"Ooh, ooh, that smell! Can't you smell that smell?" Was Lynyrd Skynyrd singing about runners or, rather, their running clothes?

Runners must admit sometimes we don't smell good. We get all hot and sweaty ("schweaty" as my son, Matt, used to say). After a workout, though, a good cool down, shower and new clothes, we're as good as new - usually.

Now, our running clothes - especially shirts and tops - are a different story. Try as we might, sometimes those t-shirts, singlets, shorts and other sweats are nearly impossible to deodorize.

Oh, we pop them in the laundry, wash them up bright and clean, fold and store them in a dresser or wherever. Then we pick our favorites, put them on and head out to town.

After a couple hours of nothing more strenuous than watching a ballgame, eating a hot dog or engaging in light conversation, others begin to subtly sniff the air. You do too, looking for the "schweaty" monster who entered the room.

Then it dawns on you. There is no monster: it is YOU - or, rather, your t- shirt. You spend the rest of the night with arms folded across your body, vowing that this will never happen again, that you'll get those odors out of your shirt once and for all.

Most runners share some degree of this. In summer, the closest my shoes are allowed to come to the house is the garage, right there with the paintbrushes, fertilizers, lawnmower, rakes and shovels.

Last summer my shoes smelled nastier than ever. Being in the garage with the three pairs I rotate and the door closed was a life-threatening experience.

So we've established that runners have this "pollution" problem. What to do about it? Short of buying new running clothes every week, how can we fix this without calling in the EPA?

I've conducted research (OK, just different ways of laundering) on the problem. Here are the results.

First some bad news: You might not be able to get your running t-shirts smelling like a spring freshet. I have met with only moderate success trying to use these tips:

Test colored fabrics in inconspicuous places before applying pastes or other deodorizing solutions. You don't want to ruin your pretty shirts.

Running clothes are made of fabrics ranging from cotton to the latest synthetics. My experience is that, except for chlorine bleach and some fabric softeners, detergents and cleaning solutions might work on any of the materials. But again to be safe, try a test run first.

The Stain Detective at www.clothesline.com recommends that to get rid of odors in cotton, Lycra, Spandex, nylon and acrylic wear, "colored items must be protected by pretesting in a hidden area of the item." To make a soaking solution, use half a scoop of detergent with bleach, and stir it into a gallon of water in a plastic pail. Two gallons of water requires a full scoop and so on.

To keep the t-shirts submerged in the solution, weigh them down with a white towel. We wouldn't want a colored towel to bleed on your clothes that already have odor problems.

After 30 minutes of soaking, remove the clothes from the bucket and wash them in hot water (for cotton, use warm water), using the permanent-press cycle, with normal detergent. If necessary, wash again. Sounds simple enough. The Lever Brothers hotline, 1-800-598-5005, pretty much echoed The Stain Detective. The spokeswoman added that the detergent should be dissolved in the "hottest water possible" before soaking.

Dupont makes the wonder fabric Coolmax, a moisture-wicking material that keeps sweat away from your body while running. At Dupont's hotline, 1-800-342-3774, I was cautioned, "Always follow the manufacturer's instructions." To avoid odors, "basically just frequent washing" should do it. Hmm. For Coolmax, "it's best to use cold water." The help lady also warned, "You never want to use bleach or fabric softener to prevent losing the wicking properties."

For me, products such as Febreeze and Boraxo weren't much help. An old "mom" washing trick, adding vinegar to the wash water, didn't work either. Neither did squeezing in lemon juice (even dish soaps claim it works).

Reader recommendation on the Dollar Stretcher site (www.stretcher.com) also had uses for vinegar. "Add about a cup to the wash load." Another suggestion was "as close to the time after taking off the garment as possible, sprinkle or rub white vinegar into the armpits. You can let it dry and wash later, or wash immediately. It doesn't seem to matter which." It didn't seem to matter at all, for me.

At the same site, one reader claimed that spraying "the underarm area with a clear mouthwash before laundering" will do the trick, "especially for sweat odors." Other ideas included using a paste of baking soda and water, shampoo and dish detergent. In each case, scrub it into the armpit of the shirt. A toothbrush does nicely, but remember not to use that toothbrush later for oral hygiene. Then launder.

While we're at it, toothpaste gets a vote too. "A good healthy squirt of toothpaste around the tub of the washer" before adding water, detergent and the clothes "really works." OK.

The Fort Valley State University (Georgia) Web site (www.fvsu.edu) has tips, too. Wash the garment as soon as possible after wearing. Use a detergent paste and rub it in; that toothbrush will come in handy. If the odor persists after washing, "don't put the garment in a dryer and don't iron it. Heat will set the odor." Rather, soak your shirt in a salt solution, three-quarters of a tablespoon of salt for every quart of water. Rinse and rewash.

Of course, we could take the advice of another reader at The Dollar Stretcher: change your diet. From personal experience, when she "switched from a high-carbohydrate diet to a low-carb, adequate-protein diet, odor problems disappeared." Runners, low-carb? I don't think that will work, but nice try.

I suppose the only sure solution to the "schweaty" odors in your favorite running t-shirts is not to run in them. If that's not a possibility - you just have to show them off or they are good luck - try one or more of these remedies.

No guarantees from me, though. Come to think of it, I just might call the EPA.

Ron Marinucci can be reached by e-mail at RMarin6424@aol.com MR