As an athlete, a lot of sweat goes into your practice, but a lot of it ends up in your equipment. After a while, a mystery odor starts to form. As the smell worsens, you realize it’s coming from your sports bag. And when washing the bag doesn’t work, and you want to rule out throwing it away, the only option left is to get creative. To help you remove the smell, here are a few creative ways to freshen up your sports bag before your next practice.
- Use Baking Soda with a Few Drops of Essential Oil
Take out a coffee filter and put in a couple of tablespoons of baking soda. Carefully pour a few drops of essential oils and stir it into the filter. Baking soda reacts with the liquid so make sure you take your time. Then use a rubber band to seal off the filter, and put the DIY odor remover into your sports bag. Leave it overnight so the baking soda sachet can absorb the moisture and gives it a pleasant scent of lavender or cedar pine.
- Place a Few Tea Bags Inside
Put three tea sachets into the bag and leave them inside until your next practice. In a couple of days, the herbs inside the filter bag will release their scent and replace the odor in your sports bag. And you can use the same hack for your sneakers, too.
- Wipe It Down with Vodka
Vodka is a clear, odorless beverage with a very high percentage of alcohol. It works because when alcohol is applied to another type of moisture their chemicals mix and blend. As the alcohol evaporates when exposed to air, over time the odor will disappear leaving your sports bag odorless.
- Fill It Up with Dry Sheets
Toss a couple of dry cotton sheets into the sports bag to fill it up, and leave them inside for a couple of days. Because the sheets are dry, they will absorb the moisture left over from your sweaty equipment. Keep in mind though, while your bag will be free from smell, you need to wash the sheets.
- Toss in Some Lemon and Orange Peels
To remove the “mystery” smell from your bag, peel two oranges and two lemons and toss the peels into the sports bag. Leave it for a couple of days, then dispose of the peels and check the smell. Now, the bag has a fragrant citrus scent that you will enjoy.
- Freeze the Bag
Remove everything from the bag, place it into a ziplock bag, seal it and put it on a clear shelf in your freezer. Let it remain in the freezer for overnight or a couple of days. The subzero temperature will kill off any odor-causing bacteria, and leave your sports bag smelling much fresher than before.
- Fill the Sports Bag with Coffee
Put a pound of coffee in your sports bag and shake it for a couple of minutes. Leave the bag overnight, and then shake it again. After a couple of days, the coffee should have absorbed all the moisture. All you have to do then is use a vacuum to suck the leftover coffee from your bag.