How to Properly Wash your Activewear

Hey Guys!

I’m obviously into clothes. Workout clothes especially. I design ’em, I wear ’em, I live ’em!

Since we’ve released the second POPFLEX Active Collection, many of you guys have been curious as to how to keep the colors vibrant bright and smelling great after every wash!

GREAT QUESTION.

So, when Tide and Downy reached out to see if I wanted to share their new laundry regimen with you guys, I was like YES! I was going to blog about this anyway and I had been using a Tide detergent. I’m very excited to show you EXACTLY how I keep my activewear beautiful in my partnership with Tide and Downy with the help of the Tide + Downy Odor Defense Collection!

 

It’s the most annoying thing when you think you’ve washed something well, and then you put it on, only to smell that nasty, dirty stench again. Why won’t that odor go away?

Basically, traditional detergents are made for removing stains from natural fabrics, like cotton, and don’t do a good job at cleaning out the odor trapped in the technical performance fabrics. Since fitness fabrics are woven with a “hollow weave” that traps sweat molecules, it becomes a whole different ball game that now involves specific odor removal.

Oh and before I get into my exact steps of activewear care, I want to let you know that we made sure to use ONLY quality fabrics and dying techniques that would keep your POPFLEX from going dull after just a few washes. I personally tested our fabrics and am 100% confident that they not only look good, but they live up to their technical standards of being moisture wicking, shrink resistant, fade resistant, with ultimate stretch and recovery (aka no saggy butt)!

So here’s what I do to keep my activewear looking and smelling like brand new:

Don’t throw your sweaty clothes in the hamper right away.

This is a big one. I actually air dry them over the side of my bathtub overnight before I put them in the hamper. I don’t want my sweat to stay in my clothes for a week or however long until I have time to do laundry. That’s nasty! The odor may set in. Plus it’ll make all my other clothes smell!

Turn your clothes inside out before you wash them.

I do this for safety. Just in case anything rubs up against my precious POPFLEX, at least it’s getting the inside where no one can see if a mark is left. Also, it’s the dirtiest part of the clothing where all my skin cells and sweat has rubbed into. So let’s get it clean!

3. Use a laundry regimen MADE for fitness clothes.

Try using Tide + Downy Odor Defense Collection! It removes odors to really make your activewear smell good, and not just during the initial wear, but after you work out too. So, smells don’t come back! Here are the 3 items I use together:

The Tide Pods plus Febreze Odor Defense TM cleans fabrics and removes dirt at the surface.
The Tide Odor Rescue with Febreze Odor Defense TM goes deep into the fibers and removes greasy body soils and odors.
The Downy Fresh Protect with Febreze Odor Defense TM adds in up to 24 hrs of freshness.

Because my life is my activewear, I make sure to take good care of it. I’ve tried other detergents and honestly, this one keeps my stuff looking and smelling the best.

Use cold water.

This prevents the color of your fabric from fading! Just like how I grew up not using hot water for my black or dark colored clothing, it’s the same idea.

Ditch the dryer!

If you want to be extra cautious, hang dry your clothes NOT in direct sunlight. The extreme heat from the dryer can change the fit, reduce elasticity over time, and possibly alter the performance of your clothes. Also, if you hang dry in direct sunlight, there is a chance that the color will fade faster over time.

I say this, however, I have probably washed my POPFLEX pieces a dozen of times and I must admit, I have passed them through the dryer too. But they are totally fine! Good quality activewear should not be affected extremely by the drying process.

I hope that helps guys! Do you have other tips for taking care of your activewear? Let me know in the comments!