Originally Posted by peripatetic
Dr. Bronner's soap is good stuff. Non-harmful to you or the environment. Theoretically, you just need to kill any and all bacteria that is causing the stank. I think if you were to soap up your bag and leave it for a few hours, that could work, too. Thing about just using soap in this way, however, is that if you don't get all of the bacteria, then the soap keeps the bag wet, and then you've created a nice environment for the bacteria that is left to re-populate. That's why soapy garments that aren't dried out after washing can get nice and mildewy. If you soak the thing in vinegar, then use the soap, then rinse with a little vinegar/hot water solution, then dry the whole thing out really well, that should help. You could soak in water and soap for a while, but then you'd left with a soapy residue, which can be hard to completely remove with a water rinse. So then you'd want to use a vinegar and water rinse. Vinegar and soap, by the way, are perfect complements for each other (acid-base). That's why vinegar makes such a nice rinse after cleaning things.
Stink can be caused by chemicals as well as bacteria...urea in sweat would definitely cause a lot of stink and can be very difficult to remove (you can't kill it, it's already dead). I imagine vinegar would get rid of the urea though...