Washing your shorts

[caligurl]

i wash in cold water... in the washing machine.. with no dye... no perfume.... a "free" detergent... as per pearl izumi... do NOT use woolite.. it's actually very harsh for your delicate clothes and not good for lycra types (again.. this is per PI! i wrote them about my deteriorating leg warmers.. and when i mentioned woolite.. they said NO NO NO!)

i hang them to dry.... no dryer!

[Alliez]

Sadly this topic is all to close to my heart as well. From what I've read, washing machine water and dryer heat are not hot enough to reliably kill yeasties, and one should use a hot iron on the relevant portions of your underwear to assure that you are reinfecting yourself. I've not tried ironing the chamois on my bike shorts (yet) but I'm going to have to give it a try (unfortunately).

[Pedal Wench]

To help prevent whatever infections cause saddle sores, I've heard folks recommend drying them with the chamois exposed to direct sunlight. That will probably take care of all the nasties.

Maybe tuck as much lycra UNDER the chamois to prevent excess UV damage while it's drying outside.

Edit: In the winter, better come up with another solution. A frozen chamois doesn't sound too comfy!

[Eden]

Sadly this topic is all to close to my heart as well. From what I've read, washing machine water and dryer heat are not hot enough to reliably kill yeasties, and one should use a hot iron on the relevant portions of your underwear to assure that you are reinfecting yourself. I've not tried ironing the chamois on my bike shorts (yet) but I'm going to have to give it a try (unfortunately).

eek! I would hesitate to try that as spadex is quite meltable....

I have heard - note: I've never tried this on underwear or bike shorts so if you decided to try this test it out with something you can destroy!! - that you can kill yeast by putting your underwear in the microwave for a few seconds. Lycra might just melt if given this treatment though.

[newbiechick]

I could swear that I just recently read on this forum that cycling shorts should NOT be air dried. I couldn't figure out why ... thought maybe it's because of the stiffness that sometimes results from line drying. But maybe it's because the dryer heat gets rid of bacteria/yeast/whatever. No idea. Anyway, I switched from line drying to throwing them in the dryer. But now I think maybe I should switch back. So confusing.

My husband has been riding for years and throws all his cycling clothes in the washer and dryer with everything else. Now, of course, he doesn't have to worry about yeast infections and such ... but considering how long he's had some of his cycling clothes, they don't seem too much worse for the wear in spite of washing and drying. Actually I have recommended he replace one pair of his shorts ... but he's probably had that pair for years.

My nephew is on his college cycling teams ... and he is fanatically careful about caring for his clothes ... special soap, line dry (I think), etc. I've never seen a 21 year old be so diligent about anything!

newbiechick
aka Shelley