I hear you. My shoes and smartwool socks were banned from the tent cabin when I worked in Yosemite. Wool socks get nasty quickly, but for some reason I could probably live in one merino shirt for the rest of my life without it picking up any odor.

RV Parks/Camps also almost always have a place to do laundry. Plus people there are usually extremely friendly and older (meaning they want to feed you and hear your story, which is great)

Yepp, colors and whites (only my sox are well sort of white) together, 60 degrees... max drier temperature... anything that can't stand that treatment won't be brought along.

Typically washing machines at campsites/motels have a shorter wash-cycle which I find necessitates 60 degrees rather than 40

You got it!!

And one of the reasons I bring a sarong on a tour is so that I can wear the sarong while everything else I've got with me is in the wash.

I generally take three each of the major items that are likely to get smelly and dirty. That is, three pairs of bike shorts (although only one or two pairs of overshorts), three pairs of woollen socks, three shirts or jerseys and three pairs of gloves.

It pans out that one set will be one on me, one in the dirty clothes bag, and one set spare. The additional clothing set is not a significant space or weight problems, and I toured fully self supported in Europe in 2003 and 2007 with just two rear panniers, a bar bag and a tent.

I've had too many occasions back when I started touring swhen I tried getting into damp-to-wet clothing that I washed the night before and hung out to dry (eg, washing in restrooms, showers and the like). With some luck and judicious use of wet wipes, I can get almost a week of cycling out of the three sets without offending anyone, and likely end up at a campground, hostel or other accommodation where laundry facilities are available.

Laudromats are also excellent for being warm and dry refuges when the weather turns nasty. If you have hygiene issues, then get a bottle of household first-aid disinfectant (such as Dettol in Australia which comes in very small bottles), andput a dose of that into your wash cycle. I've never done this in extensive use of laundromats, and I haven't contracted some nasty disease.

And if you are a swimmer, there is nothing to stop you from using various rivers and lakes to take a dip clothed. It probably won't do that much to wash away ingrained dirt, but can help.

And if you are concerned about synthetics retaining nasty smells, see if you can buy some borax powder for every third or fourth wash (wherever that might be). It kills the organisms that end up in the fibres of synthetic clothing and generate thoae unwelcome odours.

Bekologist also is right about the sink plug. Mine is a piece of thin, flat moulded round white rubber about six inches in diameter that actually lives in my Trangia cook kit. It is designed to fit plug holes of many different sizes (so carrying just one plug won't work on every sink) and has served me very well.

Does anyone know where to get the cheapest surly nice racks?

And this has ... what ... to do with laundry?

Regarding Merino Wool. I've been using Australian Merino Wool shirts, layers and sweaters daily for my commute and they're awesome. I can get away without washing it for 2-3 weeks and it never smells. But that's 45 minutes one way, easy riding.

On my first overnight trip last weekend I wore the Merino shirt. It was in the 70s, dry and breezy. After all day it was so soaked in sweat that large spots of salt started forming. They dried into disgusting, sticky stains. It still didn't smell but I was weird to the touch, I couldn't wear it. And despite the dry, breezy weather the shirt remained wet on me most of the time. It definitely takes longer to dry than synthetic. I don't even want to think how it'd look like in typical NY Summer weather: 90F/90%.

So for touring I'm back to synthetic shirts, the loose type, not jerseys (I don't like them too close to the skin on long rides). I can change them even during the day, wash them in any bathroom and they'll dry in no time. They also remain dry on you most of the time.

Wash your armpits whenever you can and you should be OK, that's the major source of the smell. Also, shaving your armpits (cutting short actually to avoid skin irritation that's caused by close shaving) will help with the smell too and make them easier wash or wipe with WetOnes.

Maybe they're better for drying your shirts and shorts than other racks???

... but I thought EVERYONE on BF agreed that Tubus racks are better than Surly for shirts!

I find Jagwire cable to be better than Shimano for holding drying socks in place when hanging them on the top-tube...

Dear NYCPhoto -

Taking laundry on the road literally - -

So.... um... you're waiting for rain to wash these?

No -
15 minutes of sunshine after DAYS of rain.

Oh my

Interesting observations. I am a proponent of merino wool and polypropylene as wool's cheaper substitute for mild to cool/cold riding. But, aghast as everyone might be about this, I think cotton remains a very good choice for hot weather. It's no good at all when the temps drop, say below 20 dec C and it gets wet, but this cooling attribute seems to be what makes it work in hot weather, at least for me.

It could be a bit of a chore changing to wool in the late afternoon and evening, but that scenario should be rare. Another negative is that it does take quite some to dry in cool ambient temps. By the same token, I know of artifical fabrcis that take equally as long to dry.

I don't have a particular preference for artificial fibres when touring in warm to hot weather. Some are downright clammy. However, I do like microfibre as an artificial fabric because of its wind resistance and ease of washing and drying -- hence I will take either full trousers or zip-off ones on tour to wear both on the bike and casually, and I think a few brands of cycling-specific wind-proof jackets are made of it.

But keeping clean isn't just about not stinking. It's about health. Open wounds can lead to septicemia if they are not cared for. Wearing clean(ish) clothes next to your skin is part of good hygeine.

It might seem that the benefits of "good hygeine" are overstated. The western preponderance for staying clean from birth may be more of a negative than a positive in terms of resisting the bugs that can cause ailments. It is a preponderance that is reinforced by the fear instilled by heavily promoted products that make a big profit for various corporations.

Bring a tube of Ozonol, Polysporin, or Paraderm with you if you are really concerned about an open wound becoming infected.

You can easily go days without showering, bathing or changing your clothes, and be just fine. Back when I was young in the early 1970s, it was quite common to have the weekly bath ... you bathed on Saturdays so you could start your week fresh and clean.

As for clothes, I've worn cycling clothes on a tour for as much as 5 days straight before changing them for something cleaner. I even crashed and had a fairly deep open wound up in the jungles of Queensland on that tour. I just cleaned the leg up as best I could, applied Ozonol and a bandage ... and then cycled 100 miles out to civilisation, with a stop overnight midway at a bush camp in the middle of the jungle. My leg was fine.


The "cosmetics" industry (soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc.) and household cleaning product industries are making a fortune out there.

+1
Daily bathing (or even weekly bathing) is a modern custom. It definitely is not necessary for good health.

It may be socially unacceptable to stink as bad as I do after a few days on the road, but even that seems to be fairly well tolerated by the local folks in really rural areas.

I personally don't care much for cotton on tour even in hot climates. The reasons are... It feels clammy. It tends to chafe. It is nasty to put on a second third or fourth time without washing and drying. OTOH it does cool you nicely.

. Every tour I've been on washing machines were abundant.. What's the problem.. Usually camp sites offer laundry facilities.. When I've had no access to laundry facilities, i've rung my bike clothes out by hand.. But, the problem with bike clothes. Lycra might dry fairly fast, but it seems the chamois in bike shorts does not..
When on a tour, I'm biking 75% of my free time, streets clothes takes a long time to get smelly.. Usually one set of street clothes will get me through several days of riding..

Yes, rural people, specifically those in agricultural areas aren't as picky about smells. I lived in a small town of 1200 people (during the summer when all the houses were being used) less than that the other times of the year. One Sunday at church, I passed by a man that had obviously worn his boots, or even his suit, as he worked in the barn to feed his animals, stepping in the mess that abounds inside during the winter. Yuck...but then, for all I know, I stunk too since I had worked in a barn that morning too...just not in my church clothes. No one said a thing to him and people sat down next to him with no problems.

I went about a week through the desert without washing clothes. My shirt was stiff and crusty with salt at the end.

I bet the horse with no name could barely stand you by then...

Go ahead.