bbbean 

Skip the middle step. Ride naked.

Hondo Gravel

I wash bike clothes on gentle cycle then hang them to dry.

Dirt Farmer

Only if I shart. Otherwise, in the washer she goes! Thankfully I've only sharted once in my life.

Cuyuna

I just couldn't care less about longevity, durability, wearability. When my biking clothes wear out, I throw them away and buy a replacement. As a percentage of the total that I spend on my bicycling hobby, the amount that I spend biking shorts is miniscule. Certainly not enough to make it worthwhile for me to undergo the hassle of hand-washing that clothing.

bbbean 

Really? So you'd be OK with shorts that were uncomfortable and wore out after during the first wearing?

ChinookTx

Dishwasher, top rack, China cycle.

greatscott

Ok, so what soap do you put in the dishwasher to wash your kit with?

Cuyuna

I couldn't care less about the hassle of hand washing them to try to extend their comfort, durability, or wearability. If I pull biking clothing out of my dresser drawer and find the item to be worn out or uncomfortable, I throw it out. I don't actually know how long that stuff lasts and don't actually care...seems to be doing OK. I can assure you however, if my wife told me that my biking clothing was wearing out too fast, my solution would NOT be to have her start hand washing it.

rosefarts

Machine wash with all my other clothes, hang to dry. I retired a pair of Izumi bibs last summer, I think I got them in 2004.

Ive got a pair of wind front tights that are still fine and even older.

However long they last, I don’t think most of us would notice or care if we magically got another year out of them.

KraneXL

That's fine if we're talking about paint. But that doesn't tell much of anything with a garment since we don't know how often you wash/wore them.Bike short provide more than just cushion, they also provide compression/supports. That most certainly deteriorate with wear and washing. High heat being the greatest of these.

rosefarts

So durability claims are a legitimacy test of riders? I got them as wreck replacement when racing cat3. I raced/rode for a couple years and they were part of the rotation. I rode pedicabs full time after that for 3 years after. And I’ve done plenty of other riding since. Does that help?

Compression only matters if my balls are dangling or bouncing. Squeezing the quads is nice but not important to me.

indyfabz

And whatever you do, don't get DEET on them.

cyccommute 

Yes, laundering clothes contributes to wear but only slightly compared to use. I’ve posted about this before. Each time you pedal, you rub your clothes against the saddle. You do this thousands of times per hour. That causes more wear in a single hour of riding than a decades of machine washing in old agitator machines. Modern front loaders are much more gentle to fabrics.

I’ve also addressed the heat of a dryer (multiple times in multiple threads). Lycra is fabric that has its stretch set by heating the fabric to about 200°C (which is almost 400°F). A home dryer won’t reach that temperature unless you risked setting it on fire. Lyra can actually benefit from heat in that it resets the stretch. Further, the origins of the fiber are from the modification of Dacron which made a fiber that could stretch and withstand high heat.

From my own personal experience, I’ve been machine washing and drying my bicycle clothes for more than 20 years...probably far longer. I’ve got a tone of bicycle clothes that are close to 20 years old that is still going strong. They have all been washed and dried in home driers and in commercial driers (while touring) hundreds of times. They aren’t going to explode tomorrow and I expect to get at least another decade out of most of them. The fabric doesn’t need to be treated with kid gloves.

mac_flyer9

Hand wash, no… Delicate wash cycle yes and then hang dry.

Sy Reene

FWIW, additionally Castelli recommends (if memory is correct) to put their softshell water-repellent clothing in the dryer (after it has hung dried) for about 20 minutes to reset the water repellency (low heat).

Hypno Toad

New kit arrived today, see care instructions... Does not say "hand wash"

Sy Reene

Clothing makers always play it super safe. Heck, I have standard cotton logo/design tshirts and they all generally indicate to wash cold, tumble dry low. I've never done either of these things -- typically warm water and medium to high heat dryers.

KraneXL

The point is to extend the life of the garment for as long as possible. After all wouldn't you want to get your monies worth? I can make a pair of socks last 6 months or 3 years from washing alone.

Bleach is a great method for making cloths white and bright, but it also significantly reduces the longevity of the fabric. For many synthetics, the high heat from dryers tends to be second.

Personally, I have instantly and completely destroyed more garments in the drying process than all other cleaning methods combined.

LaurenPrior

YES! washer destroys mine

greatscott

Get a new washer, I've owned Maytags, and now Samjunk (which by the way stay far far away from Samsung appliances, they're JUNK even the high end crap we have!) Anyway, none of those two brands, not even Samjunk destroys clothing of any sort.

The reason cold water is being recommended more often now is because modern detergents actually work best in cold water, this is an attempt to save energy of course, but also cold water won't fade colors as fast. Unless your washer has sanitizing mode the hottest water from a water heater WILL NOT kill any bacteria, another reason why cold water is being more and more recommended. The dryer on the other hand can kill bacteria but to much heat will destroy stretch bands in clothing over time, shrink some fabrics, lock in stains so they can never be removed, ruin chamois, ruin polyester fabrics, anyway a lot of stuff can get destroyed with too hot of a dryer. Best heat for modern clothing is low and let it run longer to dry. Better yet, follow the garment instructions.

Spinay70

Often, while I am wearing them.

Spinay70

NomarsGirl

You're supposed to wash them?