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Athletic gear (judo gis esp.) and shared dorm rooms question


regentrude
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If your student is a competetive athlete and shares a dorm room, how do they handle sweaty stinky workout clothes?

Ideally, those would go in the wash right after training, but that is not feasible if practice ends late at night.

Extra challenges: club is off campus and does not have lockers for athletes to leave gear; judo gis are very heavy weave cotton and soak up a lot of sweat. They're just gross. 

Any tips?

 

 

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If your student is a competetive athlete and shares a dorm room, how do they handle sweaty stinky workout clothes?

Ideally, those would go in the wash right after training, but that is not feasible if practice ends late at night.

Extra challenges: club is off campus and does not have lockers for athletes to leave gear; judo gis are very heavy weave cotton and soak up a lot of sweat. They're just gross.

Any tips?

Plastic bag and tie the top until the next day?

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Bucket of nappisan? It's an oxygenator that disinfects and is used in NZ now not for nappies, but for dish clothes, towels, or PE gear etc. You just get a large bucket, fill it with water, and stir in the powder. It is active for 24 hours so he could make it before he leaves, and just stick the clothes in when he gets home at night. Then in the morning you dump the entire thing in the wash with some soap. His clothes won't stink at night and will be cleaner when he does wash them.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited by lewelma
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I hear you on the gi problem. We found that the best solution is multiple gis. Febreeze works if the gis can hang overnight-in the shower maybe? But rotating gis has really helped the smell problem. Also a plan for washing them in a regular rotation. I know it will be humid there, so hanging is really the best solution. Here, in a dry climate, the gi still takes a full day to dry after washing.

 

My dd1 had all swimmers for roomates, everything smelled like sweat and chlorine. The only thing that helped was regular laundry of sheets and towels. 

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I hear you on the gi problem. We found that the best solution is multiple gis. Febreeze works if the gis can hang overnight-in the shower maybe? But rotating gis has really helped the smell problem. Also a plan for washing them in a regular rotation. I know it will be humid there, so hanging is really the best solution. Here, in a dry climate, the gi still takes a full day to dry after washing.

 

He has multiple gis. He cannot wear the same gi twice without washing. It is sopping wet after one practice.

Bathrooms are communal in the hallway, so no leaving stuff.

But good to hear febreeze works

 

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Bucket of nappisan? It's an oxygenator that disinfects and is used in NZ now not for nappies, but for dish clothes, towels, or PE gear etc. You just get a large bucket, fill it with water, and stir in the powder. It is active for 24 hours so he could make it before he leaves, and just stick the clothes in when he gets home at night. Then in the morning you dump the entire thing in the wash with some soap. His clothes won't stink at night and will be cleaner when he does wash them.

 

Thank you. I do not think it is feasible to keep a large enough vat full of liquid  in a shared dorm room.

Edited by regentrude
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does that really work???

 

If it doesn't, I'd try using vinegar instead.

 

It worked for stinky cloth diapers. It works for bad food smells in a fridge. It should work for stinky sweaty athletic clothes, too.

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If it doesn't, I'd try using vinegar instead.

 

It worked for stinky cloth diapers. It works for bad food smells in a fridge. It should work for stinky sweaty athletic clothes, too.

 

OK, I'll have him do a dry run while still living at home. (Oh, that's a bad pun, since the gi is wet)

 

The baking soda does not weaken the fabric? I know it irritates skin really bad (as we found out when we tried to deodorize climbing shoes with baking soda - skin was itching and peeling)

Edited by regentrude
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Another thought, though this depends on the rules at his club or dojo. At ds2's club, they wear under armour shirts under their gis for practice. Those really do help keep the gi at bit drier and they are easier to wash or soak with biz/oxy clean in a sink.

If he has a drive home to campus after practice, he could hang the gi out the window and dry it a little before he gets in the dorm.

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Another thought, though this depends on the rules at his club or dojo. At ds2's club, they wear under armour shirts under their gis for practice. Those really do help keep the gi at bit drier and they are easier to wash or soak with biz/oxy clean in a sink.

If he has a drive home to campus after practice, he could hang the gi out the window and dry it a little before he gets in the dorm.

 

He does wear shirts underneath. The gi is still sopping wet.

 

he does have a drive. Do you mean hang the gi out the car window on the freeway??? How would one do that?

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If it doesn't, I'd try using vinegar instead.

 

It worked for stinky cloth diapers. It works for bad food smells in a fridge. It should work for stinky sweaty athletic clothes, too.

I was thinking vinegar as well. Maybe keep it in a spray bottle and spray the gi down after practice and hopefully it will take care of some of the smell until it can be washed the next day.

 

Has he asked at the studio what the others do? There may be others in the same situation.

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I was picturing hanging it on a hanger with the back windows down. or draping it over the passenger sear.

 

Oh, that makes SO much more sense! In your previous post you wrote "he could hang the gi out the window", and I was really puzzled as to how one would do that safely :)

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Oh, that makes SO much more sense! In your previous post you wrote "he could hang the gi out the window", and I was really puzzled as to how one would do that safely :)

Well, that is would be what my literal-minded kid would do and it would be somewhere on the side of the interstate.  :laugh:

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I don't understand why the stinky clothes can't go into the laundry on the way up to the dorm room after practice and then be thrown in the dryer in the morning.  That is a lot of quarters (or whatever), of course, but a stink-free dorm room would be worth it.

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I don't understand why the stinky clothes can't go into the laundry on the way up to the dorm room after practice and then be thrown in the dryer in the morning.  

 

Because:

Leaving a heavy garment sitting wet overnight in an enclosed space makes it smell yucky again. Wash it twice?

Blocking a washer with wet clothes means the next person will take them out and dump them somewhere (esp bad if we are talking expensive stuff)

College student getting up an hour early every day to run the dryer before morning classes? Unlikely.

 

I guess if no solution is found, he'll just have to stay up late and do laundry every single night. Ouch.

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If he has a vehicle, is concerned about stinking up the room, and there's an objection to every possible workaround (I don't think laundry overnight is that bad an idea, but I suppose it depends on both the campus atmosphere and his morning schedule), then the obvious thing is to leave it in the vehicle (probably the trunk) until he's ready to deal with it.

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Would dryer sheets sprayed with febreze or some essential oil mask the smell? Or baking soda with some EO? I really don't know. That sounds very difficult. I would seriously consider seeing if one of the other club participants would be willing to help out by washing for him.

 

I just had a thought. There are sprays made for hunters that are designed to mask scent. Google says WalMart carries a brand. Maybe that would work to keep the scent down.

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This is such a funny but realistic thread!   :thumbup1: I had a room mate who only washed her clothes every 2 weeks and left them in an open basket. They were really stinky as it was hot in North Carolina and we had no air conditioning. My FIL tells the story about a room mate who didn't like to do laundry, so at the end of term when they were cleaning out they found a *term's* worth of shirts behind his dresser (in corner so a space behind it).  He kept buying new shirts when he would run out!  FIL always wondered why their room smelled!! So.... If your ds doesn't want to put the oxyclean solution in the bucket, you can still get the bucket and just put it on his closet floor.  Put his shoes in a door hanger.  We can get nappy buckets here that have a tight fitting lid -- like a mini rubbish bin.  We kept our nappies in it until washing time and the house did not stink.  You can also use eucalyptus oil as a non-irritating deodorant if you don't want to use baking powder.  I just can't see how a wet gi kept overnight could be worse than wet and POOY nappies kept for 3 days!!!   :eek: Stick it in a bucket and close the lid!

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If he has a vehicle, is concerned about stinking up the room, and there's an objection to every possible workaround (I don't think laundry overnight is that bad an idea, but I suppose it depends on both the campus atmosphere and his morning schedule), then the obvious thing is to leave it in the vehicle (probably the trunk) until he's ready to deal with it.

 

This has occurred to me. However, if he does that, my next thread will be asking about suggestions how to de-stink a car :)

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If it's a typical shared dorm room, I don't think any of the soaking or sprinkling methods are going to work. Soaking isn't practical, and I don't have that much faith in baking soda or Febreze. If he did have room to soak it without fear of knocking over the container, that could work, but dorms are usually pretty tight. 

 

Definitely easiest to pay a club mate to do it for him; laundry services are not likely to be open at night for drop-off. If he's not willing to do that, he'll probably have to leave them in the car. Which, yes, it's going to stink eventually, even if it's in a plastic bag, but that's way better than stinking up the dorm room. You de-stink a car by airing it out as often as possible, preferably in sunshine (use a bag or container and the sweat won't get in the carpet, that will be much harder to de-stink!). 

 

 

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Mine lives at home and is a junior in college, and we have the same problem. He does Aikido and plans to add Krav Maga in the fall at the 4-year (an hour commute each way). He also lifts weights four days a week and does heavy paid work at the gym on the cleaning and maintenance crew.

 

My solution is a locker on campus where he keeps his gi's and a hamper in the garage  :hurray: .

 

I realize that doesn't solve your problem, but I know all about soaked, stinky clothes.

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That truly is a problem and I don't think febreze would touch it or it would take a whole bottle and a significant amount of time to spray it down thoroughly.

 

I also see a bucket of liquid large enough to hold an adult sized gi to be impractical in a standard shared dorm room.

 

I would probably go with the car idea. Put it in a Rubbermaid container with a lid and some sort of odor absorbing product. Then carry the container straight into laundry room at earliest convenience. I would also stock the car with the solid odor absorbing air fresheners and tell him to call an Uber if he has a date.

 

Sorry! That truly is an issue but excellent your ds has an activity he takes seriously enough to deal with the inconvenience.

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Can they put them in a drawer used only for those clothes?  Or an under the bed storage box? (A cloth one instead of a plastic one, so they could at least breathe a little!)  

 

ETA:  They could keep some dryer static cloths in there too to help with the smell!

Edited by J-rap
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No, the others go to their own homes. It is not a student club.

  

Can he pay a teammate who lives at home to do his gis? Or find a drop off laundry service and drop it on the way home?

Nan

  

Would one of the other club members be willing to do laundry for a fee?

 

  

LOL. My DS will rather spend his night doing laundry than ask a club mate.

LOL, BabyBaby shares a room with SweetChild, and even for a petite 5'1" girl, yep- Judo gis smell horrible. Even with Under Armour underneath... I say it's good payback for four years of unwashable sweaty dance/show choir costumes that SweetChild kept in their bedroom

 

There isn't enough Febreze in the world, and really, all you end up with is sweat stench and chemical stench combined. BabyBaby now puts her gym clothes directly in the wash when she gets home.

 

I was going to suggest paying someone at the gym to wash it for them. I don't know why he won't aska. Club mate, but for us, I'd do it free as a ministry/favor to hpthe student. It wouldn't be weird to us. Good luck!

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Has anyone recommended Fresh Wave? It's all natural and AMAZING. It comes in several forms, including spray, gel, and a laundry additive. A little gel or spray goes much further than a great deal of Febreze. And the if he simply puts the uniform in a bag or basket with the gel tub until he can get to the washing machine, the tub can be resused.

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