Maybe it's just my nose but I don't think my kit smells bad after a hard, sweaty day on the bike. My wife thinks otherwise and she normally does the laundry but won't do my cycling stuff so I usually hang the shorts and jersey up to dry out then toss them into a laundry basket until I have a decent-sized load to wash. But some/most of you probably know that synthetics have a tendency to hang onto BO and it can be difficult to wash that odor out.

I use Tide (liquid or powder - whatever we have at the moment) and add a scoop of Twenty Mule Team Borax since I read somewhere that that gets the stink out. And, in my experience, it's true ... most of the time. Every once in a while, a jersey just doesn't want to let go of that smell. Sometimes I'll re-wash it and sometimes I'll just go ahead and wear it.

Some years ago, REI carried a really good anti-stink detergent (and I completely forget the name of it) that really worked. The company was small and seemed to have trouble consistently getting the product to stores - REI was often out of stock. It was a little on the expensive side but it WORKED. I think the company went out of business. More recently, I've read about a detergent called "Hero Clean" that makes a detergent specifically for sweaty and stinky men's gear. A drawback to me is that it's scented although the website says it's a "fresh, clean, subtle fragrance that’s not fruity or flowery." Target sells it and it's $8.50 for a 50 ounce bottle. It's not expensive but I hate the thought of buying it and then not liking it ...

What do YOU use?

I've used SinkTheStink for neoprene wetsuits if they get "well beyond funky." It works very well but I've never yet needed to use it on my bike gear. Google SinkThestink. You may be able to pick it up at a local dive shop.

Problem solved if it's not brothering you, screw the rest

My wife won't wash mine either(or my fishing clothes), I rotate through everything till I have a large enough load to do a wash and use whatever detergent she has around. Sometimes she says she can still smell them. I tell her show me how to do better!

Cotton!

Adding fragrance... is not removing stink. Think about it... if you add garlic to the sauce can't you still also smell the onions? You don't want to just perfume to your stinky gear. You want to kill the bacteria that causes the smell.

Don't just hang-up your gear to dry... hang it out. I take my sweaty gear (shoes and gloves included) to the deck to dry in the sun... that can be enough. (If you're an apartment dweller and don't have good access to sunny open space... at least rinse you sweaty gear out in the sink or shower. Then speed the drying time with a fan... so bacteria doesn't have time/conditions to grow.)

But if you need more sanitation... just before washing, spray down the gear with a little hydrogen peroxide (in a spray bottle). Kill the bacteria... kill the bad smell. Tide has plenty of smell-good perfume already built in.

Dave Cutter - good point about the fragrance simply covering up the smell rather than actually eliminating it. I also tried, several years ago, a "new and improved" brand-name detergent (again - I can't remember which one) but it was marketed as a "sports" detergent for getting out stains and smells. I used it once and almost barfed. It was so heavily scented - and with a flowery scent at that - that I returned it to the store after using it one time. I was convinced - as you suggest - that it simply covered up the smell. It was such a heavy and persistent scent I had to re-wash it a few times to get the perfume out.

I had not thought of either hanging the gear in the sun or spraying it with hydrogen peroxide. I'll try both of those to see which works better.

Thx!

You shower after a stinky ride? How about washing your riding clothes when you shower rather than tossing your petri dish kit into the laundry basket for it to fester? Even if that doesn't get 100% of any dirt off, it's better than nothing. You can always wash them in the machine later.

That's what I do when I tour. I take only two sets of riding clothes with me. It would be waste of money and time to use a laundry machine every day for one set of clothes, and often a machine is not available. At the end of each day I start my shower with my shorts and jersey on, eventually strip them off and wash them in the shower with my camp soap, paying extra attention to the pad and pit areas. If I am out for more than a week I may eventually do a small load, including my socks and off-bike clothes, if I am staying somewhere with laundry services.

Why not wash the clothes while you wipe down the bike after a ride? The washing doesn't have to be rigorous. It just has to be soaking in detergent water while you wipe down the bike.

Maybe knead the material so that the detergent can get into the fibers, especially the padding in the shorts. But not agitate like a machine wash cycle.

I was at a bike shop nearby and commented to the mechanic as to how some of the customer's bikes needed a good rinse, at least before taking to the shop for work. He agreed. When customers bring in a bike for work and the bike hasn't been cleaned, it is just another thing for them to work around.

I do some traveling with the bike and the SUV, stay at hotels/motels and bring the bike into my room. First thing I do is to ask the houskeeping people for a used rag. So when I go for a ride and come back to the hotel, I wet down that rag and wipe off the tires before entering the lobby with the bike.

As far as hanging to the sun light, that dark color shorts, probably not a good idea to leave it out too long. Just long enough to dry and not necessarily a full dry. The balance of the dry session goes in the garage away from the intense UV.

I second the tip to hang your clothes outside. Sun (UV) will kill the bacteria.

However, ... don't use the synthetic stuff. Use cotton or wool.

and once in a while - bleach or vinegar dip

I just wash my clothes after a ride. Usually my commuting clothes can last a few days to build up a small pile, but either way, I use unscented detergent in a high efficiency washing machine, doesn't take much detergent at all for such small loads. Comes out fresh and clean. My wife doesn't do any of my laundry.

Launder with Oxiclean or borax. These will totally kill any odor. Never use chlorine bleach, which will work, but also attack the fabric.

Are you drinking enough water? Maybe you need to flush all the stinky stuff away.

I do most of the laundry around our house in general. For my cycling stuff I keep a separate hamper, and I have accumulated enough kit that generally I only need to wash once a week. I use some regular Tide and a scoop of Oxiclean. On occasion I have also used a home-brew laundry detergent, but I just haven't gotten around to making it in awhile now.

Wool. Problem solved.

Cotton takes forever to dry and I don't think I'd want a cotton jersey sticking to me during a ride. Wool would be nice except for the price tag!

vinegar soak it then wash It.

A clothespin on my non-cycling wife's sensitive nose.

edit: I like wool a lot and have many, but to say wool never stinks would be an exaggeration, IMHO. It is better than synthetic by a LOT and easier to remove the stench but not odor free after a ride (according to my wife).

I add Borax to the wash and it seems to work really well.

I've read that BO is from decaying bacteria. you might try taking a shower before riding. and wash those riding clothes right after your rides. if you plan ahead there might be a few items around the house you can use for a small load

I have the pleasure of washing both my own kit and that of my boyfriend.

Sorry, but it sounds like your kit isn't getting cleaned properly and quickly enough - but whatever you do, don't say that to your wife!!

The smell may be old sweat coming in to contact with new sweat. Make sure you're washing your kit as soon as possible on a hotter wash than other clothes. 40 degrees is too low. It should never end up in a laundry basket, that's just gross.

If you're not able to wash straight away, such as after commuting to work in a morning, then at least rinse them out in the shower and wring them out before putting them in a bag.

Of course, this only works if you have multiple kits, so it depends how often you're riding.

Wash it yourself immediately after a ride. Don't give the bacteria added time to grow.

If it is synthetic, it should be dry by the next morning if you hang it. Something as simple as a housefan pointed at it can speed things up. I wear almost all wool, and it is all dry the next day.

Alternately: don't sweat so much!

My stuff either gets soaked or washed right away otherwise it starts getting ripe quickly.

Lots of sweat riding Houston in the summer and worst thing is the shoes. You could get a whiff of mine the next room over.

Wife to the rescue, bought me one of these contraptions. Thought it was snake oil but the goofy thing really works!

Kagan shUVee UV Shoe Deodorizer White | Walgreens

+1000

And it breathes better, stays warm when wet, and has a wider temperature range!

I've never had much of a BO problem (just dumb luck of the genetics draw, nothing any of us can do much about) but after a week or so with some new magic-poly fabric shirts (Pearl Izumi, Louis Garneau) I can already tell they're less stinky than my cotton t-shirts and longsleeve jerseys.

The older style poly fabrics I tried years ago seemed to hold odor more stubbornly, but the new stuff is really good.

BTW, there's more to good clothes detergents than fragrance and surfactants. One reason stuff like Tide and Gain cost so much more than other detergents is the enzymes and other voodoo that goes into their suds. Well, that, plus jealously guarding their R&D, marketing, lawyers, etc. I've tried all the cheaper stuff, like Purex and A&H, but nothing is as good as Tide and, to a slightly lesser extent, Gain. I use the gel flings in our local heavy duty laundromat machines, and have even used a gel fling diluted in a small tub of warm water at home for hand washing some items. Better than Woolite and borax even for most delicate items.

Hard for me to admit that, because I'm a cheapskate and swore for years that Purex and Arm & Hammer were just as good. But they ain't just as good, nowhere near it.

Try some Tide or Gain gel flings on a load of your bike clothes. Your spouse or SO might even let you wash 'em with the civilized clothing next time.

My wife does my kit. I also have about 5 pair of shorts and a lot of jerseys, so i rotate them often. I don't know what she uses to wash them, but they always smell pretty good. I love my wife!