Sustainability

Laundry guide - Wash sportswear & underwear

Our best laundry tips for environmentally friendly washing

We want to help you take care of your Björn Borg sportswear and underwear in the best way.

Doing laundry requires a lot of energy and produces tons of greenhouse gases each year. The higher the temperature, the more by-products are released into the atmosphere.

A large part of your clothes' environmental impact comes from washing and drying. This is because it takes a lot of energy to heat both the water and the dryer and because your garments will be washed many times before it is time for them to be recycled. Washing and drying have a large negative environmental impact, but there are many ways to make a difference. Here are some of our best laundry tips to wash more environmentally friendly.

Wash your clothes in cold water

There is big misinformation around hot water being better at killing germs. Technological advances in both machines and detergents have made cold-water washing highly effective. The composition of detergents today looks significantly different to what it did a few years ago. Today we find added enzymes in our detergents that are made to work more effectively in cold water.

When you wash in a machine, a lot of energy is used, above all to heat up the water, so by washing at a lower temperature you save energy and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, you also save money because not as much electricity is needed to heat the water.

Fill the washing machine

Many of us wash our clothes far too often. Many times, this leads to half-empty machines and clothes being washed that perhaps didn't need to run the cycle. Ask yourself if your clothes are dirty before putting them in your laundry basket. Or are you throwing them there out of pure habit?

Our tip: make sure to wait until you can fill the washer and fill it with clothes that are dirty (but avoid over-filling to let the machine work at its maximal mechanical power.

Do not use too much detergent

Whether you use liquid or powder detergent, be sure to use the right amount of detergent as too much will stick to your clothes while too little will not get them clean. Many people use too much detergent, which is unnecessary. How much detergent should be used? Follow the instructions on the packaging and dose according to the amount of laundry.

At what temperature should I wash underwear and sports clothes?

Are you thinking about how many degrees you should wash underwear and sportswear at? Today's detergents are filled with enzymes that start the process already at low temperatures, so you can effectively wash your underwear and sweaty sports clothes at 40 °C without having to worry about nasty bacteria.

Air dry your clothes

Frequent washing leads up to frequent drying. Instead of electric drying, let nature do its job and go for line drying. Even if the weather won't permit, there are always solutions for drying indoors. Your clothes will last longer, and nature will thank you.

The UV light from the sun actually helps killing bacteria. Just remember to avoid hanging your dark clothes in direct sunlight, or they will fade.

And even if it says in your wash instructions, it can never be said too many times: don’t put your stretchy leggings or any elastics in the dryer. Elastane shrinks in high heat, your clothes will lose their shape, worst-case scenario – get wabbly.

Washing sports clothes - Washing instructions and tips to remove sweat smell from clothes

Odors in workout clothes are usually caused by a mixture of sweat, oils and bacteria from your body. Maybe you have sometimes noticed that your clothes still smell a little bad even though you washed them? How should you wash sports clothes in the best way?

Follow our best tricks to keep your sportswear fresh and make the smells disappear:

Turn the clothes inside out before throwing them in the washing machine, as sweat, bacteria and oils collect on the inside. Moisture repellent treatments are common and by turning your clothes inside out you also protect the technical fabric and make what you paid extra money for last longer.
Air out sweaty clothes immediately instead of stuffing them into a plastic bag or laundry basket.
Do not use more detergent than recommended as it will be more difficult to rinse the clothes clean. You can actually reduce the amount as too much detergent can get stuck in the fibers of the fabric. There are also special detergents for workout clothes, specifically to remove bad odors.
Scrub the most smelly areas (for example, the armpits) before washing. Just remember to wet them first.
There are also other tips and tricks when doing laundry. Bicarbonate mixed with water is a known method for removing sweat stains. Apply to the sweat stain and leave on for 20 minutes before rinsing with water and then washing the garment in the washing machine.
To get rid of the smell of sweat, you can try spraying some vinegar on the smelly clothes before putting them in the washing machine. A tip is to first try on a small discreet area of the garment so that you can make sure that the fabric is not bleached.

Avoid fabric softener when washing sports clothes

Fabric softener breaks down the fibers that make your sports clothes extra stretchy and firm. They also create a thin layer that settles on the outside of the fabric and makes them more difficult to clean. More odor and bacteria? No thanks! This also hinders the garment's ability to repel moisture, i.e. to trap sweat and moisture from your body, so avoid fabric softener when washing your workout clothes and sports underwear.

Try a laundry bag

Your sports clothes and underwear will last longer if they are washed in a laundry bag, especially if they are washed with other hard fabrics such as jeans or clothes with buttons or zippers. In addition, small plastic fibers end up in the water when synthetic fabrics are washed, creating microfiber pollution. An example of a laundry bag is GuppyFriend, a laundry bag that catches microplastics from your machine-washed synthetic garments.

Here are a couple of solutions that we like:

An anti-pollution washing bag: here
A microfiber eating laundry ball: here

Stain removal

The two things that cause a stain to set in your fabric are time and heat. Treat and wash your clothes immediately if possible. At least rinse out the stain and let the garment soak. Try some salt water as salt breaks down stains.

All types of body fluids, both from humans and animals, are behind protein stains. Examples are blood, sweat, milk, eggs and meat juices. First of all, you need water. Plenty of water. Rinse the stain thoroughly. Many times you can remove stains by simply rinsing with cold water. Always use cold water as hot water changes the chemical composition of the stain and can cause it to set. After you rinse and soak the garment, rub with a bar of soap and wash in cold water. Always keep the stain moist until it is completely gone.

Get rid of sweat stains

Sweat stains occur when fatty proteins in your sweat mix with aluminum compounds found in deodorants, which is why you get sweat stains under your arms. These stains are annoying but there are ways to get rid of them. For yellow sweat stains, you can try soaking the garment in a little water and vinegar. There are also other tips such as bicarbonate mixed with water that you iron on and leave to work on the stain. There are of course also effective stain removers to try to remove sweat stains from clothes.

If it is a white or light garment that has sweat stains, sunshine can be a miracle cure for stained clothes. This is therefore recommended mainly for light garments as the sun can fade darker colours.

Our products

Our products are always developed with sustainability in mind. We are constantly making sure that we are up to speed with the latest sustainable materials and production techniques.

Our choice of more sustainably sourced materials & processes

Are you lost in the jungle of materials and strange production tecniques? No wonder. The textile industry is constantly making progress in developing new, inventive materials and it can be hard to keep up. But we've got you covered.

Environment

As a player in the second most polluting industry in the world after the oil industry, we have a very special responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. People need clothes, but we can contribute to change through taking action to decrease our carbon footprint.

Production & Human Rights

Björn Borg has been a member of Amfori for many years and applies the Amfori BSCI Code of Conduct. This means that the factories that produce our garments are contracted to follow certain regulations regarding human rights, security and working conditions