My Performance Fabric Shirts Smell Like Crabs

[Pokey47]

You're never supposed to use fabric softener with performance shirts, it takes away the wicking ability. No fabric softener in the water or fabric sheets in the dryer. You can use regular laundry soap mostly, but every so often you should use phosphate free tech soap. At the Nike stores in th US they have a inexpensive product made by Penguin, it's just called Sport Wash. Use a capful in a full load and hang your shirts to dry. I think you'll find the smell is gone.

Originally Posted by Matt The Hammer

I have a few shirts that I have been wearing for hockey and baseball that smell bad. Like I stated, like crabs. Nasty. I wear them and all, they become 100% saturated with sweat, I either wear them home from my baseball game or they come home in my hockey bag.

They do not linger long at my home. Typically as soon as I get them home they go into the washer and are washed. I have a Kenmore Elete washer, use the Tide liquid and add the Downy fabric softener. Wash warm normal cycle. Pretty much as soon as the washer is done, they are put into the dryer.

When removed from the dryer, I note the smell still attached. WTF?

The shirts are of Nike and Under Armour brands. The Nike shirts are either the basic Dry-Fit material or the Pro line with the flat seams. UA is standard short sleeve shirt.

Since most are non-white, I can't bleach them. I think they are loaded with bacteria and therefore reek. I'm too cheap to replace - some are less than 2 months old.

Any advice?

Maybe a freezer? The pool with chlorine?

[Nate43]

wash separately (from normal laundry), no fabric softeners, hang to dry, problem solved.

[nabokov20]

there is stuff the crease sells called no sweat i believe it works miracles....its like 12 a bottle and i got the stank out of my never washed under armour of 2 months play. Highly recommended.

[noicing]

The ONLY undergarment I know that doesn't retain some sweat smell is PUCKSKINs.
They are amazing. No smells at all. You can wear them to work and no one will even know you have a hockey item on. Unfortunately, they are very hard to find in the US. I use to sell them in my store but the duties and broker fees we so high it didn't make sense to import them from Canada anymore. You Canada people are lucky. PS is real big in the Vancouver area.

[Matt The Hammer]

This has turned out to be really informative. Thanks. There is a Nike shop around the corner from my office.

My favorite shirt is the Nike Pro Vent line. They are multi paneled with mesh in the pits and spandex parts that keep the jersey tight and all yet breathe nicely.

Highly recommended:

[goalies-r-us]

Cheap options to try:

• Soak in a vinegar-water solution overnight, then wash normally
• Soak in an ammonia-water solution overnight, then wash normally
• Soak in a Borax-water solution overnight, then wash normally
• Treat with Febreze Anti-Bacterial Spray after use

More expensive/less labor-intensive option to try (provided you're on city-sewer instead of a septic tank):

• ConsumerReports.org - Samsung's SilverCare washer 10/06 or Experience SAMSUNG

Can't remember when (sometime within the past 12 months) we bought our Samsung W/D set to replace the lemon-plagued Maytag Neptune set, but we've been very pleased. I can wash a load on SilverCare and leave it sit there for 24 hours before putting it in the dryer, with no mildewy smell (even in the summertime)!

Towels and sheets all last longer between washes (due to the residual silver), and the front-load technology is gentler on your clothes, plus uses less water (and the spin cycle's extraction abilities are amazing--dry times are VERY short!). Another nice feature of this washer is that the spin cycle, no matter what intensity you choose, will do a "slow down" tumble at the end, so the clothes aren't plastered to the sides of the drum -- they mostly just land in a heap at the end of the spin cycle, so you don't have to all but crawl inside the machine to find the socks stuck up in the "corners" like you did with our old Neptune (on the few occasions it actually worked!).

Noise and vibration are minimal -- our laundry room is open to the basement, where the computer room and tv room are located (no doors on any of the rooms). Many's the time I've walked into the laundry room, intending to transfer the load from washer to dryer, to find that the washer is still running -- never even heard it! And if you're a lonely person, the washer and dryer have little beeps/songs that they do to signal load completion, etc. We've named ours R2 (washer) and D2 (dryer), because the chiming gives them a smidgen of "personality" compared to appliances that just beep or buzz one tone.

[Matt The Hammer]

I have eyed the Sammy washer and dryer. My home is for sale with the current W&D included, so we'll need new ones at new place. Hopefully they laundry area will be up on the 2nd floor.

I like the non mildewey praise. Drives me and my wife nuts especially during the summer. Nothing smells worse than taking a "clean" towel out of the cabinet and getting that mildewey smell.


I used the hot wash and hang so far. Preliminary smell is ok. I have others to wear still and I'll need the solution washes & soaks.

[goalies-r-us]

Matt, you'll LOVE the R2D2 setup!

Dom did a week of Keeks camp last week (20 hours on the ice) and wore the same UA shirt and longjohns the whole entire week. I hung them up to dry each evening in the hotel, but they didn't get laundered or anything the whole week... and they still don't stink.

Granted, the kid barely sweats, even doing drills (Keeks had to put him on continuous up-downs in the Chinese Fire Drill in order to work up a bead of sweat on his face), but his under-gear does at least get damp after each ice session. Before R2D2 came into our lives, I would *need* to wash his under-gear after every 2-6 ice sessions (depending on intensity). Now, particularly since he hangs up and packs his own gear, I find myself needing to remind myself that I should probably throw that stuff in the laundry, b/c I can't remember the last time it got washed.

Same with towels... we'll use the same towels all week long, and before we had R2D2, you could tell when it was time to get a fresh towel out of the cupboard. Nowadays, I just go into the bathroom and grab all the towels when I'm running a load of laundry, b/c nobody ever tossed their towel into the hamper b/c it never got "unfresh".

The only downside to the SilverCare function is that it does increase the wash times considerably (adding an extra 10-25 minutes, depenging on the cycle you're using), but unless you're trying to do a marathon "I did 15 loads of laundry in a single day" type of thing, it's not really an issue. (You can also simply turn off the SilverCare option if you don't want/need it for a particular load.) But since mildew isn't a problem, I have no issues with the longer cycle times -- I can throw in a load in the morning and let it sit all day while I'm at work, or throw one in at night and take care of it the next morning (or even the next evening!).

As for having R2D2 upstairs in the new house, I think you'll be happy with that aspect as well. My only prior experience is with Whirlpool and Kenmore top-loaders and the Neptune front-loader, but I've never come across a washer/dryer as quiet as R2D2 when in operation (other than their "tunes", which can be turned off). I have dust mite allergies and have to wash all the bedding every two weeks (including the king-sized comforters), and it never gets that off-balance, thunka-thunka-thunka thing going on. (Maybe other brands have also mastered this technique, but I just don't have firsthand experience with them.)

Overall, we've been very happy with the Samsung set.

[Matt The Hammer]

I did the soak last night. Although I used the top load washer for it. I allowed the tub to fill but left the lid open so the agitator didn't fire up. Preliminary tests are that it worked. Oh, I used the Vinegar, since I sadly lacked baking soda.

I found the performance fabric detergent at Dick'sSporting Goods. A tiny bottle was like $7.

I'm cheap. Thus the vinegar.

[Lopaschuk]

Not really an odor thing, but with most performance fabrics you shouldn't use fabric softener. It can start to dissolve the fabric and it'll break down a lot quicker.
On the odor note, as been said, the freezer works well for me. I find that the only thing that ever stinks is the mesh bag that I keep my jersey and ua in to and from games, I don't know why but it actually smells like boxers that you wore on a camping trip for 4 days. The freezer (or a good ol' Canadian winter night) does the job swell.

[cujofan31]

Welcome to SHUTOUT™ Athletic Cleaning Solutions


end of story.

[G-Man]

Originally Posted by Matt The Hammer

I found the performance fabric detergent at Dick'sSporting Goods. A tiny bottle was like $7.

I was just about to suggest that. It seems to work. I even handwashed my C/A with that stuff and it took most of the stink out.