Terrible advice.

Zippers and velcro can wreck lycra. Unless you're using 20 year old, dirt cheap clothes, best to put each item in a bag and zip up the jerseys. Handwashing, even better.

You throw your gear in the dryer? Really?

+1 we get something called sports suds from Canuckistan.

I use a sportswear specific detergent called Win and usually hand wash then hang dry. I'll put it in the washing machine weekly just to give it a thorough washing, always in a lingerie bag on the "delicates" setting (cold water wash) then hang dry.

I wash them by hand in a dimly-lit room in a special solution containing the tears of 12-year-old virgins, all the while chanting a secret Buddhist mantra, then transport them in a covered wicker basket 1000 yards into the woods, where I hang them up to dry on a 100% hemp clothesline, using old-fashioned clothes pins, wood only no springs, over a bush of wild lavender.

Either that, or my wife tosses 'em in the washer along with my daughter's running clothes or my son's football duds.....

+1 How did you know the secret washing. It's only taught by buddhist bicycle riders. :innocent:

It came to me in a dream, after a long night of Jagerbombs...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We spend countless hours every year subjecting our clothes to intense heat, wind, rain, cold, and sometimes snow. We sweat like pigs for hours at a time in these clothes. We wear them in brutally sunny days, riding through puddles and mud and salt and grit, while engaging in an exercise that consists of nonstop repetitive motion.

But we won't run them through the washing machine, and we'll only use special super delicate soaps?

People. Come on now.

FAIL.

They should only be washed by the hands of young virgins.


heathen.

The fact that I sweat so much in my gear demands that I wash it in a soap that rinses out nicely and won't irritate me long term. The washing machine is pretty hard on poly fabrics. I want my expensive jerseys/shorts/bibs to last more than one season. No pulls, rips, tugs etc.

So do you pressure wash your bike after every ride with some caustic degreaser/cleaner? Same thing.

Well, no, but I don't pressure wash anything with a caustic degreaser, so I don't know how well that point works. My point was more that yes, while they perhaps need a bit of extra attention, some of us seem to go to extremes. My stuff = delicate cycle, normal detergent, hang dry. Haven't had any issues so far, and everything is still comfortable and in great shape.

Also, it was kind of a joke.

This is why I hand it over to my neighbor who plays Warcraft religiously!

I have a related question. My jerseys have grown permanently smelly despite being washed between rides. Anybody have a way to get rid of persistent man musk?

I wash mine in the dishwasher, inside out to make sure they get properly cleaned.

I hand wash shorts and jerseys in the sink and hang dry indoors (or outdoors in the shade) immediately after each ride, if possible, with Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. I only wear jerseys once in a blue moon, however.

Shorts also get machine washed, hung to dry indoors once a month or so.

Toss lycra/chamois in a mesh bag, tie and wash with the rest of your gear, hang-dry... tossing it in the dryer cuts seems to ruin the elasticity faster.

I have many times in the past, and guess what ... it's been just fine. Cycling clothing is not that delicate ... it is tougher than you might think.

But most of my adult life, I have dried my every-day clothing, and my cycling clothing, by hanging it. We don't even own a dryer.

Borax.

Borax will take out any odor. Just soak them in borax for a while, then throw them in the wash with detergent.

I wore them in the shower yesterday took em off and rinsed, wrung em out to dry over the shower stall....dry and ready for tomorrows sweat fest in 100 degrees

Yep! Rowan was the one who put me on to Borax. When he washes his work clothing, he adds both detergent and Borax to the wash, and we do the same when we wash our cycling clothing.

If it can not handle modern washers, it does not deserve to be on your... erm... back.

Just rinse really well to get rid of the detergent residue.

I do mine with regular underwear load, but hang dry.

SF

I come in from my ride, walk into the basement, strip, put my clothes in the sink with laundry detergent to soak while I take a shower. When I'm done I wash by hand for maybe a minute, rinse twice and hang dry over the sink. Ready to go next day.

I cold wash on delicate with woolite or some tech wash, then hang it on a hook to dry. In the winter or if air drying is poor I might throw stuff in the drier on a knits & delicates cycle and low heat.

When I machine wash my shorts, they get Borax. 20 Mule Team rules!