Commuting - storing sweaty clothes???

i'm going to be starting to commute in at least one direction every day (public transit the other way) and unfortunately we don't have a shower at the office, but I think that baby wipes and washing the face will be enough for my body. What do you folks do with your sweaty clothing all day? I'm guessing it can start to smell fairly quickly - does febreeze help? I really don't want to just keep my sweaty stuff in a gym bag under my desk! thanks in advance.

matt

I just hang mine up in my office. So long as I start out clean and wearing clean clothes, I've not had a problem with odor. By the time I go to ride home, they're dry.

Paul

I hang mine up on the back of the door in my office. I have been told that my office smelled like a gym so I installed a Glade Plugin air freshener. Now it smells like whatever Glade inserts Target has on sale!

trash bag?

I think they would get really stinky fermenting inside a trash bag. I prefer to let them dry especially since I have to put them back on to ride home.

trash bag?

Hahahahahaha. Not unless you want shrooms growing in your chamois.

i'm going to be starting to commute in at least one direction every day (public transit the other way) and unfortunately we don't have a shower at the office, but I think that baby wipes and washing the face will be enough for my body. What do you folks do with your sweaty clothing all day? I'm guessing it can start to smell fairly quickly - does febreeze help? I really don't want to just keep my sweaty stuff in a gym bag under my desk! thanks in advance.

matt
A clothes line across my office would go over real bad! it it's *really* wet, I hang-dry the shirt or bike shorts inside a file drawer. Spread the whole thing out. That's what those drawers are for right? :D About 2hrs later, when nobody's around I fold it and put it back in the bag. If it's cold and there are alot of layers, I hang one layer inside the other on the back of the door. They still dry out nicely.

For most people, if you showered before you left and the clothes were clean before you left, they probably won't smell too bad. Now on the return trip they may get a little ripe!

I just keep it in my pannier. No, it doesn't stink (despite the fact that I sweat copiously year-round).

I just chuck mine on the floor under my desk in an untidy pile. I know of one fellow who hung his over the back of his monitor to dry. Apparently this wasn't too popular with those members of the office that had a sense of smell.

Depending on where I am working, I have hung them up in computer rooms, telcom closets, or motor generator rooms. I usually just hang the jersey on the coat hook next to my desk. I bring extra shorts. If I have nowhere to hang the items, I bring extra and stuff the wet ones in my backpack in plastic bags.

Dan

I am really glad I commute only when I work midnight shift.
I get my cycling clothes washed and dried before the return. I hand wash them all while in the shower...
If I had to let those clothes smell up the control room, I know I would have a problem with co-workers...And wearing smelly clothes home would turn me off...
If I had that problem, I would probably bring a second extra jersey and bike shorts.Or else find an isolated place in the plant to rinse out my bike clothes... Knowing my crowd, they would probably hide them on me. Going 26 miles in jeans would hurt, I fear.
Benefit of midnight shift, no one around to complain of drying clothes hanging out over the handrails at the entry.

I am really glad I commute only when I work midnight shift.
I get my cycling clothes washed and dried before the return. I hand wash them all while in the shower...
If I had to let those clothes smell up the control room, I know I would have a problem with co-workers...And wearing smelly clothes home would turn me off...
If I had that problem, I would probably bring a second extra jersey and bike shorts.Or else find an isolated place in the plant to rinse out my bike clothes... Knowing my crowd, they would probably hide them on me. Going 26 miles in jeans would hurt, I fear.
Benefit of midnight shift, no one around to complain of drying clothes hanging out over the handrails at the entry.

cz,
Sounds like a better idea. What do you use to prevent the stuff from dripping all over the carpet?

I hang most of it over the bike in my office or the coat hooks behind my desk.

I haven't started commuting yet and I have a shower at the health club across the street, so this isn't going to be an issue for me, but are there any closets (for winter coats or rain jackets in the summer) that you could use? Maybe one that a little out of the way and doesn't get used much? Hang your stuff towards the back. And if your stuff stinks, you'll always have that closet to yourself! : )

Obviously, you'd want to avoid the closets where any visitors might hang their coats!

cz,
Sounds like a better idea. What do you use to prevent the stuff from dripping all over the carpet?
VR.. Again benefit of PM shift...I hang my bike clothes outside in the wind. Gets really dry quickly..No one about to compain...PM shift 12.5 hours. So I mostly get to work before dark, most of the year.
When no longer dripping, I move them inside near an air duct. My partner is a woman..Just the two of us all night...
She complains of looking at my 'jock strap.' I tell her she does not look that carefully, since cyclists do not use such things.
Reason I do not commute day shift...I would have to leave at 3 am.. and management would have to smell my smelly bike clothes.
Sounds like few have the option of washing out their clothes during traditional working hours.? At least no one has mentioned washing out their cycling clothes.

Another option to washing out bike clothes..Just walk into the shower with your cycling clothes on..SOme tell me they do that. )Might work well, when like on a bike tour...? Think it effective.? I use a plastic bucket and put in some soap.

I wash my clothes as I shower. I rinse off my chamois with soap. While washing my hair I put on my helmet for a few seconds and rinse it off. When it's sunny, I hang everything outside near my bike. When it rains, I stash everything in an equipment room with lots of airflow (to allow everything to dry). It has worked for me. Everythig stays fresh, and no complaints from my coworkers.

Wow..Comutr...You have me worried..Can't recall the last time I thoroughly washed out my helmet... Think when I change out the absorbant pads, I sort of have rinsed out the helmet.. I know lots of perspiration escapes through the scalp. Does not seem to stink however...Guess, sort of just assumed that water might damage the helmet.
Maybe I will try walking into the shower with cycling clothes on . Might save time...As long as it is effective.

If you're taking public transit one way, why not take it going in, then ride home?

When I was employed I was lucky enough to be able to park my bike in the warehouse. I'd hang my damp clothes over the bike and rear rack and let them air dry.
No one ever complained and maybe the smell is what kept people from messing with the bike. :D

I leave the helmet pads in place just to ensure that I don't lose any of them. I wash/rinse out my helmet only once a week. I have never experienced a particular smell from my helmet. We have lots of rain this time of year in Hawaii, so I want to minimize the chance of something growing in there by keeping it clean.....and I might be a little weird about cleanliness...haha

On days when I swim before work, I hang my suit and towel in a little-used coat-closet in the office. (We have personal lockers at our desks, but they have no ventilation holes, so nothing dries.) Perhaps you can find one somewhere in your workplace for your cycling clothes? Failing that, try to wear more breathable stuff so that the sweat can evaporate into the air before you stop. Slowing down in the last half mile or so can also help.

I keep mine in a spare draw in my filing cabinet. Haven't had any problems.

Get it dry fast and it won't start to stink. I have a back corner in my cube where I hang my cycling clothes over a small fan that helps them dry faster.

Before I had room for that, back when I was in an open cube, I made a wire drying rack than hung inside a hanging-file drawer of my desk, allowing air to get to both sides of the clothes. Worked pretty well. (Actually made out of old stainless spokes from a dead 27" wheel.)

My office has folding tables as desk. As ghetto as it sounds, it's not *that* bad. I hang my shorts on the rear corner of the table. My PC (the tower part) is under the desk so I drape my jersey over it. I've never been told of the smell, but I start out clean, and I wash my gear at least twice a week.

I've only got 1 pair of shorts and one jersey. I REALLY need some more gear, especially with winter coming up. :/

The Glade plug-ins idea is a good idea. I may have to use that if my new office-mate (each office in my building has 2 workstations in rather close-quarters) decides to pipe-up and say something about my clothes.

i'm going to be starting to commute in at least one direction every day (public transit the other way)

Sounds simple. Public transportation into work, put on clean clothes, ride home. Wash clothes when necessary.

Geez, just realized how old this thread is. OP has probably since died of old age.