In the busy modern world, it’s hard to find time to exercise. Most people don’t have hours of free time during the day to work out, so trips to the gym have to be squeezed in around everything else. And do you know what else you don’t have time for? Immediately laundering those stinky, sweaty gym clothes. Therefore, here are some tips on how to store sweaty gym clothes while you’re at work.
Evaluate Your Routine
Before you can decide how you will store your gym clothes, the first step is to think about what your workout routine looks like on a day-to-day basis. Are you working out in the morning before heading to work? Are you working out on your lunch break before going back to the office?
The Morning Workout Battle
For the sake of this section, we are going to assume you stop at the gym to work out on your way to the office. If that is your reality, consider the following options for handling your sweaty clothes:
- Shower wash. When your workout is complete, unless you are pressed for time, you will likely shower and change into your work clothes. Consider walking into the shower still fully clothed, so you can rinse the sweat out of your athletic apparel. The items will still be wet, of course, but rinsing them in the shower can be a good way to stall odor buildup. When you’re finished, wring them out as best you can and find a place to lay them out to dry (we offer some ideas below), or store them in a plastic bag until you get home.
- Rent a locker. To avoid schlepping your gym clothes to and from the office, one option is to rent a locker at your gym (if available). With a dedicated locker, you can leave clothes at the gym after your workout and take them home another time. What’s more, gym lockers usually have hooks that you can use to hang out your gear to dry. Of course, you don’t want to let stinky workout gear pile up in your locker for too long, so be sure to clean out the locker regularly.
- Ask around the office. You probably aren’t the only person in your office who likes to work out before clocking in. If you ask around, you may find a room in your building where laundry can be kept for the day, or a coworker may have devised another solution that you haven’t thought of yet. It never hurts to ask!
Smart Storage
For some people, taking their sweaty workout clothes with them to the office is the only viable option. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t worry. With the right planning, you won’t become known as “that person with the nasty stench coming from under their desk.” All you need is a smart storage plan to get you through the day until you can return home and launder your clothes. Try the following steps:
- Rinse out your sweaty clothes, either in the shower or in a bathroom sink.
- Wring out the clothes to dry them as much as possible.
- Spread out a towel and lay the rinsed gym clothes on the towel. Then roll up the towel with the gym clothes inside.
- Place the towel/clothes bundle inside a plastic bag, and place that bag in your gym bag.
- Zip up the gym bag and go on with your day. You should find that this method successfully contains the smell of your gym clothes.
- Once you are back home, be sure to take the towel and clothes out of the bag so they can be properly cleaned. (If you leave them in there to marinate, they really will start to stink—possibly even permanently!)
Eliminate Odor with WIN Activewear Detergent
To wipe the stink out of your gym clothes, use WIN Activewear Detergent. You may have noticed that your workout clothes still smell, even after washing them. If so, your detergent is likely to blame. Most standard detergents are designed to treat cotton rather than the synthetic materials common in most modern activewear. That’s where WIN comes in. WIN Activewear Detergent is designed specifically to treat synthetic materials to eliminate odor and keep your clothes fresh. Order a bottle today, and smell the difference for yourself!