Washing Commuting Gear

wolfsbane2k

Hey.

I've just scrapped the car, so have no choice but to ride everyday now - forcing hand, so great.
However, I've realised that I probably don't have enough cycling gear to wash & dry it every day, which I have been doing, even after effectively only 1.5 hours riding.

Therefore I'm considering wearing the same stuff 2 days in a row, meaning I don't need to buy any more clothes, but this feels a bit skanky - how often do you wash/change your gear?

Cheers

smokey_bacon

I do one wash a week. I have two bibshorts, 5 jerseys, 3 baselayers and assorted socks on rotation. Seems to work for me.

timothyw

Afraid to say that I wear fresh gear every day, because as you mention to do otherwise feels a bit skanky.

I do have ample kit to accomodate this, although with a toddler in the house we get through plenty of washes anyway.

One thing to factor in is that while you might appreciate the benefit of quality bib shorts on a longer ride, the cheapo gear tends to do fine if you're only riding for 45 minutes at a time - stock up on jerseys from sports direct, bibs from decathlon/wiggle and I'm sure you'll do fine.

edrobbin

A subject close to my heart.

same shorts & tights combo for the whole week, whatever the weather. fresh socks (M&S finest) and base layer each day. I carry a very nice Rab base layer to change into on the train - lasts all week & doesn't get too pungent.

I'd like to be able to wash everything every day, but getting home at 20:30 & leaving at 04:50 each day doesn't give much time for washing.

Snakebite the 2nd

I must admit that I do tend to wear things for a few days :oops:

The good thing is that it goes straight on the radiator in the changing rooms at work, so it dries out quickly and doesn't smell.

In the summer I do tend to change more.

imatfaal

I am a tender sort and find that more than a day's riding in same shorts, 3/4, or tights starts to raise the likelihood of saddle sores. Check out the sales and get enough kit for one a day.

During the winter I keep a spare in the office if/when kit gets soaking wear the spare home, by COB Tuesday the first lot of kit (left in office) is properly dry and so on. Saturday morning - lots of laundry.

BTW - does anyone use specialist washing powder/liquid?

surrey_commuter

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710645#p19710645]imatfaal[/url] wrote:

I am a tender sort and find that more than a day's riding in same shorts, 3/4, or tights starts to raise the likelihood of saddle sores. Check out the sales and get enough kit for one a day.

During the winter I keep a spare in the office if/when kit gets soaking wear the spare home, by COB Tuesday the first lot of kit (left in office) is properly dry and so on. Saturday morning - lots of laundry.

BTW - does anyone use specialist washing powder/liquid?

the quickwash that takes 15 mins does the trick. As stated above this should be cheap stuff not your sunday best

imatfaal

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710655#p19710655]Surrey Commuter[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710645#p19710645]imatfaal[/url] wrote:

I am a tender sort and find that more than a day's riding in same shorts, 3/4, or tights starts to raise the likelihood of saddle sores. Check out the sales and get enough kit for one a day.

During the winter I keep a spare in the office if/when kit gets soaking wear the spare home, by COB Tuesday the first lot of kit (left in office) is properly dry and so on. Saturday morning - lots of laundry.

BTW - does anyone use specialist washing powder/liquid?

the quickwash that takes 15 mins does the trick. As stated above this should be cheap stuff not your sunday best

Yep - 20 mins wash on our machine; although it never actually is 20 mins. Although I admit everything gets the same treatment - even the sunday best. I do weed out anything with velcro to avoid too much snagging

rick_chasey

Smell test.

Some weeks it's every day. Other weeks really not.

Walls82

I sweat alot so change after every ride ( shower and cloths dryer at work).

For those not changing bib shorts at all I hope you put your socks on first!

How do people wash their kit, I find my stuff starts to smell no matter how much I wash it and has to binned despite having a lot of actual wear left in it, any tricks?

spasypaddy

depends on the ride and the weather.

if i train before/after work then kit is worn for one day. if i dont then two or three days as my commute is 15mins each way.

if it rains then new kit next day.

itboffin

Seriously people change your kit everyday, gross!

Would you wear you pants more than one day? I hope not.

llebend

I change bibshorts or padded 'under' shorts daily in summer. Tops/tee shirts or cycle shirts can last a couple of days.....if they have to. Worst I will do is double use long padded lycra in winter, expensive stuff and I only have 3 pairs.

Whether male or female I think you could risk something nasty happening to your 'junk' if you re-use unwashed kit a bit too often.

jimboyle1967

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710629#p19710629]Snakebite the 2nd[/url] wrote:

The good thing is that it goes straight on the radiator in the changing rooms at work, so it dries out quickly and doesn't smell.

That reminds me of a former colleague who used to put his completely rank cycling gear over the radiator every morning, thus subjecting the rest of us to a pollution attack. One day it was so bad that it set off the smoke detectors and thus the fire alarm.

dhope

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19712448#p19712448]jimboyle1967[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710629#p19710629]Snakebite the 2nd[/url] wrote:

The good thing is that it goes straight on the radiator in the changing rooms at work, so it dries out quickly and doesn't smell.

That reminds me of a former colleague who used to put his completely rank cycling gear over the radiator every morning, thus subjecting the rest of us to a pollution attack. One day it was so bad that it set off the smoke detectors and thus the fire alarm.

I'll take "Things that didn't happen" for 500

Squawk

I'm firmly in the 'one set of clothes for the week and don't stand too close to anyone you care about' camp. Through the winter this is fine, the merino wool base layer doesn't smell at all. Through the summer I pity anyone who comes too close on a Thursday or Friday. Clean pair of socks daily. It all goes in the wash on a Friday night.

To be honest the worst bit of all is my helmet. The pads stink to high heaven

meanredspider

I wouldn't wear more bibs more than one day at a time. In a house with 3 kids, the washing machine always needed to go on at least once a day so I'd wash them each evening and dry naturally overnight. Even if that's not your situation, I think I'd still take them into the shower with me and give them a bit of a clean in there instead. Some fungal infection or other would not be something I'd want to be dealing with.

itboffin

once a week :shock:

i really hope that's a joke

fat_tail

every day

on occasion one goes past someone with smelly cycling kit and it is horrid.

hegyestomi

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19712501#p19712501]meanredspider[/url] wrote:

I wouldn't wear more bibs more than one day at a time. In a house with 3 kids, the washing machine always needed to go on at least once a day so I'd wash them each evening and dry naturally overnight. Even if that's not your situation, I think I'd still take them into the shower with me and give them a bit of a clean in there instead. Some fungal infection or other would not be something I'd want to be dealing with.

As above.
I also now using the hand disinfecter (with alcohol) on the shorts before I head home.
You really should change your shorts if you are riding commando, as ITB mentioned you would not wear the same pants for more than a day(??)!

bunter

I've just bought some Halo sportswash to try as some of my older kit was still smelling bad after being washed at 30º and dried. It seems to work and smells slightly mentholly.

Man Of Lard

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19712781#p19712781]bunter[/url] wrote:

I've just bought some Halo sportswash to try as some of my older kit was still smelling bad after being washed at 30º and dried. It seems to work and smells slightly mentholly.

Halo rocks for deminging cycling clothes! (Asda Sports wash & Tesco Expert Sports wash both work well too)

msmancunia

Change my kit every day. Do two washes - one at the weekend, one mid-week as soon as I get home. Soak it all overnight in a kitchen sink full of diluted Milton fluid once a month as a prewash to get rid of any lingering niffyness. I also keep a couple of those tumble drier sheets -used to be called Bounce - in my kit drawers to keep it smelling nice.

wolfsbane2k

Well this seems to have touched a sore spot with some:-)
Thankfully I have a separate drying room and showers at work, so smelly stuff is not a problem, but hygene is.

I thought that cycling was meant to be 'green', not sure how green all this extra washing is though!

I've got enough tops and shorts for 4 days, with the same clothes in and out, but only 1 base layer top and no bottom baselayer, which I'm trying to resolve at the moment, but I've never used them before as i used to be a mostly fair weather, summer mountain biker.

Thanks for the recommendation on the cleaners, I've ordered some of the Tesco stuff!

philcubed

Baking soda in with the wash cured my kit of sweaty smells

ugo.santalucia

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19710600#p19710600]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

how often do you wash/change your gear?

Cheers

Rarely... merino base layers do 3 days... same as shorts... long bibs can do the all week. Jerseys can do the all week if it's not hot, 2 days in bombing summer... a winter jacket gets washed 2-3 times per year

vimfuego

Halo is awesome stuff. I sweat like Jimmy Saville in Toys R Us so jerseys can get pretty minging after one day's commuting. 30degree machine wash or a soaking and a hand wash and they're de-ponged (yes it's a real word honest!)

Snakebite the 2nd

Merino wool scares me.

I have two Swobo jerseys, both about 15+ years old. I bought them from the Bike show when it was still in Olympia!
It was the year they were first being distributed in the UK and cost about £100 each!
(A fool and his money.........)

Anyway I wash them, by hand in cool water and special wool soap flakes as I don't want them to shrink.


I couldn't wear them every day, I'd be worried I'd knacker them.

meanredspider

I just shove my merino stuff in the washing machine with regular bio detergent and wash at 30C. No problems

pblakeney

Clothing frequency - Daily.
Washing frequency - Twice/thrice weekly depending on usage/weather.
Method - Wife.

daddy0

I currently have 4 sets of bib shorts which aren't too see through, and loads of jerseys. I change my kit every day and when all the bibs have been used I do a wash load with Halo at 30 - typically once a week. I wash helmet pads/straps, inner soles and gloves roughly once a month, or more regularly if needed. Get a mesh tie bag for small bits like helmet pads. If I get rained on I will probably wash the kit as soon as I get in and make sure the overshoes are dried ready for the morning. My shoes tend to start smelling bad after a wet ride, so I might well wash them in the sink with some Halo too. If you have the budget get two pairs of shoes, one for wet and one Sunday best. More is better.

If I have forgotten to do a wash load and everything is dirty then I have been known to wear bib shorts two days in a row, but it is gross. If you wear padded shorts any more than that then you are a foul human being indeed. Shame on you.

I'd recommend one change of kit per day that you commute. Always wash with Halo (or similar) on low temperature to avoid disintegrations. Cheap padded shorts are OK for commutes, but I'd recommend not using cheap ones everyday, especially if your commute is reasonably long and you have a hard saddle.