Why Outdoor Gear Stinks...Now With Science
Why does every piece of outdoor gear I own stink all the time? River gear for a variety of reasons is the worst so we’re diving into why this happens and how to deal with it. There are really 2 factors at play here. It’s partly you and partly the environment. Oils from your body mixing with the bacteria growing on your skin and pores are the first element of it. The second is environmental and it has to do with both fungus and bacteria. These environmental factors combine into a filthy cocktail that we affectionately call river funk. So, let’s start by talking about you…
It's not you, it’s your bacteria
So, you aren’t the problem per se, it is really what’s referred to as your skin’s microflora. This is a fancy way of saying you got bacteria bro! The bacteria serves a purpose, but what we need to understand is how our bodies play into this. According to UC Davis, our bodies average about 1 pint of sweat produced throughout the day. When we’re exercising, like in the hot sun, and wet…sound familiar? There are these little bacteria called lipophilic diphtheroids that flourish in warm humid environments, like in your dry suit, when there’s a little bit of electrolytes available. Electrolytes that are for instance the exact composition of your sweat. The by product of their lifecycle is a chemical called 3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid or as we like to call it man stank. The ultimate problem is that the sweat and bacteria don’t travel alone, there are a variety of skin oils that get wrapped up in all of this and since oil and water don’t mix then they can embed themselves in your clothes by a process we’ll go into in a minute, but the oil bubbles can swallow up some bacteria and sweat and attach to your clothes. This isn’t the only factor at play though…
It's something in the water
From bacteria to fungus there is a lot in the water that can stink as a waste product of it’s life cycle or the inevitable decay of a bacterial or fungal colony. The EPA estimates that almost all of the surface water in the US has some level of bacteria in it especially during the initial phases of rainstorms. In fact the yeast Candida is one of the most widely distributed bacteria in the world. Candida is actually a fungus and it can be resistant to common cleaning chemicals especially when it is in fabrics. Candida is not the only fungus that can infiltrate your outdoor gear and it is certainly not the only stanky fungus or bacteria around.
But why does all of this make my clothes stink?
Stoked you asked! Your stuff stinks because science and stuff, but honestly though it really depends upon the article of clothing you’re looking at. To understand this, we need to look at different fabrics to understand how stuff bonds together. Skin Oils are the worst culprit because of how they bond to synthetic fabrics, but other fabrics require different cleaning solutions because of how they bond so you have to know what you’re working with to truly get it clean. There are 3 different types of material that are commonly used in outdoor gear that we need to look at to understand what’s happening: Cotton, Wool, and Synthetic material.
Cotton is actually the easiest to clean because of the structure of the fibers. The cotton fibers do not easily lend themselves to bonding with chemicals in the water or oils bonding to the fibers. Cotton are strands of hollow tubes like straws that can lend themselves to being infiltrated by fungus though. So, if you wear cotton on the river it can stink mainly due to fungal infection as opposed to anything else. Since oil doesn’t bond to cotton basic detergent can help get rid of most of the stank.
Wool can get really nasty for a long time because it is super prone to not only absorb water and oil, but it has a lot of places for fungus to hide and flourish because it stays wet for so long. A lot of people complain about the scent on wool and don’t like it for this very reason.
Synthetic materials which are what most fabrics in the world are made out of these days, in fact over 50%of all fabric is nylon, are oil based. What this means for your skin oils, the ones that I previously mentioned full of all those stinky bacteria, is that oil likes to bond with oil. So, if you take a synthetic shirt and wash it in some regular laundry soap is that it doesn’t break the bond between oil. If you’ve ever tried to wash cooking oil out of a synthetic shirt with regular washing machine soap, it doesn’t come out right? That is because the oils actually form a chemical bond with each other. The oil doesn’t want to detach from another oil-based product because of a ton of science stuff that someone in a lab coat could spend hours explaining.
So how do I clean outdoor gear effectively?
You really have to know what you’re cleaning to effectively clean your gear. This issue is that it is a problem with multiple variables and you have to clean them all at the same time to be effective. Alternatively, you need to deal with each problem is rapid succession by running multiple rinse cycles. So here are some tips for cleaning your gear effectively:
Regular Cleaning: Clean your gear after each use, especially if it has come into contact with sweat and moisture. Cleaning equipment regularly slows the process for bacterial and fungal growth.
Antifungal: The fungus needs to go and there are a variety of solutions for that. Some products like spray on athlete’s foot cans can help, there are also anti-fungal washes that require you to soak the equipment in a bucket or bath tub that can work well to kill the fungus on your clothes.
Disrupt the oil-oil bond: Cleaning solutions that disrupt oil bonds are often times difficult to use in the washing machine, but you can hand wash with these cleaners. Dish soap is a great example of a cleaner that cuts through the oil -oil bond to loosen cooking grease. Essentially this is a low strength degreaser, but don’t use an industrial strength degreaser or you may melt your clothes.
Anti-Bacterial: After you have broken that Oil bond try then soaking or washing your ear in an anti-bacterial cleaning solution to kill any remaining bacteria on the equipment. You need to get the oil off first though since the oil is the main thing that can trap bacteria in the clothing. You may need to especially spot clean high bacterial growth areas like armpits, groin and feet of your gear.
Drying: Ensure your gear is completely dry before storing it. Hang clothing, sleeping bags, and tents to air dry in a shaded, well-ventilated area. Use low heat or air-dry settings for items like boots and gloves, or stuff them with newspaper or moisture-absorbing products to speed up drying and reduce odors.
