Believe it or not, the topic of laundry is a controversial one in the fitness community. People tend to have very strong opinions about how often you should wash your gym clothes. On one side, there are the purists who believe that all athletic wear should be washed after one use—period. On the other side, there are those who think that overwashing your gym clothes is unnecessary and can even be damaging to that expensive activewear.
So, who’s right? How often do you actually need to be washing your gym clothes? Let’s talk about it.
Shirts
If your gym shirt isn’t directly touching your body, because you’re wearing a sports bra underneath it, or if you didn’t really sweat much during your workout, it won’t hurt to rewear it once or maximum twice. However, if you got drenched in sweat during your workout, go ahead and wash after one wear.
Pants
If you did a fairly low-intensity workout like walking, relaxed hiking, or chill yoga, you can rewear those pants. Otherwise, like with tops, if you sweated a lot, straight to the hamper they go.
Sports Bras
Would you rewear the same underwear twice? As an undergarment, your sports bra should be washed after each use, unless you really didn’t even break a sweat at all.
Socks
Do you really have to ask? Wash those puppies as much as possible, people.
