April 4, 2007 Incredible Stinkfighter 1.0 - BETA TEST
Doing laundry on the road is one of the necessities of light, one-bag travel. You don’t need ten changes of underwear for a ten-day trip; you can get by with three. But, you must use synthetics to successfully wash and dry overnight in the hotel room or hostel. Therein lies the problem: Synthetics get stinky fast. One solution is to pay $18-$35 for high-tech underclothing which has expensive fabric with built-in anti-microbial (and, hence, anti-odor) properties.
I have discovered another, cheaper way: Sink wash your garden-variety synthetic (polyester/nylon) undies using my odor-fighting concoction. Here’s how you do it. Fill the sink about half way with luke warm water. Mix in a couple of glugs of clear Softsoap antibacterial handsoap and a couple of spritzes of Febreze Anti-Microbial. Handwash the undies, then rinse them out quickly - not too aggressively. Apparently enough of the anti-bacterial and anti-microbial stuff stays in the fabric to make it perform like the $25 hi-tech variety. My $10 Champions now finish a sweaty day as sweetly as my more-expensive Terramar briefs (with Visaendurance wonder fabric). The hi-tech fabrics are probably still a little better, and they are definitely still preferable for backpackers who may have nothing more than a creek to wash in or who want to stick with green, biodegradeable detergents. But, for the cost-conscious light traveler my method may be just the ticket. This method works equally well for briefs or undershirts. I’ve used it on my ExOfficio Air Strip shirt, too.
I get this stuff through the carryon screeners by filling two 2-ounce hand sanitizer bottlew with the soap and a 2-ounce spray bottle (half-full) with the Febreze. This is enough for ten days or so. I don’t mix it together until it hits the sink.
I haven’t been using this concoction long. Please let me know how it works for you. Your input may result in an even better Stinkfighter 2.0,
DISCLAIMER: I cannot guarantee that this method will not harm or shorten the working life of some garments, but I have no reason to believe that the method is detrimental to any fabrics or finishes.
Reader Comments (7)
I use a similar method. Good to know I am not the only one without $30.00 shorts. However, I do use a different set of ingredients.
I use Scent-a-way laundry detergent to wash, then lightly rinse in a sink of water mixed with a cap full of X-O deodorizer. I agree with Brad the method works because the ingredients are not totally removed from the clothing.
Scent-a-way is used by bow hunters and is designed to remove human scent and X-O is made for animal use which means both are strong but will not cause skin rashes.
The only downside is I have a strong urge to urinate on fire hydrants ;-}.
An extra plus is that both ingredients are environmentally friendly.
I am delighted to find both these recipes, and will try them on my next trip. I'm a newcomer to one-bag travel, and my Ex-Officio briefs got disappointingly stinky washing with only terrible "environmentally-friendly yet expensive" green goo sold at the store.
Thanks for the tips,
Does the softsoap really work as well as say woolite or even just a regular powdered detergent?
There's an old saying - "Soap is soap." That may be oversimplifying but it works fine for travel. I wouldn't propose that you use it all the time. A Tide stain pen will help out nicely.
Ladies, try the 100% silk panties from WinterSilks.com. Took them on a three-week trip to Europe and just washed them in the sink with a Woolite packet or with shampoo and they always smelled clean.
http://www.rei.com/search?query=penguin+wash