I have some 20 year old or so wool Blackbottom shorts with REAL chamois in them, left from my previous incarnation as a cyclist. I'm using modern shorts now, but might like to have these as spares, if need be, or to match the retro look of my Bata Bikers shoes .

There used to be some suggested "stuff" to apply to the chamois to keep it supple and I can't remember what. Any of you other old fogies remember how to care for these? The chamois might be too dry to recondition, but I'd like to give it a shot. Thanks!

Brian

I've unfortunately never owned a pair of vintage shorts, but I do have at least one vintage book that talks about caring for them.

According to The Ten Speed Bicycle: "It is important to keep shorts clean for proper hygiene and the prevention of saddle sores. After many washings the chamois "hardens." To soften the texture, rub a small quantity of oil into the chamois. Any kind of natural oil works. We have heard of riders using Crisco vegetable oil, but if you don't feel right about using a salad oil on your shorts, Johnson's baby oil works well. Before using the shorts again, spread a small amount of baby powder or antiseptic powder (such as Caldesene) on the chamois to absorb the remaining oil."

It then goes on to talk about disinfecting the shorts, etc. Hope that helps!

Any sort of nappy rash cream will work fine as chamois cream.

Is it possible to buy vintage shorts anywhere? I'd kill to have a 70's kit.

As I recall we used to use vaseline.

Vaseline is petroleum based -- definitely don't use it. Think of chamois as "skin" and use what you'd on skin to keep it soft and supple -- a good quality natural oil (food grade mineral oil is the most "non-smelling" of any of them - you can get it at any drugstore, usually in the "I can't poo but need to" department).

p.s. Food grade mineral oil is also great for: keeping wooden cutting boards and other wooden items protected and cleaning out animal ears.

Aren't there a number of bike specific Chamois care products available? I would think one of them should fit the bill nicely.

BTW, the thread title is a bit frightening until you start reading.

purevl --- I suppose a natural oil is the way to go. I found that natural chamois are processed with fish oil, though I'll likely not try that.
Here's a source I found for some cream for natural and other chamois:
https://www.branfordbike.com/cgi-bin/...hamois%20Creme

I understand that an effort should be made to keep these things disinfected. Might be too much trouble to bother with.......

The text I quoted above suggests that if you are a heavy sweater that you swab the chamois with a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove salt and disinfect. Doesn't sound like too much trouble at all. One does wonder, however, if the alcohol wouldn't be somewhat counterproductive to the oil treatment. I think I would personally just go with an off the shelf cream, it's a bit more spendy, but given that it both treats and disinfects and a single tub is likely to last forever if these aren't your primary shorts it would seem to be a pretty good value nevertheless.

Kucharik has them; natural chamois is optional. I bought a pair out of retro-contrariness. They made me realize that real progress has been made in this area in the last couple of decades.

I use non-petroleum jelly, a vegetable oil product with the same consistency as vaseline. I use the same stuff as a lubricant for modern shorts.

I might note that if you have surviving shorts from 20 years ago, you might find that they are shorter than modern shorts and look almost as strange as basketball shorts of the same vintage. I own a couple of pairs of old shorts, and they make me marvel at how freakin skinny I was a quarter century ago.

I used to wear wool Blackbottoms with natural chamois in the early 80's. The leather treatment I bought from Lickton's was a blend that had fish oil in it and it did not smell good. I can remember the smell right now as I type this. Even with treatment it eventually dried and started cracking and at that point there was nothing I could do. They were comfortable shorts.

I'm tempted to get a pair of Woolistic shorts from Vintage Velo as I think wool is a great cycling material for at least three seasons of the year.

I always used something like Assos Chamois cream which is designed for the chamois
not your butt as some people seem to believe.

Ok, not to push Ibexwear too much but check these out:
https://www.ibexwear.com/shop/Product...vee-Bib-Shorts
$125 for marino wool and new chamois.

Marty