Washing Laundry
 

Newbie to touring and I am planning a 10-15 day tour this summer was planning on carrying 2-3 pairs of bibshorts.

So was was wondering what is the norm for washing clothes while touring.

I plan on staying in hotels so I guess I could use a local laundromat but was wondering what are the other options.

Buy some 'travel wash' detergent and wash shorts/shirts/socks by hand when you get to the hotel. Let them dry over the bath/shower/whatever. They'll usually be dry the next morning. If not, you've got a spare.

Bring synthetics, not cotton.
The thin synthetics dry really fast. Wash stuff in the sink. Use the hotel hair dryer to warm and dry any wet stuff in the morning :)
You can always tie wet stuff onto your bike with straps and look like a traveling side show on the road too. :)
Stuff dries fast at 9mph :)

When I roll into camp, the first thing I do is head for the showers. I lather up my lycra and socks with baby shampoo, while wearing them. Strip down in the shower, rinse and wring. I hang it all out with my towel and it is usually dry by morning.

Thanks for the info.

You want to wash your shorts each night. I carry two pair. If one pair is still damp the next day i just hang them on my paniers. I stop once a week and do a laundry at a laundromat.

If you jump into the shower wearing your kit, remember to take your cell phone out of your pocket. Ask me how I know. :)

I'm hoping you forgot the step where you wash the inside of your garments?

Washing them out in a sink is adequate. Any soap works OK. Camp suds, any shampoo, or even bar soap all are fine. I usually start a tour with a few ounces of baby shampoo and replenish with whatever I find. The little bottles of body wash or shampoo are usually available for free if you are moteling it. Which ever soap I have, I use it for clothes, body, and dishes.

I take advantage of coin operated washing machines and driers if they are available, but don't go out of my way to find them.

Personally I find 1 or 2 pairs of shorts and 1 jersey along with 1 set of off bike clothes to be enough. FWIW, I don't get the bib thing.

:eek:

Or hope I didn't forget it. ;)
Everything gets good and lathered before it gets rinsed.

Two jerseys plus a long sleeved one for me. Somehow I seem to wear the same shirt on all photos anyway.

What was really funny is when I had to ask the extremely good looking female campsite owner and her equally attractive daughter for a hair dryer. I am half bald and have my hair cut very short right before a tour. :)

Personally, I have better things to do every night than laundry. I carry enough clothing for 4 days so I only have to do laundry every 4th day. If a laundromat appears on the 3rd day, I'll do laundry.

A note on bicycle clothing, lycra likes heat. It resets the stretch in the molecule. Just do your laundry in a commercial system. I buy laundry soap at the laundromat, too. Almost all of my clothing is synthetic and can be washed and dried together. Don't use fabric softeners because the softener can damage surface treatments or clog the pores in GoreTex.

I'm another "do the clothes in the shower and hang it on the bike to dry fan". I tried a laundromat once and then realized how much ice cream I could buy with the same money:)

With the exception of one sink wash, I've always made do with rivers and lakes. A little vial of biodegradable soap and you're set.

I'm also inclined towards not giving a damn about my odor and only worrying about my shorts. Benefits of always camping and cooking--no one to lift their nose at you!

Because you're staying in hotels, you don't need to worry about showering with your clothes on, washing clothes in sinks, washing clothes in rivers and lakes, etc.

Most hotels have laundry facilities in the hotel itself. Choose clothes you can wash and dry in the machines ... and yes, you should be able to wash and dry your bibshorts.

Bring a pair of light basketball shorts or something similar to put on while you're washing everything else.

On a 10-15 day tour, you could probably get away with doing laundry 2-3 times.

I'm probably the oddball, but I HATE feeling dirty and will do almost anything to not wear something already used. On the road, you can use a small plastic container and add water, a small bit of soap, item of clothing, and shake a lot. Repeat with clean water to rinse (obviously, dispose of the soapy water in a proper manner). If in a hotel, use the sink. It didn't matter where we were, I always found some way to wash my clothes and my body. It might have involved a small tap in a park (freezing my wazoo) or a quick rinse in the sink of a restaurant (getting my hair clean involved a lot of gymnastics), but I'll do whateve I can to stay clean. You'll be surprised at how creative you'll get--very, very quickly.

i just put them on inside out. then wash again. then let them air dry in situ. get some looks. i'm pretty sure its the chamois.

I generally wash my clothes in the sink and let them dry in the shower. I usually stay in cheap motels (Motel 6, Super 8, etc) that either don't have laundry facilities or where it isn't worth the headache. A 3oz nalgene squeeze bottle full of detergent is enough for a week or more. Bibs+socks+underwear get washed every night, the single bike jersey gets washed when it smells, and regular clothes get washed if obviously dirty. I do laundry as soon as I get off the bike, to allow for maximum drying time.

Bring a flexible sink stopper if you stay in cheap motels like I do; the built-in drain stopper is often completely broken or won't keep water in the sink for more than a few minutes.

+1

When you wash things in the sink at a hotel you can dry things very quickly if you use their complimentary dryer, Lay the wet clothes on a towel, fold the sided in and roll it up tightly. Press down on it a few times or stand on it and unroll. Synthetics will be dry in a very short time after doing this.

ditto on the "roll up in towel and squish it" technique.

also, I like the smart idea of using a drybag to put water, soap and clothes in , seal and shake to wash clothes.

While this makes perfect sense, the last thing I want to do after a long ride is laundry. Even in hotels I use the soapy shower method. Leaves more time for restaurants and taking in the sights!

But it's not like you'd do laundry every night ... as I said, on a 10-15 day tour, you could probably get away with doing laundry 2-3 times. So you could pick a day off or a short day to do the laundry. It's really not that big a deal. Put in a load, go for a nap, toss the the clothes into the dryer, head out for dinner ...

sink, BYO stopper.

quick and easy.

You can extend the time between washes by wearing your shorts inside-out.

Agree with most of the above except that I do not have the patience to use a hair dryer to dry clothes. If I am spending enough money to stay in motels, using the motel laundry machines is pretty cheap compared to other costs. And if I am using a motel that much, I spend several hours every day in non-bike attire for restaurants and bars, that stuff needs occasional laundry too.

I carry a small bottle of woolite soap, since I sometimes travel by air I use 3 oz bottles.

When I use the sink for laundry, many motels do not supply hangers that can hang from the shower head. So I bring two to four plastic hangers and a small handful of clothes pins. Then I can let things drip dry in the shower at first. After an hour or two I roll up the wet clothes in a dry bath towel (motel supplied), the cotton towel absorbs 80 percent of the moisture in a few minutes. Then hang things to finish drying overnight.

Exofficio brand underwear dries quite fast, as does the lycra in shorts. The pad in shorts can dry slow depending on brand. Some socks dry faster than others, I bring at least three pair of socks. I rarely bring anything cotton but I do have a couple part Egyptian cotton travel shirts that dry fast that I sometimes carry. Exception to the avoid-cotton-rule, I often carry some cotton bandannas.

Something else....instead of carrying around hangers and clothes pins, make a rubber band clothes line. My riding partner had one and it was the coolest thing (ok, I'm easily amused). Just type it on google and you'll see how to make it. The best part about it was you could hang it on nearly anything and the rubber bands were their own clothes pins. Very lightweight, flexible, and it actually did the job better than my bungee cords and pins.

I seldom stop at laundromats. I hate stopping for that long in the middle of a day's ride for something like that. If I camp at a place with a shower and hand wash the day's bike clothes while I'm taking a shower. I use Campsuds because I always have some for washing my dishes. I hang the clothes up after the shower. If they're not dry by morning I drape them over my load during the next day's ride.

When I stay in a motel I wash everything in their washer/dryer.

I don't worry so much about being dirty and smelling bad. I like to be clean, but if there's no place to wash I can always wait a day or two.

On a hot day by a lake you can always go swimming with your bike clothes on and call it good. I don't know how clean it gets your stuff, but it's sure easy and pleasant.

Personal I just bring less clothes as it brings a few benefits: Less weight, less to wash and it will give you more of an incentive to wash them regularly as the smell up faster. I wash or at least rinse my clothes almost daily with whatever I've got around. Hostel, river, gas station sink, whatever works and is free.

Soap is soap. I personally like using shampoo or using somebody's forgot soap in a hostel for my laundry. Use your sock, paper towel (pain to remove) or a plastic bag to plug up the sink instead of a sink plug. Or better yet, a plastic bucket, they are always around....