I’m a big guy, a sweaty guy, and unfortunately a somewhat smelly guy. 
Regular Tide doesn’t seem to get the funk out of my kits, and I’ve seen there are all sorts of special kit washes out there. What does everyone here use? My fiancé has pretty sensitive skin so ideally I’d be looking for something that washes out clean and wouldn’t linger in the washer after I wash my kit.
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Good on you for sharing this @chrisq. I am sure we all have that bit of kit that still holds a bit of ‘funk’ from workouts. I don’t use a particular brand of detergent to alleviate this, but what i can share is that i get my kit into soak immediately, after every ride and that seems to do the trick… for me, at least. In my experience, its the kit that gets put in the wash-bin and left for a day or so that stinks (and seems to be unwashable), so i get kit straight into soak, often with a rub of detergent into the armpits.
Sorry, not much help with tracking down a brand of soap, but hopefully a tip for others to consider?
To get funk out of clothes, I recommend Borax. I usually put a 1/4 cup in every load.
If you have an extra funk situation, a full cup and put the washer in soak mode. It works fantastic on the occasion you forget your clothes in the washer for a couple of days and they take on some mildew smell.
For soap I just use basic Arm and Hammer scent free stuff. I can’t stand perfume smells.
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I use WIN and have also used Nathan Sports Wash.
WIN works extremely well for me. I have some bibs that are 5 years old and have absolutely no odor.
I don’t do any soaking or anything different from normal laundry. Just add detergent and start the washer. Simple and effective.
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Hello
If a kit still smells bad after washing, soak it in vinegar for 20 minutes and wash it again. It’s cheap and helps.
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So this has recently been something I’ve dealt with with all of my workout clothes (including my bike kits). I’ve been adding Oxyclean in addition to Arm&Hammer detergent to the wash and has really worked well.
PRO TIP: First time through, soak your smelly kit in hot water with oxyclean for 2-3hours. Then do a wash cycle on hot water with detergent and oxyclean. Once you’ve done the soak the first time, you should just need to wash and it should be good to go.
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+1 for Oxyclean. I’ve had good luck with it the past year or so. It can be irritating, though, so make sure you don’t use to much and maybe separate or double rinse those loads.
Does anyone do the ol’ scrub your bibs in the shower method? I do this every day. It’s a weird world, I just live here. Does anyone have a preferred soap for this application? I’ve just been using the normal bar of soap that I use for my body, but I’m nearing the end of the bar so open to getting something else?
Don’t know if you have it in your part of the world, but lysol sells a laundry additive. It saved most of my workout clothes that i’d owned for a while.
Basically you let it soak in a solution of it diluted in there…and then you do a regular wash (for those ones that just have it stuck in the fabric)
Once thats done, i can just put some in the fabric softener receptacle every few washes to make sure the bacteria doesnt start proliferating again.
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I use Tide Sport and once a month or so use the lysol anti bacterial stuff just to make sure nothing is lingering.
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I’m a big guy, not overly smelly but my sweat is very acidic and can sometimes smell like ammonia. I put 1/2 to a cup of OxiClean in my laundry in addition to regular liquid soap. Works for me.
Also, make sure you ‘retire’ those especially foul jerseys…
But thats the thing! With lysol additive, you can SAVE THEM lol
For every wash I used Tide Sport, but about once a month I add bleach. I’ve tried vinegar, enzymes, oxiclean and all that stuff and bleach is the only thing I can get to kill lingering odors.
Halo sports wash
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Second (or third) Tide Sport.
No one else has addressed this, but its probably a good habit to toss your kit right in the wash after you ride. I do a small load on delicate with all the bike stuff immediately. If you cant wash it right away, then at least hang it to dry.
I may be wrong about this, but most of the odor comes from bacteria living off of our juices, so the sooner you get the juices off, the better. Those bacteria have an easier time living on the smooth artificial fibers used in technical fabrics. They have a music harder time living on natural fibers like wool or cotton. Also, those juices have salt and other chemistry stuff Im not smart enough to name and they can break down your expensive bibs.
Lastly, once that stink sets in, it can be really hard to get out (my mtb shoes 
) so its really best to try to keep up with everything from the start.
Also recommend Halo Sports Wash, well, for the UK massive at least.
I use tide but I throw my stuff in the wash as soon as I get done riding
Oxyclean is all you need. It works surprisingly well.