Road Cycling - washing shorts

I just got my first pair of bike shorts!!! I just got done riding with them and man are they awesome. Should i wash them after every sweaty ride or every other ride or what? I am concerned they might wear out faster if i wash them all the time. and should i turn them inside out??

Thanks!

Don't know about you..My chamois gets pretty hot - and smelly. I at least rinse them in the shower every ride..In a pale in the shower with woolite...Seems basic black shorts wear better.
If I put them in the washing machine, I put them in a laundry bag to lesses wear and put on gentle cycle...Never put them in a dryer..Always hang them out to dry.

I wash them every other ride. I have one cheapo pair from Zyflex that are supposed to be hand washed, but I toss them in the machine with the others. No problems so far.

I wash them after ever ride. The chamios makes a perfect place for a breeding ground of bacteria.

I wash them after ever ride. The chamios makes a perfect place for a breeding ground of bacteria.

You said it, not I! :D

I wash them after ever ride. The chamios makes a perfect place for a breeding ground of bacteria.
Ditto.

Every ride. That's not a part of my anatomy where I want to cut corners!

Get a few extra pair - you will use them and they won't go to waste. Online vendors have them on sale, plus you can apply coupon codes and other discounts. I got 2 pair of evry nice shorts online at performance for $65 total.

Don't know how effective just rinsing shorts with water is...Used to only rinse shorts/jerseys out after work commute. The way a jersey smells without soap...
Jerseys/shorts get the full treatment after a ride.. I keep a bottle of Woolite at work to rinse out the stench before the ride home.

I toss them into the washer (with the regular laundry and soap for that matter) after every ride, hang em up to dry.

Works for me, so far anyway.

PJ

I think drying them in the sun, padding out, makes a BIG diffrence.

Every time. I aint having no little critters nibbling on my bits without an invitation!

I toss them into the washer (with the regular laundry and soap for that matter) after every ride, hang em up to dry.

Works for me, so far anyway.

PJ

ditto. Never had a problem

Throw a cup of white vinager in with the shorts during the wash cycle, it helps kill that lingering funk that our gear seems to pick up after many a use, even after washing.

lingering funk? Dude, sounds like you gots some crotch pot cookin' somethin' rank! ;)

Dryer will wear out lycra/polyester in no time. Machine washing fades the dyes quickly.

Best bet is to hand wash w/woolite and hang dry. If that's too much hassle than woolite/cold water/gentle cycle and hang dry.

You said it, not I! :D

The only greater breeding ground for crotch rotting bacteria known to science is sweat soaked cotton briefs.

Underwear Nazi
No underwear under there!

The only greater breeding ground for crotch rotting bacteria known to science is sweat soaked cotton briefs.

Underwear Nazi
No underwear under there!

You don't have to hang them in the sun, or have a pail in the shower, or carry Woolite, or immerse them in vinegar, or wash them by hand, or any of the many other trying techniques just mentioned in this thread.

Just throw them in the washing machine and dryer and they come out nice and clean! And they are CHEAP to replace! You don't have to fork over $30-$70 or so for a new pair. I get 7 for $6.99 at Target!

On most of the more expensive shorts the care tag says to wash in "cold temp" only blah blah blah… Does anyone wash biking shorts in hot?

Nope - almost always wash in cold. Cheaper, that's what the instructions say, haven't had a problem with the shorts, why change?

Well, bacteria... hot water... sounds like a good idea. I don't want to do anything that will destroy a $70 investment.

I have 4 pair of cycling shorts from 14 years old (Scott Tingley's) to some only 4 or 5 months old. I wash them after every ride in warmer weather (anything much above 65 degrees or so). At one time they were always hand washed in a bathroom sink and then hung to dry. I've become less concerned with them and now they go in the wash with everthing else. So far I haven't noticed any sudden deteriorization. Even the 14 year old shorts are still holding up ok. My advice is do whatever your time and lifestyle permit.

When I got my first pair of bike shorts I followed the directions on the tag which says to wash in cold water and not to dry in the dryer. I would wash them in a pail with Woolite and hang them to dry. This got to be a pain. Now what I do is turn them inside out and wash them with whatever else goes in warm water. I put them in the dryer to dry. Haven't noticed any difference than if I washed them by hand. Plus it's a lot easier and saves time.
If you decide to wash them by hand, you'll eventually get sick of doing it and throw them in the wash like everyone else.

yeah. if the washing machine is good enough for my dress shirts, it's good enough for my biking shorts and jerseys.

sd

You're supposed to wash them?

Many of the new synthic shorts have inherent anti-bacterial properties and sweat is actually mildly anti-bacterial [probably due to the salt]. I know I've never had problems with a week of wear(daily showers however) but I don't use a bunch of foo foo padding that soaks up moisure either, Plain spandex for me(never have used padding). And I stopped buying cotton underwear in junior high, I mean cotton rots therefor supports microb growth, synthetics don't. I've done quite a few week long trips out in the middle of nowhere hiking in the mountains and found that in a couple days cotton, be it shirt or short, starts smelling like b.o. and such, but my synthetic clothing just dosen't ever generate foul odors of its own. Though it will eventually pick up some odor from me, haveing been in the outdoors for a week, but it will wash out quick and complete(cotton sometimes keeps a touch of odor even after washing)
Naturexx rocks!(wicking nylon with lycra)

Often I get home and fall asleep on the floor...In my bike clothes..Never convince my wife my bike clothes don't stink..She kicks at me, once asleep I am an immoveable object..
Whether it is me or the clothes seems immaterial. Seems the odor originates with me and somehow transmits throught the fabric.
If I will not shower, she wishes I would go out and sleep on the picnic table and work on my tan. But, having a strong sense of smell, can't imagine getting back into those bike clothes. it is awful..Part of the situation is I come in during my wife breakfast.
So she goes out and eats on the patio table.
But, the point..I have read-get out of your bike clothes immediately...I often don't ...Must be lycra is comfortable enough to sleep in? But, with the soaked chamois, don't seem to get crouch rot...So maybe,something to anti-bacterial properties of bike clothes.

One more thing other than potential smell(some are rotten, some medium, some just don't stink; food or genes I don't know but all are different) the main reason everyone here washes there shorts all the time is the eww factor, an idea thats pounded into americans head from a young age that every thing must be cleaned and sterilized hourly lest you die of black death, which is just not true and probably why americans have the weakest immune systems in the world(fact) despite top notch medicine and vaccination.
I remember some kid in 8th grade said somthing off handed to another about wearing the same cloths a second day in a row and the shop teacher over heard and made us stand at attention while he gave a half hour speach about when he was a kid with 7 siblings and to poor to afford a washing machine so he wore the same school clothes everyday for a week. If you think about it 8 kids times 7 days times school cloths and work/play cloths is 112 pairs of pants and shirts if they wore new stuff every day. Thats a lot of hand washing. any how the kid that made the coment had to "sit on the green box" for the rest of the period. the green box was some crappy ugly arse box about 8inches high that sat next to the teachers desk, some kid made it like 10 years before.

At REI I saw some under-where[?] that said on the front of the package "3 weeks 13 countries one pair of underwear." this is the material I was talking about, the antibactierial properties are an integral part of the fibers properties and never go away unlike a coating or treatment that wears out or gets used up.

But Capsium..Bike shorts and jerseys are a little different from re-wearing jeans A couple days..Heck I do that often.......Now, lets say gym clothes, sports uniforms..Smell them up really good..Does not most coaches expect they be taken home and washed.. Bike clothes are sports gear.

yea I know jeans are different, I was off in left field. My point was about americans and there irrational fear of the unsterilized or unwashed even if it don't need no washing.

[edit] I just thought of the perfect reference....shoes, you stuff your sweaty nasty feet in to them day in and day out without regard to bacteria and it hasen't caused problems so why would any other clothing be different.