Does Your Garmin Stink? Try Nature's Miracle

As  I was wiping my nose about a month ago on the run (yes, with the back of my hand), I smelled this awful odor!! What the heck??? A few more sniffs told me it was the wristband for my Garmin. It reeked!!  Many of you may have read my previous post on changing out the plastic wristband on the Garmin for the more comfortable and better fitting Velcro one.  Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of the fabric wristband for the Garmin,  is that it stinks after a while of absorbing all that nasty runner sweat. What to do?

Well the obvious answer, of course, is to wash it. That was my first thought too. I wet down the band got out some laundry soap and scrubbed the band with an old toothbrush. Presto! The band didn’t stink any more. It smelled fresh and clean --- for about two runs.  Pretty soon it was back to being smelly again, and with warmer weather coming on, it really was starting to smell ripe. I was not keen on having to take the band on and off every week to wash it. It is not that quick an easy thing to do.

I obviously was going to need something a bit more heavy duty to deal with this problem. The answer came courtesy of my ever-helpful cat, Roadie. He had been having some kitty “issues” and had been urinating in some unexpected places.  Since we have our house up for sale and cat pee is not high on the list of “smells that sell houses,” we needed some help.  I searched all over the Internet for what to use to clean up pet odors, and after several solutions that only partially took care of the problems, I found the one that was able to solve our problem.

The solution came in the form of Nature’s Miracle, which is a bio-enzymatic odor remover that is used to neutralize and remove organic odors.  (Before I go any further, let me say that I am NOT affiliated with Nature’s Miracle in any way. I just am a huge fan of their product because it has really worked successfully for me.) What this means is that it neutralizes the odor by killing the bacteria that is causing the odor.  After using it successfully around the house on a variety of surfaces,  I decided to give it a try on my watch band.  

The directions on the Nature’s Miracle have you wash the spot first and then treat with the Nature’s Miracle by soaking it with the product and allowing it to air dry.  I removed my watch band (which is not an easy task) and washed it in a solution of dish soap, a half cup Nature’s Miracle, and water. After scrubbing and rinsing, I left it out in the sun to dry.

Once it had dried, I followed that up with a good saturation of the band with the Nature’s Miracle and again left it to dry.  The band was once again fresh and clean and smelled great.  Unfortunately to keep it smelling that way, there is some maintenance involved. About every two days when I finish my run, I rinse the band and spray it band down with the Nature’s Miracle and let it dry. It is like deodorant for a Garmin! This is keeping my band smelling fresh and clean.

For those of you who worry about harsh chemicals, Nature’s Miracle is pretty mild. The ingredients are as follows: Water, nature's enzymes, isopropyl alcohol, natural citrus scent. Apparently, the most toxic ingredient is the isopropyl alcohol. It seems pretty safe to use. It comes in a smaller and cheaper spray bottle, but I buy it by in the larger size and refill because I use it for the pets and the laundry too. It is available at Petsmart, but it is cheaper from Amazon. 

            

As an added bonus in this process, I also discovered that Nature’s Miracle works in the laundry. I use it to help take the lingering sweat odor out of my running and cycling clothes.  I have just been putting a half cup of the Nature’s Miracle in the wash cycle with the regular laundry detergent. It seems to work great to take out the smells!!   If you give this product a try, let me know what you think. While not a miracle, it has been worth the price for me. 

Related posts:
Changing the Wristband on Your Garmin

It's The Little Things: Replacing Your Garmin 205, 305, or 405 Watchband with Something More Comfortable

You've probably heard the saying "It's the little things in life that make a difference."  Nowhere is this more true than in long distance running, where the slightest little rub, irritation, or annoyance can become a major deal after an hour or two on the road or trail. That is why the number one thing I care about in my running gear is usually comfort. That is also why I have had a real love/hate relationship with my Garmin Forerunner 305.

What I love about my Garmin is that it is accurate, it gives me the data I need, and most importantly, I can see the screen. This model allows me to set the number of screens, from 1 to 4. Even these old English teacher's eyes, that have been worn down by many years of paper grading, can manage to see the screen clearly when it is set on 1 or 2, and usually even 3. That is a big plus.

However, what I have always HATED about the watch is that it is so uncomfortable. I am going to ignore the size for this post, because I can't change that, and focus on what I can change. (But come on Garmin people, women wear these too!!) The band has always been super uncomfortable on me. First of all, I am a fairly small woman, at least in my wrist size. To get the Garmin to fit snugly on my wrist, I have always had to tug it down to the very last hole in the band, and even then it did not feel real snug. The plastic of the band was also stiff, and it just was never comfortable. Some women, such as my friend Leslie, even wear wrist bands under the watch to make it fit more snuggly and make it more comfortable. I lived with it and so did most other women I knew that had this model because I did not know I had an alternative.

That is where having a great network of running friends can help. My new running buddy Kate showed up one day and said, "Guess what! I just got the coolest new band for my watch. I love it!" It was a velcro band that allowed her to snug it down on her wrist (which is even more petite than mine). Now her watch was a 405 not a 305, but I started to wonder if maybe there might be something like that available for my Garmin.

A quick search of the Internet showed me that they did have them, and they were available at Amazon (shameless plug for Amazon  -- I am an Amazon affiliate). After reading the reviews and making sure they would fit my model, I ordered one. It was only $13.10 plus shipping (18.68 total), so I figured it was worth a try. It came earlier this week, and I have to say I am thrilled. For me, it is a much more comfortable alternative to the crappy plastic strap that comes with the Garmin.

What's in the Kit

Let me tell you a little about it in case you are interested. I was initially worried, until it got here, about how it would attach and whether I could find the band changing tool that had come with my Garmin. That was wasted worry. When the box arrived, it contained everything I needed to change the band: the new strap, an extender strap for larger wrists, the tool, and the two pins needed for the new band, as the original pins seem to be built into the plastic strap. The box also contained instructions.

Step 2: Insert pins in new band

Step 1: Remove the old band

Honestly, the hardest part about replacing the band was finding my glasses to be able to see the end of the tiny pins and tool. From that point forward it was easy. The tool slips in between the watch and the plastic band to compress the pin. The band pops right off.  The new pins slip into the slots in the velcro band. These then slip back into the slots in the watch. Easy!!

Step 3: Insert pins in slots

The velcro band actually runs across the back of the watch itself which has created some comments from reviewers that they had to take the band off to charge the watch. This is absolutely NOT true (at least not if they installed it correctly). The charger slides right under the band when it is time to charge. It is made that way.

Watch with charger

Charger under Band

All in all, I love the band. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that because my wrist is so small the end of the band sticks out a bit, but so far it hasn't annoyed me so is not a problem. One positive, as Kate pointed out, is that you can wear it easily over long sleeves, and if you want to push up your sleeves, it is easy to loosen and readjust.

*** There are different strap kits available for the different Garmin models. Please see the links at the bottom of the page for your model.

405 Kit

As I said before, it is the little things that can make or break a running experience. Just having a more comfortable watch band seems like such a minor thing, but since it is something I use most every day, it is nice to have something that is comfortable. If  you hate your Garmin band, you might want to consider a change.

For the 205/305

For the 405



For the 610