A DIY method that requires a bit of planning this is as follows:

Take an empty butter container or Tupperware dish.
Fill 1/3 of it with liquid body wash
Freeze it
Fill the other 2/3 with water
Freeze it

Take this dish and a small towel to work with you.
Put the dish in the freezer at work.
After your workout, rub yourself down with the soap side to lather. Follow up with the water side to rinse. Dry off with the towel. It will clean you up and cool you down.

+1.

I used to commute 24 miles each way but I tried to get in before most of the other folks so that they weren't even aware of it. No shower but I did a very thorough wipe down and am quite confident I didn't smell. But one (rather unpopular) co-worker once made a snarky comment about my cycling into work that implied she thought the concept was gross. Sigh.

Whoa! Mind blown.

Seems so outrageous that it might work.

Have you actually tried this?

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It's not about what you've done, it's about what you're doing!
@trecca17

This.

I run everyday at lunch in Texas heat and Winter. I swear like a preacher in a whore house too because I push hard and it's not here. I wipe down with wet towels first. Then dry paper towel then baby wipes. I agree, cool down is important. people have said "you ran 6 miles at lunch , don't you stink?" And I say " do I?" To which they've said no. A lot depends on your normal stink level and the rest on just wiping down well.

Shower before you set off for work. Wear freshly laundered kit. Carry clean socks shirt and underpants in bag. Keep work clothes at workplace along with soap flannel and small towel.

If you start out fresh from the shower even if you have got a bit sweaty on the way in, it will be clean fresh sweat which won't smell. If you feel you need it a quick wash down with the flannel will do the trick.

The secret is always start out freshly showered in fresh clothing. Never wear clothing more than once.

Find a place nearby that might let you shower there. I go to a local small college locker room nearby.

If the only thing that is preventing you from running after work is lack of daylight, then get a headlamp or handheld light to run with (which you might not even need to see, more imprtanly for cars to see you). Or run before work and swim after work.

All this wiping down, sink showers, etc. seem like a huge pain in the ass for what is probably a relatively short run, not to mention all your co-workers will think you are pretty weird when they see you walking around in sweaty running/tri shorts and putting your head under the sink...maybe you don't care what they think but you really should.

I hear you but my window of opportunity in the morning is between 6am and 6:50. That means I'm up at 5:15 to hit the pool at 6 and punch out a quick 40 minute swim and shower, then back home to grab the kids to take them to school at 7:10. I'd have to run at like 4am. HA! I'm crazy...but not that crazy.

Someone else mentioned the headlamp. I might try that as is seems like a good idea for keeping me running after work. Also thinking of running after work from work...so I don't have to waste precious daylight driving home and getting ready.

Agreed in that I'm also thinking the wipe down process may just be too much for a piddly little run at lunch...more trouble than its worth. While it may seem to work fine for some, I'm not sure its the thing for me.

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It's not about what you've done, it's about what you're doing!
@trecca17

appologies to posters who have posted the same thing..

i did it for years (and still do - but company i work for now, has showers)

did all my marathon training in the morning before work (so..up to three hour runs)
always commuted to work on bike (hour of sweaty riding).. did that for ten years at around 10k km per year (come rain, shine, snow, mud)

no showers

don't use no showers as an excuse not to do it
don't take complaints as an excuse not to do it
the company IMHO should support you and question why they have no showers

use it as an opportunity to encourage colleagues to be more active.. they give you the crazy look but i found most respect you and many are encouraged to do something themselves (it proved a spring board to get colleague to do a team entry in local races)

as far as stinking.. i have done various things..
[1] join the cheapest club for just showering.. but didn't do it usually
[2] asked people living near the office (not colleagues.. just people) to use shower.. simple flyer through doors.. "for a small monthly fee, can i use your shower?" - you never know if you don't try!

but ultimately I found it best to wait a bit (so that my sweating stopped), then i would use a couple of those camping/swim towels that dry quckly.. use one that was wet to wipe and the other to dry.
and then deodorant
air tight bag for the clothes to not stink the place out

do you feel a bit yucky? yeah.. a bit.. but you get used to it.

other tip.. i seem to not stink so much if i am shaven (chest,.. legs).. just my impression

do it and use it for positives.. for you and your colleagues

I sweat easily and when I workout before work, I try to leave about 5 minutes of sitting at home in one spot with a fan pointing at me. I also have the blue ice blocks; one on top of my head and one for each armpit. I still sweat, but not as much. Maybe you can keep some at work.

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If my body isn't strong enough... I hope my wallet will be.

It's shocking to me that some people don't realize there are other life commitments (kids, spouse, etc.) that prevent training at particular times...

While I agree with this notion, I would be pretty surprised if a company just up and decided to invest the square footage, plumbing, construction, etc. to accommodate the small number of employees who want (not NEED) a shower facility in the building.

I suggested this multiple times at my old employer (employed 10K, global headquarters-type of place) and it was almost laughed at. 99.99% of your co-workers and especially the leadership who makes those decisions just doesn't consider this a funding priority. Unfortunately. My commute was less than 5 miles so even as a female it was pretty easy to shower before, wet-wipe down and change in the restroom, throw my hair in a bun and slap on some makeup. But I'd only do it on days where it was under 80 degrees in the mornings to be safe from excessive sweating.

For the guy who doesn't stop sweating until 40 minutes after a cold shower, this may be a lost cause.

Just to give a counterpoint: my company was renovating and needed to install an emergency shower in case of lab chemical spills. I lobbied the folks doing the design to locate the showers in the washrooms, and it turned out this was completely acceptable under the regulations and they made that little change to the design. Having showers is fantastic.

Every situation is different, but just pointing out how I was able to get this done with the right timing.

I run a lot at lunch too. I've been using a camp shower bag from REI, like one of these:
http://www.rei.com/product/868317/seattle-sports-pvc-free-sun-shower-


They last about a year with about 3 times weekly use. It can hang from trees or you can place it on the roof of your car/van if the roof if high enough. Fortunately I have a relatively secluded parking spot so I don't give everyone a show. I do get caught by weirdos once in a while who like to watch for some weird reason (I'm a dude). I just keep my run shorts on until I get a towel to change in the car.


This works well in the spring/summer/early fall. In the summer I leave the bag cold, in the cooler weather I put it on the roof to get warm in the sun (or fill it with hot water from the bathroom sink). In the winter time I wipe down with rubbing alcohol on a rag and follow up with baby wipes (I do use the scented ones though). I do work rather isolated in my own office, so I'm unsure how much I stink during the winter. I'm sure it's not as "clean" as a real shower.

This is the trick I think. I now have easy shower access and use it, but for a long stretch some years ago I showered first.

A couple of things:

Having clean bike kit every day can be a chore if you don't own a lot of it (you can rinse and air dry after every ride, but that's not quite as effective as washing) - when I was doing the shower before routine my commute was short enough that I was fine in a cotton t-shirt as main garment (if cold out, add vest or jacket then strip it off before you start really sweating).. We all have dozens (hundreds?) of tshirts (though more and more races are giving tech shirts now which actually aren't as good for this). Clean sweat + clean tshirt + cooldown/wipedown can be effective (maybe not for all folks).

Also - it might be my imagination, but more swimming in a sanitized (whether by chlorine or salt or some combo) pool = less stinky the rest of the time. I think about 3x per week is enough to really knock back the bacteria on your skin (sure, showers help to, but I think an hour plus soak in mild disinfectant (the pool) is what really kills it off. The anecdotal evidence for me is when not swimming at all for a while, I'm more aware of stink. Anybody agree that pool time can neutralize in this way?

And - for the pre ride shower, don't make it piping hot and then just get out - you'll be heated up, even sweating already. End with cold water. And if practical, leave hair wet (unless that's going to give you pneumonia)

I'll have to disagree with the sweat stinking less after swimming. I know myself, my wife, and a couple others smell terrible while working out after having been in a pool. It's this intense chlorine/sweat smell that is very amplified compared to a non-swim workout sweat. I want to say there is chlorine still on the skin/in the pores that turn into chloramine gas when sweat hits it or something.

I see what you mean and agree - to clarify, I don't mean that immediately post-swim there's no stink - showering with soap (or the chlorine-busting body wash stuff) is key, along with stopping sweating (cold water at end of post-swim shower, as cold as you can stand) - going right from a pool (where you are surely sweating during the workout despite being in the water) into another activity is not going to leave you fresh at all. I'm speculating about the cumulative effect of the chlorine/salt on all the flora growing all the time on your body, in general day in and day out. There's just got to be less living stuff surviving on your skin in the nooks and crannies, vs. just a normal/typical shower each day. Maybe it depends on how your pool is sanitized. And maybe I'm totally imagining it. But I could swear that when I'm swimming a lot (and showering after), things seem stripped clean and less prone to stink at other times.