Losing weight and becoming fitter have always been one of the popular new year resolutions among all, including Singaporeans. There are many motives behind this goal; varying from living a healthy lifestyle to simply looking good. To achieve efficient weight loss results, a good combination of healthy diet and regular exercise are equally important. Often, getting oneself a set of gym outfit is a good way to get started with our exercise routine. Lulullemon, Nike and Adidas are common places where we will be getting our gym clothes from. After doing that, what’s next?

Since a healthy lifestyle is a long term commitment, proper care routine for these gym wear is extremely important to prolong its life. Given that a lot of athletic wear these days are made of technical fabrics like Neoprene, Mesh, and Lycra, proper care would ensure that these delicate materials would last longer. Having said that, we have listed 5 easy hacks which you can try to keep your gym clothes smelling and looking great when you are not bringing them to the launderers or dry cleaners.

Hack 1: Avoid washing them with other materials

Often, many would like to go the easy way out by washing their exercise wear with their daily wash load. Have you done that before and are you still doing that? If the answer is yes, please stop doing it. As one of the laundry general rules: Always wash like clothing materials together. This is because If one were to wash their activewear, especially those with holes or stretched with other clothing items like towels, fleece shirts, jeans and sweatshirts, the activewear will pick up these stray fabrics which can cause damage and lint to the gym wear. Moreover, bacteria from your sweaty workout wear will be passed over to other clothes. Thus, this would definitely be a case which you would want to avoid.

Hack 2: Use the right amount of detergent

“The more, the merrier” does not apply in every scenario. In this case, adding more detergent to your activewear does not mean that it will make them smell nicer and remove more bacteria. Contrarily, extra detergent leads to a buildup of detergent residue. This would trap odours and bacteria in clothes, leaving it unclean and smelling bad!

Hack 3: Use vinegar instead of fabric softener

Fabric softeners are known to soften and make clothes smell fresh and nice. However, in actual fact, using it results in a coat forming on clothing which will cause them to smell bad. Over time, a build-up of this coat will make it harder for water and detergent to penetrate through the materials, resulting in odour being trapped and bacteria being formed.

In addition, fabric softener can damage the technical properties of the activewear fabric, causing it to lose its abilities to be sweatproof, anti-bacterial, and etc.

Thus, in the scenario when there is a smell on your clothes that cannot be washed off, you can try adding a little white wine vinegar when washing your clothes or soak your workout clothes in vinegar and cold water for approximately half an hour to get rid of its smell first before washing them.

Hack 4: Do not use heat (dryers and hot water)

It is very important to remember that stretchable and elastic clothing cannot be brought into contact with high heat as it will break down the material of your activewear, causing it to shrink and become less elastic. In addition, doing so would intensify the odours of the clothes.

Thus, it would be advisable to wash workout clothes with cold water and air dry it as much as possible. If need be, turn on the lowest or no heat settings if you need to use the dryer to dry it faster.

Hack 5: Lay leggings flat to dry to avoid them getting stretched

Commonly found on clothing labels, there would be indications on them that would instruct users to dry clothes laying flat. A general rule is to always do so for fabrics that are elastic. Reason being, the weight of water in leggings would pull and stretch the leggings, causing it to sag and lose its shape.

Remember to always wash it quickly

All in all, here are some hacks to help you maintain the shape of your activewear while you exercise to stay in shape. One other thing to remember is, always wash your dirty gym wear as soon as possible. Leaving it for a period of time would ingrain smell and cause bacteria to manifest. Thus, if you find it a hassle or have no time to wash your activewear, you can always call us at 6354 3277 or send us a message on Whatsapp to book a laundry pick up and we will be there to attend your needs!