How to get technical fabrics properly clean
- Turn them inside out: sweat sits on the inside, and prints and numbers last longer.
- Close zips and fasten Velcro so nothing snags.
- 30 to 40 °C is usually enough. Hotter water damages many synthetic fibres and flocked prints.
- No fabric softener: it clogs the fibres, so the material breathes less and holds on to odours.
- Do not overfill: leave a hand's width of space in the drum, otherwise not everything rinses evenly.
The club's kit bag
After training or a match day, a whole sack quickly builds up: jerseys, shorts, socks, training jackets. At home that means three or four loads in a row. At the Wash&Go laundromat Bad Cannstatt you start several of the 9 machines (8 kg) at once and are done in about an hour. Every payment comes with a receipt, handy for the club treasurer.
After a home game at the MHPArena
The VfB Stuttgart stadium, the MHPArena, is about 1.3 km from the laundromat. After the match your jersey smells of the stadium, and beer has stuck to your fan scarf. Wash jerseys with flock or print turned inside out at 30 °C, and acrylic scarves cold or on the delicate programme. Match-worn shirts with signatures are better not washed at all.
Drying: go gentle
Many technical fabrics tolerate only low dryer temperatures, and some should not go in at all. Check the label. Polyester jerseys also dry quickly on a line. Cotton shirts and towels can usually go into one of the 4 dryers.
When the smell stays
Stubborn sweat odour often comes from too much detergent and softener building up in the fibres. Dose sparingly as the pack says and skip the softener. You are welcome to bring your own sports detergent.