I have a small apartment and it really sucks to hang everything all the time. I’ve been throwing in nice bibs, jerseys, skin suits etc. on the “synthetic” setting, is that any better? Will my stuff actually start falling apart?
As a man I take pride in not following any of the suggested washing/drying instructions on my sports clothes and have yet to have any problems in doing so. All my gear fits the same as the day I bought it. The only thing that seems to consistently shit kick my sports stuff is anything that goes in the local pool.
well, not all sport clothes but lycra bike stuff for sure (bibs are expensive and they’ll last a year longer if you line dry) and compression fabric…forghetaboutit!
Ian
Its one thing to do it once and a while … its another thing to do it every time. As already noted, they will last longer if you do what they tell you to do.
well, not all sport clothes but lycra bike stuff for sure (bibs are expensive and they’ll last a year longer if you line dry) and compression fabric…forghetaboutit!
Ian
Strangely, I’ve had total opposite experience. I have Assos F1 Unos that are 4 years old. I babied them like the manufacturer recommended for the first 2 years, then tore a hole in the pant in a crash. Relegated to bike trainer duty, where it still gets a lot of use, but I no longer baby them - they go in the wash just likely everything else.
Even after all that washing, 2 years later, with the exception of the tear, they’re otherwise like they came brand new. Nary a single loose thread on them. I thought it might be the vaunted Assos quality, but my other 2 bibs Performance and Castelli, I didn’t baby at all, and 2-3 years later are also looking great and haven’t gotten any damage or significant wear at all.
I’ve been wearing a bike jersey I got as a gift 11 years ago - which is 7 years before I started actually training on the bike - and wear it on nearly every outdoor ride I do. It’s a good Sugoi jersey, with seemingly better make/material than anything nowadays, and that one also looks brand new.
I do think if you’ve got something with lace-thin material, that will eventual take a toll in the washer/drier - I have a running shirt from Nike with super thin armpit panels for cooling, and that is the one shirt I own that looks a bit worse for the wear from all the laundry. My other race shirts (which aren’t high quality but are poly) have a few loose threads here and there after 5 years of use.
Be a man. Use the dryer. Warm bike shorts on a cold morning feels extra special.
I just dry the synthetics on the lowest heat setting, and they’re all fine. I’ve got a fleece that’s about 10 years old and it’s been machine dried and everything is fine. Ditto my Lowe Alpine windblock tights (so. freakin’. awesome). Label states that the tights will spontaneously disintegrate if they come within a mile of a tumble drier, and I’ve dried them on the ‘low’ setting for a decade and they’re just fine.
I hang dry the nicer stuff. The rest gets the drier. Emilio DeSoto has said quite a few times that the drier is the devil for any athletic material that has elastic in it.
Use some Penguin sport wash too.
Man up, wash with woolite in cold water and hang that wet stuff up all over your crib. Dryers are for moms (and cotton crap). Tim
been washing all my workout clothes and drying them on low setting since the day I bought them. I’ve put everything in the washer and dryer including my wetsuit(air dried the wetsuit).
All still feel and look like new except the damn wetsuit. Maybe I should be putting it in the dryer too.
I’ve had my SKINS compression pants for 1 year and washed+dried it every weekend. So far not a single problem. The drying makes it a little tighter again which is nice.
(But then, SKINS is one of the few who actually recommend machine washing their stuff)
hang on i’ll ask my wife how she does my laundry… yep, she hangs the bibs and coats. jerseys and arm warmers and stuff hit the dryer. gloves/shoes sit on the forced air vent until ride time, toasty fingers.
I have lycra/spandex workout clothes that are 15-20 years old that still work fine if i choose to wear them. I have never bothered line drying, or even drying them on a low setting. Do they hold up AS long that way…probably not…but long enough that I’ll eventually just buy something new.
Now…if somebody has the magic cure for the stench that my workout clothes tend to have…that I’d be interested in. Vinegar helps…but it comes back. I’ve basically given up and accepted the fact that I’ll really stink after a workout.
I dump all of my workout clothes in the same loads as like colors of my regular clothes. Light colored workout clothes with light colored regular clothes. Sometimes (and really I mean often) my bike shorts hang out with my jeans. Since I refuse to add more layers of sorting, they get dried together as well. On regular heat. For as long as needed to dry the jeans. This includes my DeSotos (sorry Emilio). I still have every pair of bike shorts I have owned for the past 6 years in my rotation. The only pair that has any issues is a pair that has frays from a fall. Since the chamois is still pretty good, I keep using them.
Why would the clothes get into the dryer? You actually wash them?
Why would the clothes get into the dryer? You actually wash them?
Nothing a good ride in the rain can’t clean.
Now…if somebody has the magic cure for the stench that my workout clothes tend to have…that I’d be interested in. Vinegar helps…but it comes back. I’ve basically given up and accepted the fact that I’ll really stink after a workout.
Easy. I’ve been using this stuff for 8 years. Has even resurrected an incredibly funky 15 year old Nike Dri-Fit shirt. This stuff was originally marketed to the Sports/Fitness market under the Penguin Sports Wash brand, but now it’s also available at half the price at **Walmart **under the manufacturer’s own brand: Atsko Sport-Wash (same as Sensi-Clean baby detergent, they’re all exactly the same product). You’ll find ‘SPORT-WASH’ on the shelf in the HUNTING section. Do not go to that section wearing shorts with shaved legs, guys.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sport-Wash-Biodegradable-Laundry-Detergent/19212212
You can also mail-order it direct from the manufacturer (Atsko.com) in even more economical sizes . How much do I like this stuff? I just ordered the big 64 ounce size shipped to our friends in the US, and they will be personally delivering it to us when they visit Latin America at Christmas time.
It’s also available at TriSports.com under the Penguin Sports Wash brand.
As a man I take pride in not following any of the suggested washing/drying instructions on my sports clothes and have yet to have any problems in doing so. All my gear fits the same as the day I bought it. The only thing that seems to consistently shit kick my sports stuff is anything that goes in the local pool.
^^ This.
Never had an issue putting them in the dryer.
The only thing I do differently is make sure that anything with velcro doesnt get washed at the same time. Tend to tear up the fabric.
That’s what I was thinkin’
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