It doesn't take long to realize that your usual laundry routine doesn't cut it for your gi.
You probably tried extra detergent and scented fabric softener. Now, your gi smells like BO + Axe + Downy—a unique malodorous experience (you're nodding your head). Scented products do not remove the bacteria and buildup that cause bad smell. However, the fragrance can cause direct harm to you and your training partners. Fragrances in scented laundry products can trigger asthma attacks, skin reactions, and respiratory difficulties. This may not concern you, but someone in your gym needs their puffer to get through class. And taking care of your BJJ fam is what matters.
If you're like me, you start with the natural route. Dumping a cup of baking soda into the tub of your HE machine (proving to be anything BUT efficient) and adding vinegar to the rinse cycle for good measure. At the end of this labour-intensive process, you are left with a mostly clean training outfit, but the sour smell lingers.
Or, did you dare wash your “pre-shrunk” $200+ gi in hot water only to discover that you may have ruined it for IBJJF competition sizing standards?
I'd seen Nature's Clean Stink Bombs at my local health food store while stocking up on magnesium and diaper cream (shoutout to moms training BJJ everywhere). Still, I always assumed these could not possibly do a better job than my baking soda + vinegar combo. Right?
But I was getting desperate. Years of sweat and odour combined with hard water buildup and embedded in my gi and rashguard. My sports bra smelled rotten. So I gave in and ordered a pack of these from Amazon. At $5.99 for 10 pods, it wasn't a huge investment.
After years of having to wash my gis one at a time and a specially dedicated load for rashguards only, I tested this product by using one pod along with my regular detergent to wash a full gi, 3 rashguards, and the repugnant training bra.
It worked! My training laundry came out clean, soft and free of the sour smell and the layers of product residue from my training partners.
Now go tap people out and smell good while doing it!
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P.S. I also tested Nature Clean Stink Bombs on a load of pool gear after my kids’ swim lessons. I washed two swimsuits and two towels. While the chlorine smell lingered a bit, it was much decreased. I strongly suspect that if I used two of the pods it would be gone altogether.