Never had a problem with this, but then my sweat really doesn't smell except slightly salty. I've known guys who stink like they've just shat themselves ten minutes into the warm-up though (maybe they did, haha), so I guess maybe you just have particularly pungent body odor and it's getting into the material of your gi. Maybe try using anti-perspirant before you go to class? Although I've heard that can be bad for you so . . . yeah.
 
Agree with the vinegar. I have a plastic rubbermaid box where i store dirty gis until I can wash them all at once. I'll fill the box first with water before going to the laundromat, and i will soak my shit in vinegar.
 
White vinegar works great. 1 cup per gi. It kills the funk.
 
You can use pinesol or odoban in the wash, they both are pretty effective deodorizers.
 
I've had this problem before and a lot of the time too much detergent gets locked up into the gi and you have a mildew type smell once you start sweating. When all else fails use the cheapest, most effective cleaning tool available to you....UV rays. Leave your stuff to hang dry outside (after washing) when you are at your wit's end and I bet you will have success. UV rays are great at killing the bacteria your detergents, vinegar, etc. cannot fix. I rarely have to do this with my gi's but when they start to smell one hang dry treatment will fix them for quite some time IMO.
 
rawpower said:
1) Buy Tide 2x Ultra Sport Detergent with Febreeze, Pinesol, and Vinegar.
2) Put your gym clothes in the washer, set the temp to hot, and add generous amounts of the aforementioned ingredients.
3) After the washer has filled and has agitated the wash some, stop the washer and let the clothes soak for about 30 minutes in the detergent/pinesol/vinegar solution.
4) Finish washing and drying the clothes as usual.
5) After they're dry, put your clothes in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
6) Fold and wear accordingly.

If you follow these steps you're training partners will comment about how good you smell. I prefer lavender pinesol.
Click to expand...

You freeze the clothes? Is there any science behind that I can read about lol.
 
I have found that hanging them outside and letting them air dry while they are still disgusting, than washing them in warm water and detergent works very well. Sometimes after a rash guard hangs outside for a day it cuts down the stink drastically before you even have to wash it. I only found this out inadvertently when my wife asked me to start putting my stuff outside because it was stinking up the hamper so bad.
 
Bleach.

Everyone acts like its such a bad word, but it works and is necessary. I've used it on blue gis and had NO color loss but COMPLETE odor loss, but you have to do it the right way.

1. When the washer is filling, add your usual amount of detergent and 1/2 cup of bleach.
2. when the washer is filled, let it agitate for 30 seconds or so. This ensures that the bleach is as dissolved in the water as it's going to get.
3. Add all your gear that smells like mildew to the water, pushing it down to make sure it's all covered.
4. Let it soak for about 15 mins with the washer lid open, this will stop the cycle from continuing.
5. Close the lid and finish the cycle.

The bleach will be so dissipated that the only thing it will be strong enough to do is what bleach does best... kill mold/mildew spores. Your colors should be just fine. If you're real concerned, make sure you do all of this in cold water.

Also.. to keep this odor from coming back always hang-dry your gear asap after use. If you have time to wash it immediately, then all the better. If not, hang-drying will remove the moisture before any mold spores can sprout and you'll always be mildew-free.

My wife is way more annoyed by foul smells than she is by my BJJ gear hanging everywhere; doors, door handles, fan, stair railing, spread open atop the hamper, wherever. Just make sure you're airing it out asap.
 
If there is blood in your gi immediately douse the stain in hydrogen peroxide (the stuff that cleans cuts)- it will bubble and the blood will instantly fade
 
I rinse my rashguard after training then I throw it in the washer.
 
The gi isn't my problem it's the rash guards that seem to retain their smell!!!
 
Go to a doctor and see if he can do something about your unkillable stink. Maybe it's your diet. That's not normal. When I wash my gi or rashguard it smells clean like the laundry.
 
Yeah it's mostly just my rash guards. I sweat quite a bit. I usually leave practice with it saturated in liquid. I know one of the biggest problems is I can't always wash it right away after every practice, sometimes it sits for two/three days before getting washed, though I do rinse them. I'm gonna try drying them in the sun after the rinses and probably will try vinegar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,264,488
Messages
57,289,081
Members
175,625
Latest member
just_peed

Share this page

Back
Top