Commuting - My clothes are starting to smell.....

I regularly commute into work. Normal routine is 15 mile ride in, baby wipe upon arrival cycling clothes hung in a cabinet in my office. Due to noise issues, I typically keep my office door closed, but noticed yesterday after walknig into my office mid day- I could smell something and the source was definately my jerssey.

Anyone else have this issue, any thoughts on how to cut down on the stench. I do work up a bit of sweat each monring, so thats a given. The cabinet I hang my clothes in has doors, but I guess they are not hermettically sealed! There is no where else to hang my clothes in the building, its my office, or not at all.

i think the stink comes from not drying quickly enough...

my clothes rarely smell unless i forget to hang them to dry and they get "funkY"

do you wear clean set every day you commute? polyester "performance fabric" stuff really starts to stink if you don't wash it frequently.

one expensive option is to upgrade to all wool jerseys.... i don't know how but they never smell.

Fresh set every day. Gently washed, never see the dryer- hang dry. I dont detect any stench prior to wear. I agree- polyester builds up over time, though the occasional shot of Fabreeze seems to resolve.

I also shower prior to the AM commute, and wear a deoderant (OK- yeah, more detail than anyone wants...).

Wool is the way to go. For real.

Do your clothes dry in the closet?

Wash them more often. It's easy to wash cycling clothes in the sink or bathtub every night and hang it up to dry by morning.

Put a solid air freshener or a new sheet of fabric softener in the cupboard with your clothes.

Ask your employer to provide changing/locker facilities.

Use febreeze on them as soon as you hang them up in the morning? That or throw it in a ziploc bag if the smell is too much.

febreze rocks!! i used this on my clothes if i'm out with friends at a smoky bar. can wear a shirt or jeans again and the ashtray smell is completely gone.

My wife was ready to throw away about half of my cycling clothes. They would smell fine right after they were washed but as soon as they got any moisture on them they would reek to high heaven. She said I had some freakish body chemistry that ruined clothing. I read somewhere online about washing clothes with vinagar to remove persistent smells. I put about a cup of white vinegar in with the detergent a couple of times and it seems to have killed whatever was causing the smell. At least my wife no longer threatens to throw them away.

Put a solid air freshener or a new sheet of fabric softener in the cupboard with your clothes.



This is a great idea. I used to do this with my stanky car. :)

expensive wool jerseys?

I went to the thrift store, picked up an oversized 100% merino sweater for $4, put it a couple of times into the washing machine with hot water and the dryer until it shrank down to my size. Because it's semi-felted, it keeps water and snow out really well, but still breathes really nicely.

Did the same with a wool/angora Polo sweater, but the angora doesn't felt like wool, so there are billowy clouds of fuzz hiving off all the time.

I got a couple of Merino wool zipper cardigans at Target for <$20 when they were closing them out. They look like bike jerseys from a slight distance, and don't take a smell, like my synthetics, do.

Can wear them at the office too, if it gets nipply.

I'll pass on Febreeze. I use the second rinse on my washer and a cup of baking soda in the wash. Also, and perhaps more effectively, I keep a fan on my riding clothes until they dry.

I was using a non-aluminium deodorant when I started commuting (56km per day), and my cycling shirts (100% polyester) made my eyes water. Then I switched to regular dry deodorant and my problems are comprehensively solved. I use a shirt 2 days in succession then lightly wash it, not because of any stink because there's none, but to rinse out the dried sweat.

It's the bacteria.
Weekly, soak the jersey and gloves in a small basin with about a cup of hydrogen peroxide. It took the smell out of my gloves.
LOOK AT MY AVATAR! If it can take the smell out of my gloves, your jersey's cake!

i just don't like the febreeze or fabric softener ideas.... i don't think covering up a smell with chemicals is a good idea, you just gotta get rid of the smell!

Wool is abiotic. It simply doesn't host the bacteria that cause stink the first place.

It always smells like damp wool (which is, to be sure, it's own smell, but one that's a sight less offensive than rancid synthetics).

I bike 6 miles into school every day in the same uniform and it sure does stink after a while, my trousers are often filthy by the time I get there as I have to go over a field for about a mile for a part of the journey! :eek:

you could always throw away your jersey after wearing it once and wear a new one the next day.
I meam, I wouldn't do this because its a stupid idea, but you could.

That's a good idea but sadly I can't afford a new jersey, my current one is three years old already, I just have to use a lot of deodorant to try and disguise the smell