gregw

On past tours I have packed several days worth of cycling cloths and used Laundromats. But I'm trying to lighten the load and one area to do this is less cloths. But less cloths means daily washing. If you hand wash on tour, have you found any good secrets on how to do this easily and effectively?

I was thinking about using one of those heavy duty zip lock bags. put cloths, water, detergent in bag and slosh the bag around for about 5 min., drain water, rinse, repeat. Think this would work?

Then create a cloths line on my trailer for drying while on the road. I have strapped wet cloths down, but they don't dry well this way.

John Nelson

I always hand wash, and I do it every night if possible. I never use a laudromat. If I have access to a shower, I wash clothes in the shower. If I only have access to a sink, I wash in the sink (and "shower" in the sink as well).

If the climate is arid and dew is not expected overnight, I just hang the clothes on the line to dry overnight. If heavy dew is expected, I pull them in before going to bed. If anything is still damp in the morning, I strap it to the rear rack to dry. If I have a lot of damp stuff, I carry a mesh bag to put them in. If they're still damp at the end of the day, I hang them on the line again.

I don't take anything that takes a long time to dry. Drying time is one of the primary criteria I have for everything I take. Whenever possible I run the clothes line through the clothes to prevent any possibility of them blowing down off the line.

If the weather is damp (such that washed clothes won't dry) but my dirty clothes still dry, then I probably won't wash them but wear them dirty the next day. Of course, never wash all (i.e., both) your cycling clothes at the same time unless you're sure they will dry by morning.

The wash job doesn't need to be perfect.

gregw

Are you using padded cycling shorts?

nun

I take my clothes into the shower with me and wash them there. Then I wring them out really well and hang them up to dry. No shower then I do them in the sink.

John Nelson

Yes. The shorts are the only item of clothing that you absolutely, positively must at least rinse out every night. Everything else works fine dirty.

Booger1

If you have trailer,get a small tupperware,put water,soap,clothes in it.Shut the top,ride to your next place,rinse clothes,dry.Vibration from riding cleans your clothes.I use a ziplock,but same thing.

But I carry more than 1 days worth of clothes.

Cyclebum

In summer, not much of a problem. Heck, I'll go in a c store, wash jersey in br sink, and put it right back on wet. It'll dry quick and meanwhile, it'll cool you off. Also wash in showers. Extra pair of shorts dry on back of bike, or overnight. Doesn't bother me to put them on slighly damp. Socks are the hardest thing to get dry. On short trips, I just take some old ones and discard rather than bother.

Winter, carry more clothing and use laundromat every few days.

phoenix

One option to consider is to only travel with synthetic clothing. The benefits are they’re usually lighter weight and they dry much faster than their cotton counterparts.

I have no problem facilitating a laundromat if there is one in to use as an option, but if no laundromat is available I just use the shower or sink at the campsite, or there is always the gas station option.

xyzzy834

I do laundry every day on a tour, generally in the late afternoon or early evening when I stop for the night. I usually do laundry in the sink at whatever campground I'm staying at. I take a supply of individual sink packets of detergent (Tide is usually available where I shop).

I always take a length of parachute cord to tie up for a clothesline to dry the clothes. If it's raining or too damp to dry them, I try to dry them on the back of my bike the next day. I only take two pair of bike clothes and I will not put stinky clothes back on for a second day. They will get washed.

Some of the campsite bathrooms have the air blower hand dryers. I love those for getting the chamois in my bike shorts a jump start on drying. I hold them up to the dryer and run it for several cycles.

I only take Smartwool micro socks. The wool doesn't absorb moisture into the fibers and they dry much more quickly than cotton socks.

twodeadpoets

How our clothes get washed and dried varies on where we're at and how much time we have there. On our last tour (July 22 to Aug 8) we used a shower at campsite, a sink on a BC ferry and a Subway (sandwiches), laundry at a laundry and shower place on Salt Spring Island (too expensive for showers btw), washing machines a our Warmshowers, Couchsurfing hosts and a private campground, have tied clothes to our panniers when we didn't have enough time in one place, draped clothes on a portable clothes line we brought with us when we did have time, and hung clothes over our tent at night when it was too late or we were too lazy to setup the clothes line.

I think if I were going on a trip that was more remote (unlikely) or had more than a couple of people I might try one of these basins or these folding buckets. Russ Rocca did a review on the Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink.

Though the Ziplock bag tick sounds interesting.

Machka 

Cloths? Like your face cloth? I use handkerchiefs as face cloths on a tour ... they're lighter and they dry quickly when attached to the outside of my pannier.

Or do you mean clothes, like what people wear?

staehpj1

I carry two sets of bike clothes and one set of off bike clothes as well as some items that are for both. The off bike clothes are seldom washed and wait for the rare time when I bother with a laundromat (about once every few weeks). The on bike clothes are washed when convenient. I might wear the same bike clothes several times without washing if it isn't convenient to wash them. I don't find this to be a huge problem. I think that airing them out and letting the insides get a little sun between wear and alternating two sets goes a long way toward making this work.

On the subject of "airing out"... In addition to airing out the clothes it helps to air out yourself. To that end I wear running shorts in camp if it is warm and not too buggy and sleep in them as well. I find this avoids any problems with rashes and saddle sores. Daily bathing and clothes washing is a recent development in human history and is not required for health.

The downside is odor. Yes I stink at times, but interestingly I have found that the places where I am likely to be unable to wash clothes or bathe for a few days folks seem less fussy about such things. This seems to be the case in the rural American West. Folks there just don't seem as prissy about such things. In one case we visited a remote attraction when I absolutely reeked, I apologized and said I was sorry and that i didn't think I should really be indoors. The lady smiled and with what seemed like complete sincerity said "I think you smell nice".

neilfein

Well, I was going to be polite and not say anything. Thank god for Machka.

I hand-wash clothing, and a clothesline and clothespins are part of my normal kit. Here's my secondary drying rack (i.e., trailer):



I'll hit up a laundromat if the timing works out.

gregw

"e"

acantor

Despite the nuisance, I launder my jersey, shorts, socks, and underwear by hand at the end of every riding day. I carry concentrated laundry detergent in a small, tightly sealed plastic bottle.

My favourite technique for speeding up drying time is to wring thoroughly, and then roll everything very tightly in a cotton bath towel. Then I hang the clothes to dry for the night. By morning, everything is usually dry.

I stay in motels, B&Bs, and hotels, and use one of the towels provided in the room. I don't tour with a heavy towel.

For this summer's tour, I managed to fit all of my stuff for a four-day credit card tour into two small panniers, plus a fanny pack + tiny toolkit (mounted under the seat). I did not weigh my luggage, but I doubt it was more than 18 pounds, not counting water.

For the evenings, I had two T-shirts, one pair of short pants, one pair of long pants, a bathing suit, one pair of socks, and one pair of sandals. There was just enough room at the top of my panniers for food for the road.

foamy

That's an excellent idea. I'd consider cutting a small in my socks just to accommodate them.

BigBlueToe

It helps if you aren't fussy about what you smell like.

I hand wash my clothes in the shower with me. If there isn't a shower I'm willing to wear the same shorts and jersey twice before washing - even 3 times if I have to. I haven't had any chafing issues as a result.

I carry a lightweight clothesline and no clothespins. I haven't had much trouble with clothes blowing off. If you balance them properly you shouldn't either. If they're wet they'll cling. If they're dry they'll occasionally blow off, but if they're dry that's not a big deal. Shake them off and they're fine. In fact, when it gets windy it's a plus because they dry faster.

If my clothes aren't dry in the morning I drape them over my racks.

I bring three jerseys and three pairs of shorts. That probably sounds like too many to a weight weenie, but they don't weigh that much and I like having three. If I haven't been at a campground with a shower for awhile, when I do find one I can wash two kits and still have dry clothes to put on in the morning. If I wear them all twice I can go 6 days between washing.

Having said all that, it's still nice to use a real washer and dryer occasionally. When you're forced to camp in a KOA or private campground, it's a plus that they usually have them. It's also another reason for an occasional motel room. And, of course, a laundromat is a good place to hide out from a gully-washer.

mooncricket

Got the idea from a bicycle travelogue.

This is a strategy for those darn coin-operated hot shower at the state/private campgrounds where you might run out of coins before you finish washing. Also great for reducing time spent on a boring chore at the end of a long tiring day.

I jump into the shower fully clothed, minus the shoes. I bring in a plastic sheet to stand on. Shampoo hair, then lather the clothes I'm wearing. Strip clothes and stomp on them (on the plastic) while I soap myself and finish the shower. Then, pick up the clothes and rinse them a couple of times (if there is still hot water left).

Voila! I'm clean and my clothes are reasonably clean

No complaints yet.

Well, I tour alone ...

John Nelson

A oft-mentioned trick to speed drying is to roll your clothes tightly in a microfiber towel, then wring out the towel and repeat. If I have the patience, I can do this a dozen times in a row and wring more water out of the towel every time. I usually get tired of doing it before that. But if you have limited time to wait for your clothes to dry, this greatly speeds up the process.

staehpj1

That works well.

Another thing to consider is picking clothes that are reasonably comfortable even when wet/damp. I try to take clothes that meet this criteria and I think it helps a lot.

positron

Use wool. it doesnt stink, doesnt need to be dry either. i basically dont wash it oftern, but when i do, a bit of dr bronners' soap in the sink or shower...

it works in the warm and the cool.

staehpj1

I've read this often enough to think there must be something to this for some people, but...

I don't know if I have weird body chemistry, a weird sense of smell, or what, but for me wool stinks worse than most of my synthetic garments. I took one pair of wool socks on the TA and they were far and away my foulest smelling item. With my synthetic socks I never noticed any odor at all.

I agree that wool is generally comfy in damp conditions, but so are some synthetics.

axolotl

I got a couple of great synthetic shirts (at REI). They're comfortable, look nice, weigh little, and most importantly, after you wash them, 90% of the water drains out of them fairly quickly if you hang them up. The shirts are entirely dry by the morning almost all of the time. These shirts are especially nice for wearing in a tropical climate. On my most recent trips, I wore one shirt or the other virtually every day.

Many years ago, I bought (mail order from some place in Ohio, I think) a small braided rubber clothes line which weighs next to nothing and takes up almost no space. It stretches enormously and has a loop on each end. You connect each loop to something, and then stick a corner of fabric between the tight braids. No need for clothespins. I have no idea if this ingenious contraption is still being made and sold.

truman

Something very similar is available in the travel store at www.ricksteves.com

Condorita

She beat me to it.