Cycling is a fantastic form of exercise—you can get your heart rate up, spend time outdoors, and enjoy the activity with friends. However, in cycling, perhaps even more so than in other sports, apparel is key to comfort. And it’s not cheap, so you need to care for it right to keep it in great shape. Here’s how to wash your cycling clothes and gear!
Are you reading this post while standing in your sweat-soaked cycling clothes? Use these tips to clean your cycling gear the right way:
Your cycling shorts likely contain a chamois pad, which is meant to add a bit (some might argue a very little bit) of comfort to your ride. If you hand-wash your gear, or even before you toss everything into the washer, scrub the pad with soap to get it as clean as you can.
Also keep in mind that you don’t want to let your shorts stay damp for long after your ride. Bacteria will take that opportunity to run wild in the moist material, making your shorts stink. If you aren’t going to wash your cycling shorts immediately, lay them out or hang them up so the sweat can dry.
This might sound counter-intuitive, given that this article is about keeping your cycling clothes clean, but try to limit the frequency with which you wash these items. If you go out for a light ride on a cool day and you don’t really work up a sweat, consider skipping the wash and just hang the clothes to dry before wearing them again. Washing your cycling clothes less often should help them last longer, which will help save you money given the hefty price tag on most cycling apparel.
This is a quick and easy step that can make a big difference: zip all pockets before washing. Leaving a pocket unzipped when an item goes into the washing machine might not seem like a big deal, but it can have an ugly outcome. The teeth of the zippers on these items can damage other garments in the wash, or they can catch on something and wind up bent or misshapen, ruining the utility of the pocket. By zipping everything up, you can conceal the teeth and prevent them from causing tears, rips, or holes.
You may already own a mesh laundry bag for use with undergarments or other delicate items. If not, they are readily available for a modest price. By placing your cycling clothes in this type of bag before they go into the washing machine, you can protect them from getting damaged by other items or the machine itself.
To clean your cycling clothes properly after a hard ride, keep a bottle of WIN Sports Detergent in your laundry room. Our formula is specifically designed to treat the synthetic materials used to make most cycling garments. With the power to wipe out the oils that allow bacteria to thrive, WIN Detergent knocks the stink out of your clothes with every wash.
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