As athletic clothing becomes more advanced, there's been a rise of sport-specific laundry detergents to help keep our gear stink-free and bright. For expensive items that we wear often (while sweating, in the dirt, and which contain highly technical, delicate fabrics), sports detergents might seem like a no-brainer. But we wanted to find out for sure.
After all, while specific ingredients vary from brand to brand, the ones that make laundry detergent work are common to both sport washes and conventional detergents. Most contain a surfactant, which binds to dirt and oil and lifts them off—and then a host of other ingredients to help the surfactant do its job, like enzymes, which break down proteins and fats to a manageable size; and water conditioners, which create an ideal pH. Finally, you’ll sometimes find some kind of brightener to make whites appear whiter, and coloring and scents to cover up any remaining odors.
Which combination of ingredients works best for your stinky chamois? We tested three popular specialty sports washes against a common supermarket brand and a widely available “eco-friendly” option to find out.
We ran a small load of cycling clothes with each detergent: a mix of jerseys, shorts, baselayers and warmers—all synthetic next-to-skin fabrics for optimal stink factor. We used a front-load high-efficiency washer on a 30-minute “delicates” cycle, with cold wash/rinse, an extra rinse cycle and medium spin. Basically, how we normally launder cycling clothes.
For the odor test, each load was laid flat to dry and then given the old-fashioned sniff test, with particular attention given to the baselayers, which tend to hold funky smells the most. Each load was sniff-checked when freshly dry and again three days later. This is admittedly subjective, but it’s also a primary way we can judge how good a product is at removing the body oils and bacteria that produce persistent odor.
For the soil-cleaning test, we cut up and sacrificed a Bontrager baselayer into swatches of fabric. We then mixed a clay-based mud into a slurry consistency and spread onto the baselayer swatches to work it in to the fibers as much as possible. We let it sit an hour, scraped off surface mud and then dried it overnight. This is a bad scenario, but one that approximates a muddy ride after which you didn’t immediately clean your kit. The swatches were then washed normally with each detergent along with the other clothes.
| Nikwax Base Wash | Assos Cleanser | Nathan Sports Watch | Tide Free and Gentle | Ecover Zero 2x Concentrate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per ounce+ | $0.95 | $1.24 | $0.43 | $0.12 | $0.29 |
| Scent/Color? | Yes - Both | Yes - Both | No | No | No |
| Ingredients Disclosed? | No* | Yes** | No*** | Yes - online | Yes - packaging and online |
| EWG Rating | N/A | N/A | N/A | F | A |
| Odor Test (1 to 5) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Soils Test (1 to 5) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
NOTES:
- Odor and Soil test scores are on a scale of 1 to 5, low to high. A 1 means no change from pre-wash condition; a 5 means all soil or all trace of odors was removed.
- Pricing for sports wash is for largest available; pricing for conventional laundry detergents is for largest commonly available size at supermarket.
- +: Each company has different guidelines for how much to use per load, so the cleanest cost comparison is per ounce.
- *: Nikwax declined to disclose ingredients, claiming they’re a protected trade secret, but did disclose the presence of geraniol, discussed below. They also say that there are no optical brighteners or whitening agents in Base Wash.
- **: Assos’s product package lists general classes of ingredients but not the specific formulation.
- ***: Nathan does not publicly disclose ingredients online or on product packaging, and did not respond to a request for comment.
Nikwax is arguably the best-known name in specialty sports washes, and produces a number of products for technical garments. Base Wash, intended for next-to-skin synthetics, is sold at __bike shops and sporting goods stores. It was the second-priciest in our test, and performed best at removing odors. Base Wash has a faint but noticeable scent, slightly floral. Company officials tell me it’s geraniol, an oil extract of geraniums that, a little strangely, has a rose-like aroma. Geraniol is natural, but it’s a restricted substance in the EU in cosmetic products because it’s a known skin allergen. It’s a used in a small quantity here, but if you have skin allergies, steer clear.
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The most expensive detergent in our test, it’s also the sports wash cyclists are most familiar with because, well, Assos. It was a moderate performer in the soils test, and has a clear scent, somewhat medicinal, that doesn’t quite cover persistent odor in old baselayers. Assos cleaner is a good choice for caring for high-end technical garments, particularly shorts, as Assos pays special attention to making sure it washes out of chamois pads. But it’s expensive enough that the added performance may not be worth the cost, and as with Nikwax, those with skin allergies may want to avoid it. Assos Cleanser contains optical brighteners.
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This brand is widely available at running and outdoor stores (we bought it at REI). It has no scent or coloring, and was the most affordable of the three sports washes we bought. It performed moderately in the odor test (even without a scent to mask residual odors), but it was flat-out awful at removing mud stains. Ingredients aren’t disclosed, but it’s claimed to be biodegradeable, which suggests plant-based surfactants are used. It’s a fine choice for regular use and much more affordable than the other specialty sports washes tested here, but we can’t recommend it for extra-soiled clothing.
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It should be no surprise that laundry giant Tide’s widely available product was the most affordable in the test. And where Nikwax claims its formula is protected, Tide publishes the ingredients for its products on their web site: Free and Gentle HE is a mix of plant-based surfactants and enzymes, with water softeners and optical brighteners. That said, the Environmental Working Group still gives it an F rating due to two ingredients that are linked to skin irritation and respiratory affects. One is also toxic to aquatic life (above certain concentrations). More to the point of this test, it was a below-average performer at both removing odors and cleaning out mud stains.
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This natural detergent from a 36-year-old Belgian brand is found at Whole Foods and also easily available online. The Zero formulation tested here is rated A by the EWG, but other Ecover laundry detergents range from B to F, so shop with care if environmental or allergen issues are a concern. True to its name, Ecover Zero contains no scents, colors or added brighteners. It performed moderately in removing odors, but was a clear winner in our soils test, a victory that frankly surprised us. If you ride often in wet weather, this might be a good pick. It’s more expensive than Tide, but still cheaper than specialty sports washes.
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If you have persistent odor control problems, Nikwax Base Wash is worth a try, as it did the best job of removing funky smells from baselayers and other next-to-skin garments. It was decent at removing soil stains, but not great. In fact, overall, the specialty sports washes we tried don’t seem to clean any better than conventional detergents, which makes it hard to justify their premium price.
Our pick from these five would be Ecover Zero, which did a decent job with odors and was clearly the best at removing caked-on mud. For these situations, we’d strongly recommend rinsing garments immediately after a ride and treating with a pre-wash stain remover. Ecover Zero is more expensive than Tide, but reasonably so, and has a top grade from the Environmental Working Group. That said, our tests and our interviews with experts underline that the actual detergent is secondary. What you use is far less important than how you use it.
