The Dirty Side of Sports – WIN High Performance Sport Detergent

With all the talk about training, nutrition, and the 3R’s (Recovery, Regeneration and Rehabilitation), we often forget about another important element in our training routine:

The Laundry!

Flashback to the 1980’s

Back in 1982, I had my first polypropylene long underwear for outdoor winter workouts and cross country skiing. The theory behind this fabric was the wick effect of drawing sweat away from your body, keeping you dry. Cotton was a no-no as it absorbs water, plus it’s a good conductor for heat loss. When it’s -40C, you’d better keep moving or else you’ll freeze.

I remember having to ditch my “first generation” polypropylene tights because of the musty smell after a few months. Nothing could get rid of the smell.

Today, we use mostly NIKE Dri-Fit products in both cold and warm weather training and competition. But the fabric is still a form of polypropylene.

Dri-Fit and similar trademarked products such as Adidas ClimaCool, Under Armour and CoolMax are everywhere, including Lululemon! They have two things in common. (1) They are not cheap and (2) you can smell them a mile away if not washed properly.

How to Get Rid of that Smell – the WIN High Performance Sport Detergent

Gone are the days of simple gray or white T-shirts. WIN is specially formulated to properly clean AND protect your expensive microfiber running and exercise gear (… and, damn, Lululemon gear is expensive!)

Believe it or not, there is an official licensed detergent of the U.S. Olympic Team. WIN is the only detergent specially formulated to properly clean AND protect your expensive microfiber running and exercise gear. You can wash your gear in regular detergent to get rid of the smell, but it will degrade the special “wick” properties that make the clothing unique. You might as well just wear cotton!

WIN was introduced at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, and the response from the athletes went so well, WIN was a shoe-in for a partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee. It was the official licensed detergent in Beijing 2008, as will repeat again in Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Winter Olympics.

In Canada, WIN is now available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Marts. In the USA, you can go to Dick’s Sporting Goods and selected specialty stores, or simply shop online at www.sweatlifter.com. WIN retails for $6.99 for a 21 oz. bottle.

In Canada, we are lucky as WIN offers an environmentally friendly green version not available to the USA.

See you in Vancouver 2010. But don’t bring your dirty laundry.