Laundry question -- synthetic travel clothes stinky after hand washing

Yes synthetic clothes can pong a bit after you've worn them. Cotton less so.

I just use the soap I wash myself with. Wash clothes in the shower with me. Kills two birds with one stone.

We've never really had a problem and we use a lot of synthetics. But then we don't machine wash them. We simply wash them by hand in the sink with regular body soap / wash or Prell concentrate shampoo and air dry. Perhaps the hand washing vs machine washing is the difference. Might be worth a try.

We have not had the problem.
one option we have been using for the past few months of travel, ( we are nearly at the end of another 2 months in Europe) is to use a 'sea to summit kitchen sink' ( in lieu of a basin) and soak your clothes overnight in HOT water and normal clothes washing detergent. using the portable sink allows then to soak and you can agitate them like a washing machine. then when the clothes are rinsed and rung out we use inflatable coat hangers to dry them, as the air flows well for drying.
hope this helps.

No problem from my experience with laundry effort in sinks and using Forever New concentrated powdered soap.

We use concentrated Camp Suds for travel hand laundry. It's sold at outdoor, camping and hiking stores such as REI. Or if I run out, I use the hotel shampoo.
There has never been odor left on the clothes.

We just bring along a ziplock baggie of whatever powered laundry soap we have at home the time. ( As we do only carry-on, do not want to use our 3-1-1 allowance on liquid laundry soap)

Not had a problem with odor

We sink wash in lukewarm water using "Charley's Soap" and my travel clothes (all synthetic) smell fine. Charley's soap is a powder so you don't take up space in your liquid's bag.

I, too, use Charley's Soap. I use it for both travel and home laundry. I take a very small amount in a zip bag.

Scott, I can't help you with the soap, but I can say that I donated all my synthetic, wicking tops because of the same problem. I switched to lightweight wool. Not hot in the summer and sometimes you can get a few wearings out of them since they do not stink. I used to get those little travel packets of Woolite which work great, but now, in the name of packing lighter, I just use whatever shampoo is provided in the room (unless it's got too much fragrance) or even the bar soap. The lightweight wool t-shirts (short or long sleeve) dry very quickly. Also use Smartwool or whatever brand of wool socks.

I've only found this to be a problem with my older (like 10 years old) quick dry shirts from Columbia sportswear (seems to be difficult to get clean). All my newer polyester quick dry shirts don't have this problem, is usually soak them in the hottest water possible in the sink for over a hour and use whatever shampoo/body wash is available.

DJ

It hasn't been a problem that I've encountered

The only problem I have run into is that when I wear a backpack, the pack sometimes abrades or roughens the texture of my shirt. It's probably just the quality of the shirts I'm buying.

This is why I now travel in lightweight merino wool. It just doesn't hold smell like tech fabrics. I have plenty of tech fabrics I use at home but I only wear them once and then wash. With wool shirts (esp. Ibex) I can go several wearings without washing. I bring one bar of good olive oil soap for body and clothes. Lasts the trip.

I know for many wool sounds crazy, esp. in hot climates but wool today is not wool of 20 years ago. A lightweight wool shirt/dress/etc. is comfortable, non-itchy, breathable and not smelly. No affiliation with any wool company or producer....just a fan.

"The only problem I have run into is that when I wear a backpack, the pack sometimes abrades or roughens the texture of my shirt. It's probably just the quality of the shirts I'm buying." My Patagonia pack does not harm my clothing. Quality clothing and quality packs travel well together.

Oh yes, I had a terrible time last summer/fall with a Land's End Active wear top. It would be smelly after wearing it for a day in the heatwave in Paris even when I was not. I just use the shampoo or body wash from the hotel and even after rubbing it directly on the pits it didn't erase it. The only thing that took the odor away was when I returned home and machine washed it. That shirt will NEVER make the travel team again!!

I have had great luck with merino wool tee shirts as mentioned above. I got the Icebreaker for Cabelas but I don't think they make that any more. I have to tell you that I wore one of my merino tee shirts for 5 days straight in the Paris heat wave and it did not smell. I was going to see how many days I could wear it(laughing I was traveling solo!!) without it getting whiffy but after 5 days I washed it only because it was grossing me out!

I also have very good luck with the Lands End Cotton/Modal blend but I don't think they do Men's tee shirts in this fabric.

The strategy with respect to synthetics is to not let the clothing "ferment". That is, don't wad it up damp. If you don't wash/rinse it out at the end of the day, hang it up to let it dry and not encourage Micrococcus bacteria action.

Partial list of Running World Tips applicable to travelers:
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-gear/stop-the-stink

Allow items to air-dry after you run in them, rather than tossing damp
clothing directly into a hamper.

Turn garments inside out for washing and drying.

Use cold water in the wash cycle.

Use less detergent in the washing machine to prevent it from building
up on tech fabrics.

Do not use fabric softeners, and avoid detergents that contain them.
Fabric softeners coat the fibers of clothes, making them impermeable
to detergent and water.

I've not found that problem, but then I shower every day and sink wash my clothes after one wearing.

My travel clothes are cotton /polyester blend. Does that make a difference?

I carry only a bar of ivory. Use it for everything - shower, hair, clothes. No liquid to worry about with TSA.

We have never had a problem with synthetic clothes smelling. Like Suki we use Camp Suds. It is a backpacking product, very concentrated so only a couple drops to a gal or so of water is needed. We wash/raise our clothes daily so nothings builds up. Once every week to ten days we will do a complete wash of everything.

I've never had this problem with synthetic fabric holding odor, however, it seems many people do based on this thread. I wonder if it's because of different body chemistry that some people experience it and some don't?

For those who use the light-weight merino wool, does it hold it's shape when hand washed?

"For those who use the light-weight merino wool, does it hold it's shape when hand washed?" Yes.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. For those unfamiliar with the issue, here's an article: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/09/05/346055067/stinky-t-shirt-bacteria-love-polyester-in-a-special-way

I never had this issue with my beloved cotton, but I'm trying to get smarter with lighter, faster drying "first layer" clothes, and it was my ex-officio underwear that, while clean, didn't smell clean when I hand washed them last time.

I'll let you know if I find answers that work for my t-shirts and underwear.

I have been wearing longsleeve icefil vented sun shirts for years at home and have never had a stinky problem. Kerrits, Kastel and Rompf are my favorite brands. I ride horses in them, get sweaty cleaning stalls and wear them for every day to protect my melanoma prone skin.

Maybe you aren't washing them after each wearing? I wear mine for a day, or part of a day if I'm horsing around, then machine wash and dry them, sometimes have to use spray n' wash on black saddle oil spots. I will be taking several shirts to Europe and will hand wash them using Forever New powder. They dry quickly without wrinkles. The only problem I've had is that the fibers relax after several years of use and the shirts stretch a size. By then it's time to replace them anyway.

I only travel with synthetic fabrics because of their "quick-dry" ability, but I do get stinkier (yes, I shower at least once daily, shave and use deodorant). I wash tops after each use -- but sometimes I only wash the underarms of them! (turn inside out, gather the underarm fabric and wash that area out under running tap water -- wring just that wet section in a towel and hang).

I take a small ziploc bag of HE powdered laundry detergent, and use about a teaspoon per sink or item or whatever. The "HE" is important -- it's the type ("high efficiency") that is formulated to use in front loaders -- it's low sudsing which means it is much quicker to rinse out.

I have also used shampoo, bar soap, or whatever is provided by the accommodation -- but if their volumes are small, then I'd rather use my powdered soap than run out of their toiletries.

I've not had a problem with stuff smelling after I've washed it.

Cheers,
Vivian

We use Oxy Clean for our washer at home to de-stink workout clothes. It's mostly hydrogen peroxide.

If you're going to be in a place for a few days, I'd try finding some straight hydrogen peroxide at the corner store or chemist's and giving things a good rub or rinse with it in the sink.

I never had this issue with my beloved cotton, but I'm trying to get smarter with lighter, faster drying "first layer" clothes, and it was my ex-officio underwear that, while clean, didn't smell clean when I hand washed them last time.

Interesting. I'm a huge fan of ExOfficio underwear and there's a few things I've learned over the 10+ years I've been using them. Because synthetic fibers are much thinner than cotton/wool fibers, heat will very easily break them down and under a microscope the ends will look like melted plastic and act like Velcro, so rough on the skin. IN other words, don't put them in the drier, air dry always; if you toss them in the drier and bake them, they won't look or, act like new.

For men, there's two styles of underwear they sell, the original Give-n-Go which I've stopped using and the newer and much more comfortable and better performing Sport Mesh. If you haven't tried Sport Mesh, give it a try.

As for smell, I know they have an antimicrobial/Silver impeded in the fiber that should knock-out any bacteria build-up, which is what causes the smell. Cotton you don't have as much of a smelling problem because cotton absorbs but, it also doesn't wick moisture like wool and doesn't come close to the performance of synthetics. I talked to an employee at their SeaTac store and she said that there's a small percentage of the population that no matter what, their body chemistry will overwhelm the anti-bacteria technology.

I have found that it can sometime be the washing soap combined with the water that gives clothes a not so fresh odor.

When I moved to a different part of the country, I had to change laundry detergent because what I had used before and was perfectly happy with now gave my clothes a faintly mildewy dirty feet odor. After changing to a different soap brand, the odor situation cleared up.

It might be a similar thing with the water/soap mix on your travels.

I have found it very effective to soak those stinky synthetics in a sink or plastic bag with warm water and baking soda for several hours. This has taken care of the odors that any regular soap can't touch. After trying other methods, now I usually just wash my clothes with the shampoo provided by the hotel and use a small plastic bag to plug the sink. Happy travels!

It's not in your head or pour hygiene on your part as some people would infer and as you know. Some of these man-made fabrics are awful. And I don't want clothes I only travel in. I once purchased a travel nightgown through Travelsmith (I think it was a microfiber). I couldn't believe how smelly it was after one night, so I periodically would try it again. Stinky...and I take evening showers when traveling so there was no excuse for it. Man-made fabric is awful, IMO. I'm a sewist so I am quite particular about textile choices. However, I pack natural fiber blended with artificial materials; i.e., lands end cotton modal, as Pam does, for my travel. The blend makes them faster drying than if they were a pure natural fabric. These LE tees are wonderful, as are NYDJ (jeans). Silk, wool, linen are also preferable fabrics. I still usually bring one cotton blouse or tee, because I prefer cotton. Wool against my skin generally bothers me, even merino wool. Alpaca and cashmere, are also wonderful. Only once in high humidity did I have to let my clothes dry more than 24 hours, usually it takes just overnight. I weighed my clothes on my last trip, now I say never again, it's just too extreme. Pack light but take what you are used to wearing, and take three pairs of bottoms (slacks, skirts, whatever)...

To add a wrinkle to this topic, the local public TV station has short segments to supplement the Rick Steves Travel Bites that fill time between programs, and a recent we're-all-learning-for-a-lifetime tips segment gave official airline advice for how passengers can best handle an emergency on the airplane --

it stood out to me because their recommendation was to wear natural fiber clothing, not artificial materials, and to have long sleeves and pants. The idea being that if there's a fire or electrical short, synthetic clothing will melt and shorts and tank tops will result in faster burns. So if you accept the airlines' advice, you'll leave the synthetics in your bag for the flight and wear your nicer items.

...and wear your nicer items.
Advice should be to wear clothing than does not melt such as wool. Cotton does't melt but does burn unless treated with flame retardant. Also a good idea to have your running shoes on and laced even if the shoes are synthetic. You want to hit the ground running and put some distance between you and the fuel.

The best advice is to get out of the aircraft with all haste and don't try to bring your carry-on bags. It's always amazing to see passenger who just evacuated an aircraft standing around with luggage while the ARFF personnel are foaming the aircraft.

It seems like the the overhead bins should lock automatically if there's an evacuation. I cannot believe people get their crap out instead of evacuating or assisting others.

Oh, about stinky laundry. (Which is the topic, isn't it?) For smelly clothes at home I use Borax. The 20 or 40 Mule Team Borax in the detergent aisle. I don't know how many mules. Lots of mules. It really works on kitchen towels or dog blankets. I'm not sure if it does the trick on synthetic textiles, but it's worth a shot.

Call me paranoid but that is when I wear my cotton blouse and mostly cotton jeans because of this...and leather shoes for that exact reason..

Interesting discussion. I will heartily endorse what Karen said, two posts above, regarding borax. It works.

The 'stink factor' can be a problem with some synthetic fabrics if one sweats a lot. It is more a problem for mountaineers and backpackers than travelers, but can arise anywhere. I recall the first comments with Helly Hanson polypropylene underwear for skiers, which was great for wicking sweat away but gradually acquired an odor that could not be washed away. This was like 20+ years ago. Outdoor clothing companies came up wiith various solutions, one of which was silver, which has an anti-bacterial effect. Never tried that. As a woman, I have not have the problem. . . . But I have to advise my husband often on the wearability of his shirts.

He loves Patagonia capilene for comfort and practicality, but it still has the problem. Borax is the solution, but not when we are traveling. I have convinced him to switch to merino, which is cool, comfortable, stink-free, but more expensive. I surf the discount sites like backcountry.com for deals on merino wool, but it it can also be found on Amazon.

Thanks everyone, for the thoughtful replies and good advice.

I bought some Charlie's Soap, and really like it.

However, while in Ireland I tried washing my synthetic shirts and still got the smell afterward. I did find out that it's very worthwhile to ask your hotel desk if they do bags of basic laundry for a single price. They didn't advertise it, but they did a pretty large bag of laundry for 15 Euros. This was midway through our trip and it gave us enough clean clothes to make it to the end.

I did try out a couple of Merino wool t-shirts. Unlike my synthetic, wicking, light shirts I bought at Costco for $6 each, the wool t-shirts cost $45 and $54, and that was on sale! They feel amazing and are incredibly light. They fit well, and after hand washing, dried quickly with no smell. I think I need some inflatable hangers, though, since there is a slight 'bump' on the shoulders from drying on my normal hangers. Taking cost into consideration, I think I will travel with a bunch of the inexpensive, light, wicking synthetics, and two wool shirts. If I can't find a place to do my laundry I will live with my two wool shirts until I do find a place. The t-shirts were WoolX and IceBreaker brand.

In Ireland I wore a new pair of Bluffworks chinos. I really like the fit, look and feel of them. They look like normal pants, not technical travel pants. They have anti-pickpocket features, and the chinos have a very soft feel to them, rather than the synthetic feel of their original pants. I could wear these for a week if needed.

And thanks for the excuse to wear natural fibers on the plane. I now have an actual reason to wear my jeans, not that I needed on.

Happy travels!

Scott! Thanks for the update! It sounds like that will be a good combo for your next trip. Yes, to me the merino can be worn indefinitely...so good to hold one in reserve, lol.

Lola! Oh yes. That early polypro was horrible. I can remember some sock liners that I wore skiing. Yikes. I think they had to go to a toxic waste dump somewhere...