I start clean, cool down, bird bath if necessary change into fresh street clothes (including socks and underwear), deo & body spray.

I've noticed that since I changed to quick-dry, wicking shirts and shorts, body odor is even less if an issue. The clothes themselves...not so much. I hang them in a room with a vent fan.

Oh boy. 91% isopropyl alcohol on 'down there' parts? Whooooo! Not sure the screaming will be so refreshing to others :speedy:

Lots of good advice (mostly) already in this thread. The gist is - start out clean in breathable clothes, then dry off, clean up (with baby wipes/towel/paper towels), put on deodorant, new clothes, voila.

Observations: If I am sweating regularly, I smell not so bad (at least until the dirty clothes ripen). But if I haven't sweated for a few days it's bad, especially my armpits. Now, I have used the Performance tanktop style mesh tops as a first layer for years. Recently I've been leaving the house with those, then a short-sleeved light thermal over and the rest of my layers over that. Get to my commute end and in the bathroom pull off everything down to the tanktop, do a quick wash of my pits and put all back on save the SS thermal. I feel and smell a lot better. That quick cleanup is fast and uses just 1-2 paper towels.

Depending on my situation, I've showered, paper towel bathed and the above at various jobs over the decades.

Edit: the new T-shirts and briefs are a huge step up from cotton. I sweat less, smell better and feel more comfortable. Patagonia makes really nice, lightweight ones. I've picked up two now from Cycle Oregon rides that are a touch heavier and just as nice. FEel as close to fine silk as anything synthetic I've ever worn. I love them when I go to a music jam in a bar what can be either warm or cool (it's an ancient building) but on stage I may be sweating. Feel much better when I go back to sit in tight quarters. I've been retired since I made this discovery but they are one of my "I wish I had these then" items.

Ben

I usually don't care for the US vs. Europe comparisons because the context is so different that what works there wouldn't really help us, but the point here about the way people smell is something I can embrace. People in the US wouldn't even need to adopt European levels of body odor tolerance. Just allowing people to smell like people would be a huge leap forward. I try not to offend with my body odor and I feel like by the time I'm smelling it it's probably unpleasant for the people around me, but my attitude is that if I don't notice my own smell then the people around me can probably tolerate it.

I have showers at work, but I don't generally use them. Nor do I shower every day at home. I sweat on the way to work, so I change clothes when I get here. It gives me a good excuse for wearing bike-specific clothing, which I think is more comfortable to ride in. I don't smell bad enough that anyone says anything to me, and I haven't noticed anyone giving me sideways looks. My wife would definitely tell me if I smelled bad at home.

A strange thing I've noticed is that I start to develop BO more quickly if I don't bike to work for a day or two than if I do. My theory is that sweating cleanses your pores and as long as you get the sweat off of your body in a reasonable time the net effect is positive.

Well, as I noted it is used to prevent sore from the saddle. But sure, if you already have one...:eek: :eek: :eek:

I ride to work in shorts and t-shirt during warm weather (which lasts a few scant and yet humid months here at this part of the planet). I clean up and cool off in the washroom, change into my work clothing, and move on. I am looking for touring / commuting sandals from Keen. I also have very hot feet most of the time, so the sandals are a real comfort multiplier. I just need stiff-soled ones for longer trips.

I live where it's plenty hot but dry - I often don't start sweating a lot until I STOP riding and the air stops flowing. I'm not a stinky sweater, but have sometimes kept some Gold Bond on hand that I'll apply in a bathroom stall.

When I lived in Arizona I used to ride about 5 miles to work on flat ground. Even in summer it was "relatively" cooler in the morning and I didn't bust it riding in to work so when I got to work I wasn't that sweaty. However, I still dried off outside and put my work clothes on when I got to work.

Now I live in North Carolina and thinking of commuting again but it's way different here. The heat and humidity makes me sweat like a pig even if I ride slowly. My ride is now 8 miles. There's a YMCA just half a block away so I'll probably shower there before walking in to work.

For those of you who think you don't smell at work, reconsider, there were folks out in Arizona that rode 8 to 10 miles and thought they didn't smell because they said, "I don't sweat". Wrong. You do sweat, the dry weather just dries the sweat off the body. That's why they smelled at work. And, people did know they smelled. They smelled like sweat. Not pleasant to be around especially in a conference room with the doors closed.......

I was so self-conscious about it that I often asked a trusted buddy at work if I smelled. He gave me a straight answer too. Once in a while when he gave me the "look" I'd camp out in an empty "hotel room" (small one-man phone room) and often rode back home at lunch, showered and drove my car back to work.



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When I ride home in 115F I sweat like crazy. But it dries of instantly on wind facing surfaces. Too much in fact as my sweat can't keep up with the evaporation and I get hotter and hotter.
Then I get home, strip down to my thong and sit on my cool down chair. Quickly a large deep puddle of sweat develops and my wife bring out the mop and tells me to clean up.

Ask your work to install a shower. This would promote more people at your work to be active which would increase productivity.

I do have showers at work when my company built an onsite fitness center last year so that along with a change to our dress code allowed me to start bike commuting last year. If they didn't, there is are two fitness centers near by that I could have ridden too, showered and then the ride from those gym's to my office would have been less than a mile. My ride is 7.5 miles one way and in cool weather and peddling easy I don't really sweat too much but now with rising temps, it doesn't matter how slow I go I'll still work up a decent lather.

I bike 8 miles from Hapeville to Atlanta. Most days I go to the gym and shower there, but sometimes I ride directly to work. When I don't go to the gym, I shower before I leave home, rest a few moments when I get to work, change into work clothes and put on deodorant. I keep baby wipes at work but haven't used them. It is hot but the stink hasn't really been an issue and I sweat a lot.

Resting fro a few minutes before changing is such an important step

It takes the body time to cool down.

I still sweat for 5 minutes after I get inside. I just let that happen. Keep toweling off. Wait until I really dry off. Then I change.

Now I don't sweat in my work clothes.

Yes, but buying a round of alcohol for co-workers repeatedly (especially in high concentrations) will raise their tolerance for any occasional funk.

Ride to work in T-Shirt and Shorts/Jeans 10 miles. No showers at work until July. Just cool off and change my top. Starting this week to wear a jersey to see the difference. No one has complained yet. lol

Witch hazel is a great alternative to alcohol. It also promotes quick drying and cooling of sweat, but it doesn't dry the skin. Try it! Also, it's nearly odorless.

It's great for itching and bug bites too

You know....there is such a thing as 'oversharing'

:D

My commutes have ranged from less than a mile to my current 16.7 miles. The former was in the Bay Area, CA and I just wore my work clothes as I never broke a sweat. I had another similar commute in San Diego which was around 4 miles. Again, I just wore my work clothes. Weather rarely got too hot and inclement.

Now, I have a commute just shy of 17 miles one way in the DC area. It gets hot and humid here so having a locker room with showers at work (also a nice gym) helps.

We're obsessed with this now in North America, but when I was a kid most folks bathed about once a week on average and we didn't wash clothing with anywhere near the frequency that we do now. And back then most people were considerably more active than we are today.

But back to the OP: I agree that if you start clean, you won't smell even if you do sweat quite a bit on your commute. We do have a shower at work, but I've never bothered with it. I keep a change of clothes in my office and after I cool down I'll wipe down with some neutral hand wipes if necessary and put the office clothes on.

but you have bidets :thumb:

I just put a bidet in my house. I can't understand why people wouldn't want one unless they wanted to use a shower after every poop.

My previous job did not have a shower available. I used a wash cloth and rubbing alcohol to freshen up. I would also bring a fresh set of work cloths to change into. My coworkers didn't know I was riding to work unless they were there very early and saw me ride in.

Agreed. If I am sweating regularly and staying hydrated, I smell not so bad. Spend too much time indoors, not eating and drinking properly, or office type stress sweat, then big stink.

Guessing one answer is to just keep on sweating and hydrating non stop during the summer months here in Tx.

I don't have a shower at work; I just wipe down with a wet rag and keep deodorant at work, then change into my work clothes. I've never noticed a stink or funk.