PeteHski

This ^
Nothing delicate about quality bike gear. Lightweight, soft on skin, but tough as nails. Those are the qualities that make the best gear stand out.

Camilo

I think - at least in my case - that the reason to use a mesh bag with bib shorts isn't that they're delicate, it's to prevent the straps from getting all wrapped up with the other laundry or the agitator. I use a bag for my bibs all the time for that reason.

I do agree wholeheartedly that cycling clothes are not delicate and don't require any special care except maybe don't dry any synthetic at high heat because it simply doesn't need it. But especially shorts. I think heat of a dryer, even at low, will reduce the life span of stretch. Or at least don't let them bake in the dryer any longer than necessary. They dry over night hanging from the door knob in our laundry room plus just use another pair if they don't.

LV2TNDM

I wash with darks, regular cycle with warm water.

I never use the dryer. Plastic and elastic fibers don't last very long when you subject them to high heat of the dryer cycle. The stuff is synthetic, wicking, fast-drying material, so air drying is fast. Faster if you do the "roll in a dry towel and sit on them" routine before hanging out. Really no need to dry if you either have more than one kid and/or plan ahead.

I've had shorts last 20 and 30 years. If you don't crash, you can get decades out of your cycling wear. And with today's pricing, it's great when you can get years and years out of cycling apparel.

PeteHski

3 simple rules that most of the care labels clearly state anyway:-

1. Low temp wash (30 degC)
2. Air dry. No tumble drying
3. No fabric softeners

Doesn't need any more thought than that. I just chuck all my cycling gear in the wash together. Our machine has a dedicated "sports wear" cycle which takes care of it. It dries in a couple of hours when hung up. Quick drying is another feature of quality gear.

cyccommute 

Lycra (and other polyurethane elastic materials) won’t be damaged by being stretched due to be tangled in other laundry. Lycra can stretch 5 to 8 times it’s normal length without damage. Most washing machines today are tumble type rather than agitator type but even an agitator machine probably can’t stretch the material that far. The nylon of the garment will probably be the limiting factor in stretch anyway.


People make the mistake of thinking that polyurethane elastomers are “rubber”. It isn’t. It’s an entirely different material that isn’t delicate nor damaged by heat. The fabric itself is heated to somewhere around 200°C (about 400°F) during manufacturing to set the material. Even a commercial dryer set to high would have difficulty reaching that kind of temperature.

Additionally, heat can cause the polyurethane elastomers to regain stretch. Heat causes the elastomer chain to

As to care, this is what Dupont says

Bicycle shorts usually has a high content of nylon (about 70%), some polyester (around 15%) and lycra (around 15%). None of those fabrics are particularly unstable in heat. Nylon has a melt point of over 250°C (>500°F). Polyester has a similar melt point. Lycra (generically known as “elastase”) melts around 240°C. None of those temperatures can be reached by a home dryer and very few commercial dryers are going to get even half way to those temperatures. They top out at about 180°F.

Finally, socks and ordinary underwear (not fancy stuff that really isn’t meant to be worn for long) typically have lycra in them to provide stretch. The days of rubber cuffs on socks and waist bands are long gone. Do you hang dry your socks and underwear to increase the lifespan of the stretch?

cyccommute 

I know what the labels on the clothing says but I think they are more of a CYA because the clothing makers don’t understand their own fabric. I’ve been running a 20+ year laundering experiment on bicycle clothing. About the only time I have thrown out bicycle shorts in the last 20 years is when I tore the shorts or when some other part of the clothing failed…like stitching failing. I’ve never had to discard a pair of shorts because the Lycra wore out.

I wash and machine dry my bicycle clothing because I don’t have enough time nor room to handwash and line dry this quantity of clothing

2015-01-24 10.24.52 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

That’s 2 days of winter clothing.

Germany_chris

I wear a lot of merino (polo’s, underwear, socks, and sweaters) so I just wash my cycling stuff with that 30c for 90 minutes

Camilo

Thanks for the clarification. I'll still use the bags because it's a tangled mess if I don't - which is why I started using them in the first place, and then thinking of them getting stretched out secondarily.

I also put anything with velcro in a bag just because it sticks to other things and can damage them.

Interesting although I never thought this stuff was rubber. The only items I've ever been concerned (misdirected, evidently?) are the bibs because the other stuff (a) costs chump change compared to bibs and (b) are easier to replace. Some of my favorite bibs aren't necessarily available in the exact model and chamois when the old ones wear out.

Do you routinely dry your bibs in the dryer and if so, a "medium/normal" heat setting or extra low? And, you see no deterioration in the stretchiness in the long term? Genuine question.

I'm not afraid of the dryer at all. I dry all my other technical fabric light weight, synthetic garments - shirts, shorts, base layers, socks etc. etc. in the dryer, but use extra low just because it seemed prudent to me to use low heat, and that's all it takes to dry that stuff in a short time. I have put my bibs in there occasionally if for some reason (rarely) I need them dry right away. But since they have more stretch component than the other garments, are more expensive and harder to replace than socks, base layers, jerseys, etc., and they dry so quickly in the air, I have always thought it wise to just avoid the dryer for the bibs.

I'll have to admit, I don't often read the care instructions on stuff like this since I've been washing and drying it for so many years.

I also want to point out that I don't hand wash anything! Except maybe if I'm traveling and don't have ready access to a washing machine. I even put the pads from my helmet in a mesh bag and throw them in the washer from time to time.

bruce19

I think the issue is the dryer not the washing machine. All my bibs are Assos because that's what works for me. I hand wash and hang dry but that's just me.

cyccommute 

Fair enough. I agree that Velcro is a bit of a problem.


I don’t wear bib shorts. I have bib tights. I don’t buy cheap shorts, however. My current dryer has a sport setting but I also have dried them in older dryers as well as commercial ones while out touring without the sport setting. In those I usually use the medium/normal setting. I have found that heat helps reset the stretch. When I have had to hand wash my clothes…it happens…I notice that the shorts seem to be looser fitting.

Fredo76

Pearl Izumi gear wants 'free' detergent and no fabric softener. Which is how I do my own regular clothes, so no biggie. An agitator machine doesn't seem a problem, nor does the dryer.

Camilo

Ah, another reason not to hand wash! Interesting about the medium setting resetting the stretch. I've got such ingrained habits, it will be tough for me to test that, but I do plan to. I know that I was always paranoid about drying goretex fabrics, but then I learned that a certain amount of heat works to activate the surface so that water beads up which is what it's supposed to do - which is a lesson in reading the labels I guess.

pdlamb

We've had these discussion before. I'm curious why you think the properties of any constituent materials carry over when they are mixed with other materials.

FWIW, I've lost two pairs of shorts, at two different times, that inadvertently went through the dryer. In those two cases, the shorts lost their elasticity in the dryer. What went in was tight, though not unpleasantly so. What came out was drooping, baggy shorts that I didn't wear again.

After the second time I figured I'd read and follow the directions on the label. Air dry.