Ok, ladies. My husband does martial arts and his gi (or however you spell it) just gets shoved into his bag while still damp. So it sits in the warm car for a day or two before he brings it in to be washed. As a result, it has that sour towel smell when it gets wet. It is just horrible! I have tried washing in hot water with Oxyclean, Trizyme (Amway product), and vinegar. It still reeks. Help! Do I need to wash it in chlorox? And if I do that, how do you neutralize it so it doesn't eat the cotton? These things are really thick canvas and cost quite a bit. Thanks!

Hot water and laundry detergent does wonders!! The towels are far nicer when I use hot, than cold or lukewarm! (sorry, no direct experience with a "gi")

Once you get it figured out, then perhaps you'll have to "teach" DH to unpack it right after each workout.

On the other hand ... if it is not bothering your DH, should you be letting it bother you?

My daughter did Judo and has her brown belt. On her Gi when I would wash it, I washed it with bleach at least once a month to get that nasty smell out of it too. And then the rest of the time I used Tide with bleach and oxyclean and used dryer sheets. And I ALWAYS ALWAYS used hot water.

When you wash it with Oxyclean and detergent, let it sit in the water -- after the soaps have agitated in. Leave it for a coupla hours....then complete the wash, rinse with vinegar and then rinse again with fabric softener. Hope that works.

Also try hanging it outside for the sun & fresh air to help. A windy day would be great.

This is the best advice. If the gi has patches or stripes, the bleach will ruin them.

Well, I've done the soak in the hot water trick. I think I might have to try bleach this time. It bothers me because I am very sensitive to smell and I can't stand the thought of someone else having to smell that smell on my DH! It reflects badly on me, I guess. I know I would gag if I was the one who had to grab him by his stinky clothes and toss him! I will bleach the older one first and see if it eats it up before I do the newer one!

I have always had good luck adding a cup of ammonia to the load of laundry along with detergent and softer as usual, using the hottest water recommended for fabric. If it is truely mildewed I let it soak over night, run thru the cycle. Occasionally, I might run a extra rinse cycle to finish it.

This works well for mildew, sour smells, grease, diesel fuels, car fluids, etc.
*use caution and plenty of ventilation around ammonia)

hot water and baking soda?

I have a front loader and have found the only way to get rid of the sour smell is to use the "sanitary" cycle on my machine. I haven't tried ammonia or vinegar, however.

Make sure you dilute the bleach first!!!! other wise you will get white spots that eat the material.

You could try one wash with bleach, then an immediate second wash with either normal detergent, or just plain water.

I use borax and washing soda with my detergent and bleach! That will take the smell out of anything!

Dry in the sunshine?

Just pour the bleach into the laundry tub while it is filling with water. That will dilute the bleach. Then add the clothes. I've never had a problem doing it that way.

Have you tried that Febreeze product for laundry???

Ummmm. I live in the Seattle area! Ha! Ha! We kid we get a week of sunshine. Actually the sun is shining right now, but that is in between the rain clouds. It has been raining off and on for a week.

Right now I am soaking it in the one cup of ammonia with detergent in hot water. I will let you know how it works.

There is a product called Sports Wash that is wonderful!

Borax is great at getting the doggy odor out of dog bedding. I use it and detergent, agitate a minute, then turn the washer off and let it soak for a little while, then resume the regular load. The soak cycle on the washer isn't long enough to suit me.

'

looked it up...
http://www.atsko.com/products/laundr...detergent.html

My SIL would of loved having that around when she had a hockey player son,in high school...
Thanks for sharing!

I use vinegar in the water for anything that has an odor.

Use a cup of cloudy ammonia with your detergent. Just add it at the beginning. It takes out that sour smell and makes your towels and washcloths more absorbent.

Same here. It isn't like you are filling the tub with bleach only. :shock: :wink: It is bacteria that you are smelling, I rinse with white vinegar every so often and it gets residual soap out. I never use softener on towels either.

piney

Use borax and detergent.

vinegar soak

white vinegar and baking soda ... works every time

sudsing ammonia-2 cups in really hot water-then rinse rinse rinse(all in a washing machine of course)

I used to wash my ghi immediately after I had class and did not have a problem,so I suppose my advice is no help until the habit is broken?

Try fresh grass clippings. seal it up with clippings for about 3 days and see if that helps.

hot water and a cup of pinesol (the real thing, not the dollar store variety) I used to pitch kitchen towels and dishrags for the same reason! Now I dont have to. Hope it works for you

my towels an washrags smelled so bad you would hate to use them ..i tryed everything ..an i mean everything..to get the smell out ...would even go out an get new ones an wash right after thay where used ..still smelled...something in our well water ...saw about a month ago from arm @hammer ..total 2-1 moist dryer cloths...used it an no more smell ...will use them from now on ..i love them

Get the cloth wet and then microwave it for a few minutes. The sour smell is from bacteria and you need to kill it to get the smell out. I microwave dish towels and my kitchen sponges. You can also microwave your toothbrush once or twice a month to kill bacteria instead of tossing it and buying a new one.

I use the liquid All with the oxiclean, I think it realy helps!!

Fill a spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide. Spray it until damp or just put it in the washer and dump a bottle of peroxide over it. Make sure it is completely wet, let set for 5 minutes and wash as usual.

Walmart has the large bottles of peroxide for less than 1.00.

What you are smelling is the bacteria trapped in the fibers. The peroxide won't harm the fibers like bleach will. It also rinses clean. I use it for my cycling clothes.

........... and next thing she'll be asking is how to remove grass stains!

Hate That!!! I'm to blame...forgot I had a load in the washer.

Read somewhere to use 20 Mule Team Borax. Tried it and it worked like a charm! I used hot water, laundry detergent and the Borax and let them soak for about 1/2 hour.

Hope this helps. = )

Most people cram their washer FULL of clothes just to get them done, and that is why the oders don't come out. Don't cram them, and see.

I was thinking the same thing when I read this. It couldn't have been someone from W Washington! Our whole summer was pretty much lousy! I didn't hang out my bed sheets once cause of the rainy summer.

When my son was in karate I would wash his gi in hot water and bleach. Seemed to keep the smell out but once in a while he'd forget to put in clothes hamper for the weekly wash and then it did have that smell. Just did the usual hot water and bleach and it was gone. You might try buying a mesh bag for your husband to bring home so at least it airs out some.

Have you tried Febreeze for fabrics? Works wonders for me

My friend's husband had a unine problem and she could not get the smell out of his pants with washing. I told her about ODOBAN wich worked. It eliminates odors, is a disinfectant too. I find mine at Sams's Club. It washes out dog beding smells too.
Jeanne