Commuting - Transporting work clothes to the office - what do you do?

Hi,

New to commuting (this is my 2nd thread, my 1st being "My first Commute . . ") and wondering how to best get the necessary shirt, trousers, suit to work on a regular basis.

The options as I see them are:

i) Use one of these: http://www.cyclexpress.co.uk/products/Skye_Clothes_Transporter_1062.asp

Question is - do they work. Have you or anyone you know ever used it and found it practical?

ii) Drive in once per week or so to drop off clothes

iii) Get all my clothes dry cleaned at work

I know I'm lucky to even have option (iii), but it's not my preferred option since it would quickly get expensive for all my clothes. If (i) or something similar is feasibile I would prefer that to (ii) aswell. What do other folks do?

I used to leave all my clothes at work and then make a mass effort to bring them home every now and then and have them laundered at once, then bring them back in one big effort.

Koffee

i have a rack on the back of my bike that holds a bag. the rack was 30 bucls. and the bag 55 bucks. I have to wear a shirt and tie... after a little practice, i can now fit the clothes in the bag comfortably, and without creating allot of wrinkles!! i keep 2 pairs of dress shoes at work, one black, one brown. that way i never have to carry shoes back and forth. I also leave the lock at work... never have to carry that big thing around either.

I have a 3 week rotation plan that I use for clothes at work.

Week one: Only clothes are the "emergency" clothes at the office. This week I bring my daily attire each day of the week and leave it hanging in my office.
Week two: Second wear of the clothes that are at the office.
Week three: Each day I bring that day's clothing home to be laundered.
Repeat

I use panniers on my commuter bike to carry the clothes. The clothes are rolled to prevent the worst of the wrinkles. Our dress code is business casual. My shoes remain at work.

Note: "Emergency" clothes are extra clothes that only get used if I forget something or have an unexpected need for them.

panniers.

i take the day's clothes with me each day. leave shoes at work. once a week, i bring in a couple of fresh towels.

of course, this isn't a big deal since i work in a very casual environment at a software company. shorts, sandals and t-shirts in the summer, jeans and t-shirts in the winter.

http://www.chromebags.com/kremlin.php

Carries everything that I need for work with me... Lets me stop at the store on the way home. But I don't have to dress nice for work anyways...

I have to do the shirt and tie routine. I use a compression packing system from Eagle Creek Pack and fold that allows me to fold everything up in a nice neat package that is compressec with velcro straps. Everything is ince and neat when I unpack it. ANd is fits well in a pannier.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=9130154&parent_category_rn=4501740&vcat=REI_SEARCH

Then I just keep a few pairs of shoes in the office.

I just use a JanSport day pack as my luggage. I recently purchased a Nike Atmosair sling bag (messenger / backpack mutation) off the bay, I'll be switching to that shortly.

I carry in my clothes. Boots, wipes, towel etc, etc are already at work. Clothing is packaged in the Space Bag doo-hickeys. Yes, they really do work well. Not only do they keep stuff dry, they have the added benefit of reducing the volume of the load.

I keep a spare set of shirt / pants / socks and roos at work, just in case.

I use a Carradice saddlebag to take the days clothes in to work. I leave a pair of shoes at work all the time.

I have to do the shirt and tie routine. I use a compression packing system from Eagle Creek Pack and fold that allows me to fold everything up in a nice neat package that is compressec with velcro straps. Everything is ince and neat when I unpack it. ANd is fits well in a pannier.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=9130154&parent_category_rn=4501740&vcat=REI_SEARCH

Then I just keep a few pairs of shoes in the office.

Oh they look very promising indeed!

At the moment I use a courier bag to carry everything around, and one or two of those would fit nicely inside I bet, assuming I could learn the arcane art of 'folding'.

Now lets see if you can get those in the UK :) <google>

Panniers. I carry everything I need every day (including shoes and lunch), it's just a matter of distributing the weight evenly (which becomes routine after the first couple of days) and keeping the heavier items at the bottom.

It fits nicely into a messenger bag, I on occasion use that option to. Also REI.com I'm sure will ship overseas.

I bring a bunch of cloths to work on a day I drive in, leave shoes at work. On days I ride I bring home the cloths I wore that day.

Leave your suit/trousers and shoes at work.
Try and keep a spare set of clothes in case you forget.
Carry in a shirt and whatever else you need on a pannier on a daily basis.

I'm lucky to have a locker/shower room in my building. I keep a blazer, a couple-three pairs of pants, and my shoes at work. Sunday evenings I drive in shirts, undies, and sox for the week. Friday afternoon I pack it all home in a backpack.

Number 2 is the best option. I exchange my clothes on Fridays

Any bag you have to wear is too hot! Think about this if you don't have showers in your work place. I have a rack and panniers. I just roll my clothes and the wrinkles are gone in few minutes. http://www.ortlieb.de/index_en.htm Waterproof and bulletproof... good luck

An Eagle Creek Pack it kit, sized almost perfectly to fit into my messenger bag, has been ordered. I'm hoping to be able to take my shirts in with it without them getting creased. My suit and trousers I can have dry cleaned at work. For everything else I have a locker near the showers that I can use to store.

I'm very fortunate in my workplace, it paid for a cycle route running close to the site, has provided a locked hut for bike storage during the day, has placed red cycle areas at the front of the intersections leading to the main entrance, provides lockers and showers . . . . . can't ask for anything more really! :)

I use a Carradice saddlebag to take the days clothes in to work. I leave a pair of shoes at work all the time.

Ditto this. I fold the pants/shirt as normal then roll them up and put them in one of those plastic shopping bags in the Carradice bag. Once a week or so I switch out towels. Although I usually wear polo type shirts, I'm sure dress shirts would also do well with this method. Messenger bags are way too hot down here :D

An Eagle Creek Pack it kit, sized almost perfectly to fit into my messenger bag, has been ordered. I'm hoping to be able to take my shirts in with it without them getting creased. My suit and trousers I can have dry cleaned at work. For everything else I have a locker near the showers that I can use to store.

I'm very fortunate in my workplace, it paid for a cycle route running close to the site, has provided a locked hut for bike storage during the day, has placed red cycle areas at the front of the intersections leading to the main entrance, provides lockers and showers . . . . . can't ask for anything more really! :)


I fold up a heavy starched shirt and do not suffer any major creases and the pressed pants fit well to. It has made my life a dream....

I used to leave all my clothes at work and then make a mass effort to bring them home every now and then and have them laundered at once, then bring them back in one big effort.

Koffee

What Koffee said. I have a closet that I can store all my suits in which I take to a local cleaning service nearby. That said, my underwear, socks, dress shirts etc are brought in for the week usually a Monday and then brought home usually on a Friday. I have a nice big courier bag for the effort. Its nice to commute and not have to the carry the bag everyday.