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Get the Funk Outta my Bathing Suit…How to Clean Your Bathing Suit After a Beach Visit

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Get the Funk Outta my Bathing Suit – How to Clean Your Bathing Suit After a Beach Visit

Well, doesn’t this post title just say it all? I hated the fact that I had to tackle this problem on my own 🙂 Since this is the season of Summer beach vacations, you may find my how to clean your bathing suit after a beach visit helpful.

In January/February I was fortunate to take a Hawaiian vacation with my Honey Bee. You can read about that here and here if you care to take a gander 🙂 We had a fabulous time – needless to say. My Honey Bee arranged for a very late checkout on our last day in paradise. We spent the day lounging at the beach, swimming in the surf and sunning in the white sand. When it was nearing the time to head to the airport, we changed into our travel clothes. My suit and coverup were dry, so I plopped them inside this bag and stuffed it into my suitcase…

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.It was a very long flight back to Atlanta, so this suit was in this bag for approximately 28 hours. When I opened the bag, I literally made a very loud gagging sound…it was all I could do  to not lose my cookies. Be grateful that you weren’t there. Honey Bee wouldn’t come near the laundry room. It smelled like two live conch and five fish had died in the bag – I couldn’t believe it! The suit was dry when I put it into the bag. How could this be?

Plus, this was a brand new bathing suit…you know how hard it is to find a new suit that you really like?!

I put the bathing suit in my washing machine on the hand wash setting. When the cycle was finished, the washing had not made one bit of a difference! Now, panic was really setting in. I did some research online looking for a cleaning remedy to no avail. Plenty of help on how to care for your bathing suit but no help for my situation.

This is what I did

I figured I had nothing to lose (but my precious bathing suit) so I got to work with items that I had used in the past. I had used them separately for various clean ups, but never together. I used:

  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Baking Soda
  • Super Washing Soda

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.
First washing…

I placed my suit and cover up in my kitchen sink. I filled the sink 1/4 of the way with warm water. I then added 2 cups of vinegar and 2 cups of super washing soda.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.I swished it around very well to make sure the super washing soda soak up into the bathing suit. I let this sit in the sink for one hour and then rinsed the suit very well. I then repeated the above process.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.Second washing…

I used the baking soda and super washing soda.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.

Again filling the sink 1/4 of the way with warm water. I added 2 cups of the super washing soda, placing the suite and cover up in the sink and swished everything together very well.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.I next added 3 cups of baking soda to the top of the suit. I did not mix this in, I just let the soda melt on top – leaving it to soak for two hours. Next, I swished the baking soda into the suit, make a swirling motion in the water with my hands. I let this set for an additional two hours.

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.

Success

Thank goodness…it worked!!! I saved my bathing suit with just a little bit of “natural” cleaning and a bit of patience. It wasn’t a hard process at all – just the waiting time in between washings 🙂 The products that I used are natural neutralizers on their own. I am a more-is-better kind of girl. I was just thrilled I could keep my new bathing suit!

How to get that funky beach smell out of your bathing suit. Vinegar, baking soda and super washing soda are all that you need to make you suit, clean, fresh and like new.I rinsed the bathing suit and cover up very well and did another “hand washing” in my washing machine. It came out beautifully! Also, be sure to dry your bathing suit on a flat surface so it doesn’t lose its shape 🙂 Do you have a similar beach story? We’d love to hear it!!!

3 Comments

  1. Love your suit and this tip! Its totally going on my Pinterest board!

  2. I really appreciated your post. I swam in a lake with blue green algae (not advised) and my suit smelled like a swamp! Machine washing didn’t help. I tried your remedies, and they made it a little better but still smelly enough to stink up a room. Then I remembered something I had heard about neutralizing the smell of teen age boys’ feet by having them soak in black tea. It wouldn’t work on the suit pictured because of the white stripes, but I have a dark suit. I boiled up about 5 tea bags in a bowl, and soaked my bathing suit over night, and it worked! So I am happy not to have to throw the suit away.

  3. Thank you! I just got a new suit for a trip to Hawaii and swam in a lake this weekend before our trip. I didn’t know there was algae in it and I thought my suit was ruined. This saved the day!!

    Also-I absolutely LOVE your suit. Where did you find it!?!? I need a second for Hawaii in a few weeks and hoping I may be able to still find it or something similar.

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