Hello everyone!

Okay, so I recently got an issue and I don't really know what to do about it.. if anything.
So I'm pre-T for the moment and I can't go a single day without binding. I own two Underworks tri-top binders (a black and a white one) and I commonly wear the black one for everyday life. The white one I wear almost exclusively for some hobbies and when I'm wearing white or light colored shirts.
The problem is that this year we've -so far- had an uncommonly warm summer up here in northern Sweden (reaching 30 °C) and I sweat like a pig because my apartment gets boiling hot. It's horrible, really. Obviously because I'm binding I toast even more and so of course my binder (the black one in this case) will take some of the body sweat and well, start smelling. Previous years this hasn't been a problem - I used to be able to handwash it and get rid off the smell no problem. But the last time I washed it (few days ago) the smell didn't go away! I did it just like previous times but no.
I think one of the main reasons is because it didn't dry properly; the bathroom in my apartment is really ->-bleeped-<-ty, things like towels etc don't always dry properly (depending on luck, how often it's used, time of year etc) and this is a huge bother. :C When my binder had dried as much as it could in the bathroom I noticed that the sweat smell was still there - not a ->-bleeped-<- happened. Or more like, if anything the smell got WORSE because now it also had the "badly dried" smell. It actually smelled so bad I could have puked - no way in hell would I put that thing on...
I decided to rewash it on the same day and this time I put it out in our apartment's common laundry room to dry. I hung it to dry overnight and when I came to check on it the following morning I wasn't very happy. Sure that at least in the laundry room there's better drying possibilities but it's still not the best (building is old, built 1917 and in tile, if it matters). I thought though that leaving the window open all night and having my binder dry very close to the window would do the trick but it didn't. The smell got slightly less worse but it's still absolutely repulsive to wear and I'm starting to think there might be no salvation for this one anymore.

If it matters I've had it for 5+ years and 5 of those years in pretty much daily use. I'm actually surprised that it's still alive.. It's quite worn out and I can tell because it doesn't bind as well as it used to. No seams have cracked yet but the fabric has a lot of tears and rips close to the side seams (tension points) and in some places you can see some sort of white broken threads peeking out. I have meant to replace it for a while now but I've been postponing it -for a pretty long time- because I have a really crappy economic situation right now.

By the way, I've worn my white one less than the black one but it has surprisingly many rips and tears at the tension points (maybe even more than the black, which is weird). I could start using it instead of the black one but even so just having one binder doesn't really cut it for me. I need to have two so I can alternate between them...


What do you think, guys and girls and everyone else?
Is there anything I can do to try getting rid of the smell or should I just give up on this old "friend" and get a new one, even though my wallet can't really afford it right now? I don't really know what to do.

Stick in a ziplock bag with a little box of baking soda.

you could also try an enzyme cleaner. Some of those work pretty well.

When my underworks binder was particularly stinky I washed it in the washing machine and dried it in the dryer. I know you aren't supposed to do that but it seems fine.

I would wash in washing machine and add some vinegar to the mix.  That is why people do when they are trying to get out urine smell in sheets and such.

Get another binder if you can afford one and keep this one for those days you will be doing activities that will make you sweat excessively. 

I had 3 binders that I switched out... I found they stopped being effective at 3+ days in a row, and were typically most effective the first day after a wash.  I always hand washed them and hung them to dry.  I could keep a good rotation with that and never found them getting any kind of stinky. 

Like others have said I'd try putting it in the washing machine. I actually used to wash my binders regularly in the washing machine (in cold water) and then hang them on the drying rack to dry. I never noticed any real decrease in quality doing that, though they say you aren't supposed to. Just never found hand washing to do as good of a job.

Thanks for the replies so far!

I'm surprised to see how many say they wash theirs in a washing machine. It says on the site or something that you shouldn't do it but seemingly it's fine? Is there some specific washing programs one should use? I assume you should wash it in cold water but how cold is cold enough?

Sorry for the questions but I don't want to screw it up.

Quote from: WhiteDustWolf on August 09, 2014, 03:28:49 AM
Thanks for the replies so far!

I'm surprised to see how many say they wash theirs in a washing machine. It says on the site or something that you shouldn't do it but seemingly it's fine? Is there some specific washing programs one should use? I assume you should wash it in cold water but how cold is cold enough?

Sorry for the questions but I don't want to screw it up.

light wash with normal cold water that comes out of the tap. i put mine in the dryer for 5 minuets to tighten it up a little bit. then air dry.

I used to put mine in the washing machine (not the dryer) and that got it clean pretty well, but even when I had two I liked I had to handwash them a lot because I wasn't going to use the coin machines without a full load. I started out using generic Woolite, but it didn't take the smell away so I switched to dishsoap. I would scrub it and rinse and repeat a few times with hot tapwater in the sink and then wring it out and roll it up tight in a towel for a minute and then it was usually dry enough to wear. When it wasn't dry enough I would drape it over a fan or space heater, taking care of course to keep an eye on it so there weren't any binder fires.

I've been wearing a binder (unders works 997) all day for a few months, and have been doing a lot of sweaty activity. I wear a thin, tight t-shirt under my binder and have not had a scent problem. I generaly wash my binder with a regular load in the washing machine (sometimes cold, sometimes warm) and hang it to dry.
I have one favorite binder I usually wear, and a slightly tighter one I don't wear as often. I'm usually comfortable with 3 or 4 wears between washes. I always hang my binder to air between washes.

I used to wash mine in the machine and dry it in the tumble-dryer. My washing machine has a cold-water, 15-minute 'handwash' cycle, and my tumble-dryer has a cool 'outdoor' setting - so that's what I used. So I'd recommend the coolest cycle that each machine is capable of. Oh, and I never used fabric softener, because that can ruin the fibres.

I washed mine daily in the summer months, and it never smelled.

Quote from: WhiteDustWolf on August 09, 2014, 03:28:49 AM
Thanks for the replies so far!

I'm surprised to see how many say they wash theirs in a washing machine. It says on the site or something that you shouldn't do it but seemingly it's fine? Is there some specific washing programs one should use? I assume you should wash it in cold water but how cold is cold enough?

Sorry for the questions but I don't want to screw it up.

The setting I used to use on the washing machine was the Cold/Cold setting (usually marked for Delicates).

They are fine to wash in a washer but DON'T dry in a dryer.
I think that helps a lot. It is hotter here as a rule, of course also drier than it is there, probably.

--Jay

Not that I'm saying that it couldn't possibly ruin your binder but I've been binding for like 5 years and I've always machine wash and dried my binders... I still have binders from back then and they're just now falling apart.

I always washed my in the washer. I used to toss them in a pillow case so I didnt worry about it, and hang it up with a fan blowing on it.

If you are worried about it, try putting it in the freezer over night (not the fridge). It works to get rid of the smell in shoes and fragile clothing too.

Find it strange hearing how many people put their binders in the dryer. Anytime I did that, even on tumble dry, I noticed a definite change in elasticity even after a single time. I've always just preferred to dry them on the drying rack, and they don't take very long to dry either. In fact, those who hand wash might notice that binders take less time to dry after you've machine washed them than when you hand dry, since the spin cycle takes out a lot of the water and just leaves it a bit damp rather than completely soaked.

Put it in the freezer in a Ziploc bag overnight. It should kill the stink bacteria.

Oh, forgot to add I wear mine inside-out every other time. Mainly because I can't easily tell the difference, and it turns itself inside out as I pull it off over my head at the end of the day. NO idea if this has anything to do with anything.

I did the washing machine because I always felt like hand washing wouldn't be good enough, or something (even though that probably isn't accurate).  I always let them hang dry.  I never ran into a smell problem, but I think I had 4 tri tops, so I only wore them for a few days before I washed and switched out to the next one.  Typically, I washed them all together on gentle cycle, with nothing else in the load, but not always.

I've washed mine in the washing machine, on no special cycle, with no special treatment, and then thrown them in the tumble drier, same story there.  Mostly due to necessity, but it doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects.