Rubber Resistance Bands are extremely useful in the fight for fitness since they provide you with an inexpensive and highly versatile method to exercise and get a bit of workout at the gym or at home. However, the convenience and versatility offered by these bands can be easily offset by their distinctively potent smell of rubber.

While some people don’t mind the smell of new rubber and can use resistance bands without issue, a great number of people find the odor irritating and even nauseating.

So, if you want the benefits of using rubber resistance bands to work out, but don’t want to deal with the strong rubber smell, you are in luck because that is what we are going to tackle today.

How To Get The Rubber Smell Out Of Resistance Bands

There are several things you can do to the funky smell out of resistance bands, but this is our preferred method:

  1. Place your resistance bands in a clean bucket
  2. Fill the bucket with clean, warm water
  3. Add a few squirts of mild dish soap
  4. Rub the bands together inside the bucket until a foamy sud is formed
  5. Rinse your resistance bands with clean water until all of the soap residues are removed
  6. Use a clean, dry cloth to remove every last bit of moisture from the bands
  7. Air dry your resistance bands overnight

This fool-proof procedure will work wonders to get rid of the acrid, rubber smell that is so typical of new resistance bands.

Thankfully it is not the only method to do so, and if for some reason it doesn’t fully work for you, here are a few other things you can try

Smelly rubber resistance bands

More Ways To Remove The Smell From Resistance Bands

Vinegar Wash

By placing your rubber resistance bands in a vinegar wash you can neutralize the rubbery smell. The ratio needs to be about half a cup of white vinegar per bucket of water.

You can leave your rubber bands inside the vinegar wash for about an hour without issue.

Afterward, rinse the vinegar off the bands and air dry until completely dry.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are an all-natural ally in your fight against annoyingly stubborn smells like rubber.

My personal favorite essential oils are lavender, cinnamon, rose, peppermint, and lemon, but there is a plethora of different scents to choose from.

Pure essential oils, however, can deteriorate the rubber material of your resistance bands. Therefore, it is important that you take care not to apply pure essential oils directly on the bands

What you can do is take some of your favorite essential oil, apply it to a dampened cloth, and rub the resistance bands thoroughly with it. This will infuse the rubber material with your favorite scent and mask the rubber smell to the point where it is unnoticeable.

Baking Soda Soak

Baking soda is known as one of the most effective, all-natural smell absorbers. This is why boxes of baking soda are popularly left inside refrigerators that have a funky smell.

Using baking soda to get the rubber smell of your resistance bands is very easy. Simply take a bucket of clean water, and add about 1 cup of baking soda.

Make sure the baking soda is completely diluted before placing your bands in the mixture for a few hours. This will give the baking soda time enough to penetrate the rubber surface and absorb that pesky rubber smell.

Leave your resistance bands in the fresh air

Fresh Air

Sometimes the only thing you need to do to get rid of the lingering latex smell of your resistance bands is to leave them out dry in the open air for a day or two.

If you don’t feel comfortable with leaving your bands to sit outside unsupervised for an extended time, you can leave them in a garage or balcony. Be careful to keep your resistance bands away from direct sunlight as it can severely damage the rubber fabric and degrade it surprisingly quickly.