Office Locker to Store Shirts and to Dry Kit?

photonic69
photonic69 Posts: 2,716
edited June 2018 in Commuting general
Hi.

I'm usually on the Road section of this site but have recently started commuting a lot more. Usually 4 days out of 5 (Monday is my rest day after 60+ mile club runs on Sundays plus I take in my clean shirts and underwear etc)

About to ask my boss for a locker for my office to store my kit in. I need to be able to hang shirts on clothes hangers so needs to be wide/deep enough. I'll also need to hang damp/sweaty cycling kit so it can dry reasonably ok. Needs to be long enough for bib tights in winter too. Needs a shelf for helmet and maybe a lower shelf for shoes etc though I could probably make one myself.

I was thinking of adding a large computer cooling fan at the bottom to circulate air around to aid drying. Anyone done this?

It will need vented doors and be big enough to cope but not as big as a wardrobe!

Any pointers most appreciated.

Thinking of this:
https://www.slingsby.com/Lockers--Cloak ... 103667.htm

or

https://www.slingsby.com/Lockers--Cloak ... 103644.htm

or this but quite big

https://www.slingsby.com/Lockers--Cloak ... htm#rtabs2

Thanks for looking


Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

Comments

  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    We have normal lockers at work but then a big clothes rail thing for shirts. I've not known anyone to steal a shirt.

    The only tricky thing is getting people to not abandon kit. Some stuff seems to have been there for a decade. Maybe make people put a tag on their hangers so you know who to track down when somethings been left forever.
  • imafatman
    imafatman Posts: 351
    In my experience your clothes will not dry in those lockers and be left wet by the time you come to use them, even those with vents. Better to have them hung up somewhere in the open.

    Once place I worked actually had a drying room... Like an actual entire room with the thermostat set quite high just for the cyclists. It was great. I'd shower in my sweaty clothes and then wring em off and hang em to dry. By the time the day was done they were dry as a bone.
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    A fan is definitely a good idea if you are using a locker, but having it at the bottom probably isn't such a good idea for those days when the kit has been rained on, as it probably won't last long if dripped on.

    You might need to get used to putting on slightly damp kit, or put in a two day rotation (IE, Ride in day one in kit 1, ride home in kit 2, ride in kit 3, ride home kit 1 etc.)

    If you can position the locker anywhere there is air conditioning then this will help the drying. Working in IT I have the perk of being able to dry my kit in the heavily air conditioned server room.
  • wolfsbane2k
    wolfsbane2k Posts: 3,056
    I find the best ones are the fully meshed cages, such as these.
    https://www.key.co.uk/en/key/wire-mesh- ... x305x305mm
    Means you can keep clean shirts /trousers folded at the top, and wet stuff hanging underneath.

    It means you can't really leave small valuable things like wallets in there, as they will be visible and able to be pulled to the side by clothes hangers, but if your worried you can always rivet a 1mm thick alumninum sheeting around the top shelf area to block it off.

    If you add a fan, don't do it directly underneath, but using ducting into a ventilated pipe; that way, the electrics and the water are not below the other.

    Your other option is to go for a custom designed drying locker:
    https://total-locker-service.com/Heated-locker.php

    or a "proper" rolls Royce solution:
    http://www.pekodryingcabinets.co.uk/pro ... g-cabinet/

    Edit - Noticed you wanted to hang shirts - That's a challenge, unless you get a bigger by side because of the likelihood for wet to touch the dry. Some companies do a "Clean and Dirty" locker, but not found one in the mesh style...
    Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
    Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...
  • wolfsbane2k
    wolfsbane2k Posts: 3,056
    Ps, also worth checking if your council does active travel funding /grants, you might be able to get a couple of hundred quid towards it,
    Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
    Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...