Hi Charles, I would never have considered silk to be robust enough for bike wear. I'll see if I can source some samples. Thanks.

Key thing is to wring as much water out as possible before you hang something up to dry -- the roll in a towel and stomp on method works the best for me.

I carry one of the cheap (Dollar Store) mesh laundry bags. Weighs nothing. I wring the clothes in a towel, then put them in the bag and whirl them around over my head (outside if you are in a motel!). Kind of a spin dry thing. Then I hang up. My stuff is always dry the next day.

Thanks, Tourist in MSN, I just bought the REI shoe covers, can't go wrong with 7 bucks...the plastic hangars is also a good idea. Now that you mention it most hotels and motels have the closet only hangars.

Hi Machka, thanks for the synth pants suggestion. I almost forgot I need a couple of those and shirts. I will use the laundry in the motels if they have one. But most hotels I've stayed in, while traveling for work, only have the laundry service and they are expensive. I need the "wash/dry yr own clothes" option as a back up.

Gary

Hi Rowan, agreed. If there is a washer/dryer option in the motel I will use it, I prefer the easier solution :) I need a back up option, however.

Whoa!

Silk?

I'd ignore that advice.

Silk was a very popular material for jerseys back in the day. Problem was, those did not breathe and ensured a great deal of heat retention.
Check the Tour de France archives back from the 30s and 40s - plenty of heat strokes among the riders wearing silk jerseys.

^^^That would explain why a silk, sleeping bag liner really does make a difference.

chefisaac, always willing to experiment. Ordered :)

All, thanks for the great suggestions, story so far:

Options to wash/dry fast drying synth clothes:

Ideal

1) Wash and dry using motel or other laundry in town. Use down time to rest/eat/socialize/shop etc

Other options

1) Wash in basin

2) Squeeze out as much moisture as possible, wrap in towel/synth chamois to sponge out more moisture - extras: stomp on towel

3) Dry using clothesline outside the room

4) Dry using clothesline in bathroom, run the fan

5) Dry using heat source such as lamp, hair dryer

6) take a couple of spare hangers

7) take a mesh bag to dry in the bag of bike (outside pannier, not inside)

8) Probably not so great option for people who prefer dry clothes: Wear if still damp and dry while riding the next day, its getting wet anyway.

Stuff to take: clothesline, synthetic towel/chamois, mesh bag, bungee cords, plastic hangers

Good if you can do it, but in the U.S. many motels do not have public laundry facilities. However, unlike some other countries, laundromats are common in most towns. We have had motels let us use their washers and dryers, usually at no cost. However, they were usually small motels away from any major bike routes. Also, RV parks and private campgrounds have a better chance of providing laundry facilities than most public campgrounds. In Europe there are no laundromats, and most hotels do not have public laundry facilities. Almost all the campgrounds have laundries.

along with the "on top of lamp" trick, I have in the past at hostels or whatever where there is a fridge, surepticiously hung wet socks on the heat dissipating fins on the back of the fridge, a nice steady warmth that dried out things (yes, they had dust on them, but didnt bother me)

Where in Europe?? We've done laundry several times in laundromats in the UK and France, and if I'm not mistaken that's part of Europe.

There are also lots of hostels in Europe, and the ones we've stayed in have laundry facilities.

It's all Merino for me - if its still damp I just put it on and let it dry in minutes against my body. I've been doing this for 3 years through all sorts of weather conditions and its worked out well.

Another place to look for laundry facilities are apartment complexes...I have used them on more than one occasion, was riding through a small town could not find the laundromat, but there was an apartment complex and the laundry was clearly marked :innocent:

As a general rule I prefer to use a laundromat over hand washing everything. Best touring story: I was coming across the Midwest and a cold front had come through, I was wearing just about everything I had with me and it was laundry day. Pulled into a small town laundromat and picked my machine, put the dirty laundry in that I had with me, then started adding the clothes I was wearing to the load. A lady sitting on the other side was watching with interest as I was peeling off layers. :eek: I stripped all the way down to a t-shirt and a pair of running shorts. She commented later that she was glad to see that I stopped before I hit my birthday suit. :D

Aaron :)

This is where I got mine: http://www.defeet.com/

Marino wool for me too. Synthetics over time retain body odor. Wool is not what you call quick dry but sure comes close. And as mentioned before sierra trading post has some fantastic prices on morino wool products. I waiver between SmartWool and RedRam.

We did not find laundromats in Portugal, Spain, France (mostly south and east), Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands or Iceland. I did see one (forgot where), but we were on foot in one of the larger cities and did not need it at that time.However, for the most part we were not on established bike routes and stayed in the small villages or campgrounds when possible. We tried to avoid most large cities and touristy areas if we could. There are probably laundry facilities in the bigger places, but the time spent navigating most large cities and finding the facility was not worth the effort. Or maybe we just did not know where to look:)

With my kind of luck, I would be hauled in for unnecessary indecent exposure :) but I will add apartment complex idea. There are a lot of small towns along the ACA Trans AM route and there just might be very small towns that barely have a motel and they might not have laundries at all. I want to be prepared.

I ordered the gatorskin sock and glove liners based on chefisaac's advice. If they manage to keep out the wind and cold with the Smartwool socks I'll buy a couple of pairs. RedRam is a new one, I'll check it out, thanks.

Virtually all motels have some sort of laundry facility, though maybe not public. A little friendliness and polite asking has always resulted in an ability for me to do some laundry. Especially if afterhours. The smaller the motel, the better. ;)

We found them in shopping areas in somewhat larger towns.

Rowan and I live in a town with a population of 2400 ... and this town has a laundromat. You might be surprised how many there are if you start looking.

A quick dry base layer is called "quick dry" because the sweat evaporates easily (when the base layer is worn), not because it dries faster after washing (this is just a side effect).

This is what happens when you have always lived in large cities :) I have no idea about life in small towns, facilities available etc. When you drive you speed through om freeways and usually only stop for Gas and Food and I never stopped and explored smaller towns. I'll find out soon enough in a few weeks.