<p>Unpleasant odors on worn clothing reduce the comfort of the wearer and shorten the lifespan of textiles. Sweat-soaked polyester sportswear could promote specific bacterial growth and produce more odor, but the exact odor-related bacteria are still unclear. In this study, we aim to identify bacteria associated with odor production in polyester sportswear. 16S rRNA full-length sequencing was used to identify bacteria at the species level, while a digital nose was employed to objectively quantify odor intensity. We investigated the association between bacteria and odor intensity in polyester sportswear worn in both short-term (one-time wearing) and long-term (8-week wearing) conditions. We found that under the short-term wearing condition, α diversity decreased and β diversity increased, but no significant differences were observed under the long-term wearing condition. Importantly, <i>Staphylococcus_hominis</i> was strongly associated with odor intensity on clothing. The absolute abundance of <i>Staphylococcus_hominis</i> was correlated with the intensity of odor (<i>r</i> = 0.706), and this association was further confirmed by qPCR assay. <i>Staphylococcus_hominis</i> is associated with odor intensity in polyester sportswear.</p>