Laundry

[kajero]

Do you wash you spin cycle shorts (if they are the padded ones) after every class you take?

[Eden]

A chamois is a wonderful breeding ground for bacteria, yeast, etc - definitely wash your shorts after each wearing.

[Dogmama]

I wash everything that has gone to the gym. MRSA can be quite abundant in some gyms. DH had wound MRSA - you don't want it.

[bmccasland]

Yes, spinning is the same as outdoor riding - I've worn the shorts and worked up a sweat for X amount of time. Into the laundry they go.

[OakLeaf]

:confused::confused: I mean... regardless of how much you sweat, does anyone reuse ANY underwear without washing? :eek: Like, if I ride midday after I've already dressed in street clothes, I'll put on a clean pair of underwear after my shower for the rest of the evening, even if I re-use the same bra, top and pants... This is getting to be like the bathroom cleaning thread, except a LOT more intimate :eek:

[ny biker]

I don't take spinning classes, but...if I put on a pair of cycling shorts for only a few minutes, such as when I have to have them on while I'm having a bike fit issue taken care of at the bike shop, the shorts go in the laundry when I get home.

[tulip]

Yes, I've had enough itchies from my racing days (when chamois was leather and hard to clean) that absolutely my shorts go into every ride and after every spin class.

I've never been to a spin class when I haven't sweated profusely.

[lovelylibrarian]

Same with me. I wash them after every use. For MTN biking, I immediately change into clean undies and pants after riding, rathering than going home in the car in my biking shorts. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[kajero]

Thank goodness you all agree with me. ;)

Seeing as I only own one pair of shorts right now, my SO just doesn't understand why I wash a load of clothes that hardly has anything in it at least two times a week. It is sometimes is even more depending if I wear the shorts for an outside bike ride.
(I do try to add some other clothes to the wash load, but it is still a small load.)

I am going to get a few more pairs of shorts but I haven't had the time and I have been waiting for REI's big sale! I also have been looking online, but I am so indecisive.

Thanks for positive help. I hope no one will be offended if I make him read the responses!


K

[kajero]

I think I might like to read the bathroom thread. It sounds interesting. Can you send me the link?

K

[emily_in_nc]

I think I might like to read the bathroom thread. It sounds interesting. Can you send me the link?

Here it is!

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=27035

[Miranda]

This is a bit more labor intensive, but you could hand wash the spin shorts.

Just a small amount of Woolite in the bathroom/kitchen sink does the trick.

Turn the shorts wrong side out, and give the chamois a scrub. Rinse out well, throw in the washing machine alone on just a spin out cycle, and viola... hang up to dry overnight for the next day's class.

I just leave mine turned wrong side out to dry. I think it helps the thicker part of the shorts, the chamois, to get dry quicker.

FWIW :)
Miranda

[OakLeaf]

Rinse out well, throw in the washing machine alone on just a spin out cycle

Rather than spin delicates, you can compress them in your hands (don't wring), then roll them up in a towel and squeeze the whole roll. That dries them as well as or better than the spin cycle.

I wash clothes by hand when traveling all the time... that trick pretty much ensures most things will dry overnight unless the hotel room has really poor ventilation or very high humidity. Cycling shorts do need some air circulation to dry though.

[alpinerabbit]

After a brief outside ride I will re-use a chamois, and after “real” rides I will sometimes conserve some energy & wash with either handwashing detergent or soap before finally tossing them into the laundry after a second and even third ride (can’t take five pairs along on a week’s training camp, and have no washing machine there)

Even as a microbiologist I don't get all worked up about MRSA; however, the amount of perspiration in a spin class justifies washing shorts. But even then a quick rinse in soapy water might be ok for another go.

My laundry machine has a sportswear cycle that takes half as long as a regular cycle...

[Smilie]

I wear work out shorts to spin class. It is only an hour long, and I don't feel the need to have a padded short for such a short amount of time. Saves the expensive chamois for the long important outdoor rides. Plain old work out shorts are very inexpensive compared to the cycling shorts.

Another laundry question though. I am now able to hang out clothes on the line to dry(YAY!!!) and I have found that the sun takes my SO's cycling jerseys arm pit stink away. I tried using vinegar, and baking soda, and odo ban(which he absolutely hated since he just puts apricots in the back pockets and they tasted like odoban...oops) and none of them worked. I started hanging clothes out, and voila! No smell, is it just me, or does the sun work wonders on sweat stench?!

[OakLeaf]

I don't worry about MRSA... or sweat for that matter... or even the other secretions which can be pretty profuse.

It's the other bugs, the garden variety ones, that will migrate from one orifice to the other ones in close quarters, getting wiped around by that big chamois wiper and assisted by whatever lube I'm using. Even if I did take a shower immediately before riding (which most of the time I don't - a thorough @ss-wiping with a damp washcloth usually does it for me when I'm starting a ride in the early morning - sorry if that's TMI :rolleyes:)

I'm not easily grossed out, and I am really relaxed about bacteria (if that video I linked to didn't already give you a clue). I think most of the hype about bacteria these days is just silly, and actually hurts people's health by (1) killing beneficial and balancing bacteria, (2) promoting resistance in "bad" bacteria, and (3) exposing us all to harsh and toxic cleaning chemicals.

But I do not re-use underwear without washing them. That just does gross me out.


ETA: PS, yes, sunlight (UV) is a powerful antimicrobial. Just turn your jerseys inside out so they don't fade too badly, and don't leave your things in the sun for hours after they're dry, as the UV will also degrade the chamois.

[alpinerabbit]

Another laundry question though. No smell, is it just me, or does the sun work wonders on sweat stench?!

Yup, and other smells. I once hung smoky clothes out (from a bonfire) and it went away.

[Irulan]

This is a bit more labor intensive, but you could hand wash the spin shorts.

Just a small amount of Woolite in the bathroom/kitchen sink does the trick.



<<<pulls out her anti Woolite soapbox>>>

Woolite is overpriced. It's basically a detergent with fancy conditioners to soften thing back up from the harshness of the ingredients. Use a couple of drops of dish soap, or, if you are concerned about "being gentle" on your clothes, use baby shampoo. It's way cheaper anyway. ;)

(WIN is just detergent with oxyclean already added to it. Again, save a few bucks and don't fall for the hype)

For super stink, try an overnight soak in Biz combined with Oxyclean. That should do the trick.

....puts soapbox ( sorry about the pun) away....

[Eden]

Ecover delicate wash http://www.ecover.com/us/en/Products/Laundry/Delicate+Wash.htm

works great for getting out sweat smells, plus its all plant based and biodegradable - much better than woolite

[kajero]

I was thinking (I do that sometime): I wash my heart rate monitor strap when I am in the shower. Why couldn't I take my bike shorts in the shower, wash them, put them in a plastic bag, and take them out to dry when I get home. I take the monitor strap and put it in the car to dry if I don't go home right away. Why not do the same with the bike shorts?

[kajero]

I wear work out shorts to spin class. It is only an hour long, and I don't feel the need to have a padded short for such a short amount of time. Plain old work out shorts are very inexpensive compared to the cycling shorts.

You are right about wearing workout shorts. The trouble is that I have really bad vericose veins on my legs. The bike shorts compression on the veins makes my classes much more enjoyable. Actually I wear capris (knickers) most often because they compress to mid-calf. My doc wants me to have the more problematic veins removed, but I am not sure I want to.

I also seem to ge a very sore seat if I don't wear the padded shorts.

[ttaylor508]

I was thinking (I do that sometime): I wash my heart rate monitor strap when I am in the shower. Why couldn't I take my bike shorts in the shower, wash them, put them in a plastic bag, and take them out to dry when I get home. I take the monitor strap and put it in the car to dry if I don't go home right away. Why not do the same with the bike shorts?

I take my bike shorts in the shower with me and simply use shampoo to wash them. Then roll them in a towel to remove most of the water and hang to dry. I will have to try the drying in the sun trick though. My shorts don't get that funky smell, but my jerseys do. Too bad I live in the NW and we don't have a lot of sun this time of year.

[aicabsolut]

I live in an apartment building where I have to pay for laundry. So I generally wash all my cycling stuff in the sink immediately after a ride. After a while, once I've accumulated enough to do other laundry, I will throw the spandex in the washing machine. I find there are pros and cons to machine vs hand washing. With enough hand washing, for some reason the shorts start getting stretched out. Eventually, they start getting a little saggy in the wrong places which can lead to chafing. Somehow, machine washing (usually in a front-load washer or in a regular one inside mesh bags) helps them regain a little shape. The same goes for gloves that are getting a bit stretched out with age, especially those that can go in the dryer on low heat.

Hand washing (with detergent) also doesn't seem to get all the chamois cream out. I'm not that worried about that from a health perspective, because I wash them well enough to get rid of odors (and, I assume, bacteria--I do not use scented soaps), and the chamois cream I use has antibacterial ingredients. So then the next ride, I've got a softer chamois with less chamois cream applied. Fresh out of the washing machine, the fabric feels rougher and I worry about crossing the fine line between not enough cream to be comfortable and too much. Put a little too much cream on and get caught in heavy rain, and it can be kind of gross.

I never reuse shorts, especially after spinning. I get so grossly sweaty spinning indoors. Ew. If I'm running low on shorts, I'll just wear regular athletic capris. I don't really need cycling shorts for most spin bikes. So if you have to choose between having something to wear on a road ride and having something to wear to spinning, save the shorts for the road.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

Always wash em. Always always. Even if I had them on, and rode a mile and then turned around for whatever reason, I still wash them. I

So here's a question for ya. I'm tired of using the free n clear ones because well, it seems there might be some alternatives out there. I need one that is nice to my skin (like Dreft minus the $10 price tag) and I would like it to not be tested on animals. And bio degradable. I'm thinking some of the Eco ones might work but I wasn't impressed by some of their other products. I want my clothes to be clean but not that weird oily clean that you get with Tide. Or it feels oily to me anyway. I guess I'm a goof. :rolleyes: