A gym bag carries three kinds of things that should never meet: the clothes you will put on clean, the towel and swimsuit you take off wet, and the shoes that have been on a floor. Pack them into one open space and by Thursday everything in the bag smells like Monday. Give each kind its own place and the problem mostly goes away.
Three zones: clean, wet and shoes
Think of the bag as three rooms. Clean clothes get the biggest one, because they take the most space and need the least protection. Wet things get a lined pocket that keeps water in. Shoes get a compartment of their own, closed off from the rest.
Our gym duffle is built exactly that way: one large zippered main compartment, a separate shoe compartment and a waterproof pocket for toiletries or a wet towel. Its product data carries no measurements, so judge the size from the photos rather than from a number.
Packing the duffle
Put the shoes in first, into their compartment, soles facing the same way. Then the clean clothes in the main compartment, rolled rather than folded, so they fill the corners. Last, the toiletries and the empty towel go into the waterproof pocket, ready for the trip home.
On the way back, the order reverses. The used clothes go into the main compartment, the wet towel into the waterproof pocket, and nothing damp touches the clothes you did not wear.
The duffle carries by two handles or on a detachable padded shoulder strap. For a short walk from the car, the handles are quicker. For a walk to the station, the strap leaves your hands free.
When a drawstring tote is enough
SINNO Drawstring Gym Tote with Wet Pocket
Drawstring gym tote · 15.5 × 17 × 4.5 in · 1 color
From $15.99If your gym routine is a swim or a class, the duffle can be more bag than you need. Our drawstring gym tote is 17 by 15.5 inches and 4.5 inches deep, pulls shut at the top and has a waterproof wet pocket inside for damp swimwear. A zip pocket on the back holds your phone and keys where you can reach them without opening the drawstring.
It carries by hand or on your back. When it is full and heavy, wear it as a backpack on both straps. That is the advice of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for backpacks: use both shoulder straps and keep the heavier items low and centered. The same page, written about school bags, also suggests packing sports gear in a separate bag, which is the case for a gym tote in the first place.
Toiletries that do not leak into your clothes
A shampoo bottle with a cracked cap is how a clean shirt stops being clean. Keep every bottle in one waterproof place, away from the clothes.
That can be the duffle’s waterproof pocket, or our wide-open makeup bag: 8.5 by 8.5 inches, waterproof nylon outside, four lined pockets inside, a side handle so you can carry it to the shower without the rest of the bag. It folds flat once it is empty, so it takes almost no room on the day you forget to refill it.
On your feet in the locker room
The floor of a shared shower is part of the plan too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise wearing shoes or sandals in locker rooms and public showers, and keeping skin clean and dry, to help prevent ringworm, including athlete’s foot. The American Podiatric Medical Association says pools, showers and locker rooms are where the fungus behind athlete’s foot thrives, and advises shower shoes in public showers instead of walking barefoot.
Our quick-dry shower slide is how you follow that advice without thinking about it. It has a PVC upper and sole, an EVA footbed with a massage texture, vertical drain holes and a non-slip sole. The drain holes let water run out as you step out of the shower, so the slide is not a puddle when it goes back into the shoe compartment.
Dry your feet, including between the toes, before you put your socks on. That is the "clean and dry" half of the CDC advice, and no shoe does it for you.
Emptying the bag when you get home
Five minutes at the door saves the next session. Take the wet towel and swimsuit out of the waterproof pocket and hang them up. Leave the wet pocket open to dry. Stand the shower slides on edge so the drain holes empty.
Leave the shoe compartment unzipped overnight. By morning the bag is ready to pack again, in the same order, in about two minutes.
A question about a bag in this piece? Write to hipline@sinnostore.com and everyone at SINNO will answer.