I had a moment at the gym yesterday. I got there and headed to the treadmill to warm up and get my 30 minutes of HIIT in before my workout. It was pretty crowded since it was after work so I squeezed in between two treadmills already in use.
I was about 10 minutes in and phew, doggie. The guy next to me smelled bad! I’ve been stuck next to women who bathed in perfume before and this was just as bothersome. I decided to rearrange. Just stick to the warm up then go workout. I’d finish the HIIT afterwards when it was less busy.
I arrived at the free weight area and that’s when I realized it. It wasn’t the guy next to me on the treadmill. It.Was.Me! ME! Omigod, ME! I was the smelly offender. Or more accurately, my clothes were the offenders. Underneath I was fresh as a daisy. Little comfort though as the end result was the same.
I freaked out since I had just taken the clothes out of the dryer right before coming to the gym. These were not old gym clothes that had been baking in my car. I worked out anyway. Yes, I’m dedicated. Sorry to all who I may have horrified with my scent. I was not intentional and I stayed as far away to myself as possible.
I rushed home did a google search and realized that this happens over time with the manmade workout fabrics. Cotton apparently stands up better to washing and getting the odors out. There were a bunch of suggestions from vinegar to baking soda to special sport detergents that you can buy.
I’m going to do a few experiments with laundry on what I found and figure out what works best. This cannot happen again and I can’t replace my workout wardrobe. I’ll let you know what I find works best. Have you ever had this happen? What do you use to keep your clothes smelling new?
That had to freak you out. Ok, I am going to do a post really soon on this product that was introduced to my husband and I a few months ago. It’s Downy UNSTOPABLES. A rep from Downy was at Target filling shelves with it. I am allergic to bleach….I can’t breath…its really bad. He used bleach to wash clothes about a month ago and was freaking out cuz he knew I could not smell it so he dumped in the UNSTOPABLES while I was at the gym and guess what? No bleach smell. We have tested it twice and worked both times. Maybe try that and see if it works…it can’t hurt. If you do try it can you let me know? Good luck!
I’ll put that on my list to try. I hope something works to fix this. I’m hoping it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Everything is worse when it’s you, right? 😉 I can tell you that Borax and OxyClean did not work successfully. I saw Tide Sport but it didn’t seem like it would remove the smell as much as cover it. Vinegar and baking soda soaking are next. If I try the Unstopables, I’ll let you know if it works!