I figured I should share with the 41 the system I have developed, over DECADES of riding, to clean my shorts/bibs and jersey after a long ride.

I know most of you just throw your kit in the washer and dryer, and if that works for you, that's great. I think your cycling clothes will last longer if you wash them by hand (or in my case, by foot).

So you come home all sweaty and stinky from a ride. You need a shower. Kill two birds with one stone.

1. Throw bike clothes in the shower. Be sure to cover the drain (with the clothing) if you use a stall shower, or better yet put the plunger down like you are taking a bath.

2. Turn on water and once you have desired temperature, hop in the shower.

3. Stomp on your bike clothes for 20 seconds (prewash)

4. Shampoo hair and after rinsing, stomp on bike clothes again for approx 30 seconds (wash cycle #1 ).

5. Wash body with soap and rinse, after rinsing stomp on bike clothes yet again for 30 seconds (wash cycle #2 ).

6. Pick up bike clothes and wring out, hold under running shower, repeat rinse/wring 3 times. (rinse cycle)

I then let them hang on the shower bar for a few minutes while I get dressed, then wring out one last time and air dry.

1) throw in hamper

2) spritz with Febreze

3) do laundry when out of clothes

4) waste money to replace clothes that are worn before their time.

You just have to be confident that no other person in the household has tinea or athletes foot and has left spores in the shower bay... and your wife doesn't have super-long hair

I am with Hummer on this -- I do have 15-odd pairs of bike shorts to choose from, and more than 20 jerseys, so the wear from washing gets passed around. And we use a front-loader these days, which is gentler on clothing than top-loaders.

And, all my tri gear says no hot water and no wringing.

5)

I do pretty much that when I'm training a lot so I don't have to do ridiculous amts of laundry.

Even simpler (but essentially the same)
- Throw clothes in shower.
- At some point, get a bunch of soap or shampoo on 'em and briefly lather them. Takes like 20 seconds
- Rinse them (important - I've forgotten to rinse a few times and wasn't good!)
- Hang dry on a hook in the shower

I don't even bother to wring them. Just drip dry, and they're usually dry by the next day, or at least dry enough that I'm not bothered if I re-use them.

I'll put 'em in the laundry after one of these cycles though.

Great advice [MENTION=107711]datlas[/MENTION].

I follow a similar procedure, but only with bibs. Jerseys go in the washer.

Nachoman washes on the gentle cycle and hang dries.

I have a load of jerseys in the wash right now. Gentle cycle. Cold water.

I sometimes hand wash my kits in the shower as well. I used to hand wash them after every ride but have been using the washer as of late due to time restraints and now that I have more kits its not such an urgent matter anymore.

I was washing my cycling stuff in the shower. I think I'm going to go back to the machine with a wash bag.

The main issue with the shower is that you want to wash most stuff on cold. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of cold showers. So really there are 3 options:
1) Hand wash in hot water (shower).
2) Machine wash cold.
3) Dedicated washing in a bucket or tub.

#3 is the easiest on clothing, but not exactly time efficient.

+1 On the front load gentle cycle, cold water & hang to dry.

+2

with most newer washers (especially the front loading ones since they dont have an agitator) you dont really have to worry about them damaging your cloths. The cycles are pretty gentle and shouldnt decrease the life of your clothing.

I still choose not to dry my clothes though, as extensive heat probably isnt good for them.

Just gotta add-

I've been using 3 pairs of bibs and 1 pair of shorts for the past 4 years, and I pretty much throw them in the spincycle dry weekly.

There is zero damage to any of them, and they all look pretty much completely intact - no frayed threads from the dryer. I thought they'd get beat up after awhile in the dryer, but no such luck - the fibers are as tight and intact as they were when I got them. Since then I've never been afraid to cycle dry any of my bike/run clothes. All of them have done great.

+3

This stomping you're doing is more stress on the clothes than a proper hand wash. (And if you're going to be anal, that's what they want you to do. Hand wash. Not foot wash.) Also, what exactly is in your shampoo? Or your conditioner? How do you know those chemicals are not damaging the properties of your clothes? Further more since you're not really soaking things with a proper detergent then I'd be wary of bacteria on the chamois.

Call me +4 for gentle cycle, front load, hang dry.

I'm a serious biker, my legs are too shot to do all that 30 sec stomping.

I'll let Kenmore do the wash for me, thankyouverymuch.

ditto

From what I have read, and my experience, spin drying lycra/elastin/spandex is good because it shortens the fibres again and restores the clothing's tightness and support.

Certainly, I have three or four pairs of Pearl Izumi shorts that are around 10 years old and have seen thousands of miles of riding, and are still wearable. Some are thin in the fabric admittedly, but still able to be worn and still providing the required support and comfort under long pants or over shorts.

Much does depend on the quality of the fabric from the get-go.

I have to add that we don't have a dryer at home, and we air dry all our clothes. However, the method outlined by datlas in the thread-starter has been used by touring cyclists for as long as there have been touring cyclists. We do use dryers when on tour...

I call BS on this statement. I have been washing any and every kit then hang drying them, they come out the same as if hand washed.

Eaxactly


Exactly

It is more fun to get into the shower with someone of the opposite sex. Rub them with shampoo hands. Let them rub you with soapy hands. Remove cloths. Rub them with shampoo hands. Let them rub you with soapy hands.......

cloth get washed.
I get washes. (I feel so dirty.)

Laying the clothes over a box fan (on low) speeds up the drying process. I sometimes have to do that to have dry clothes by ride time.