GhostRider62

I have no idea. Every time my hamfists touch the washing machine, it malfunctions. Then, I have to fix it.

My dear wife forbids me to touch her washing machine.

DMC707

Like Jerry's favorite t shirt -- Golden Boy

downhillmaster

Deeesgusting

urbanknight

My rule is that everything gets washed by machine, even if instructions say otherwise. If it doesn't survive, I don't buy that brand/model again.

tomato coupe

Castelli is washed in one load, Assos is washed in a second load, and everything else is thrown in a third load. We have a dedicated washing machine for cycling apparel, with a separate closed-loop water supply. Everything is hung up to dry in a pure nitrogen environment. Pretty standard procedure ...

Camilo

To summarize:

Wash with normal load (I use normal agitation, some use delicate), cold, cool or warm temperature, not hot. No special brand required.
Put bibs in a mesh bag to prevent the straps from getting tangled up with other stuff
Dry on extra low heat or half extra load/half air dry or hang to air dry overnight (my preference)
Keep several sets in rotation so when one set is in need of or being washed, you're wearing the others.

FWIW, I tend to wash my bibs after every ride. But not always. Using them for commuting - a rigorous hour each way - caused me to realize that hanging up my bibs during the day and allowing them to dry out in my vented locker made them perfectly suitable for wearing for the two rides. I mean, who carries an extra pair of shorts for commuting home in the afternoon? No stink, nor skin issues. That blows the "must wash after every ride" theory. That, in turn, made me realize that unless the bibs are visibly soiled, I often wear them twice for normal rides. I just let them hang to get some air circulation in between rides and sometimes just wash every other ride.

Sy Reene

If you only have 1 pair of bibshorts now (the Castelli), I'd say that's the problem if you're doing 5-6 rides a week. Over the years, I now have about 5-6 pairs of bibs that work for indoor riding (which tend to be shorter in duration than outdoor rides). Those 5-6 bibs, plus whatever mesh shirts/base layers I've worn on top indoors, make up enough space to do as its own washing load. Everything in the load is a sports material/synthetic in these instances; no need to wash with regular laundry. Yes, might be pricey to buy 5-6 bibs, but think of them as consummables, and the lifetime price is about the same anyway.

c0urt

yeah Castelli are some of my favorites and most of the pairs I invested in or caught on sale are pushing several seasons at this point, but pretty much what everyone said, wash them like underwear because thats essentially what they are, and let them dry over the shower rail or something similar, their hoodies have a life span, they dont like messenger bags

pdlamb

I count a round-trip commute as one ride, with a break for a shower and eight or nine hours of work in the middle. Kind of like sitting down for lunch on a century, only the lunch break lasts longer at work.

PeteHski

Those of you who wash their sports gear with ordinary clothes I take it don't use fabric softeners.

himespau 

I do, should I not be?

PeteHski

Most sport fabrics don't get on very well with fabric softeners. They nearly always explicitly tell you not to use them. I believe it reduces their wicking properties and traps sweat etc.
That's the main reason I wash my sports clothing separately from my ordinary clothes.

himespau 

Good to know. My wife doesn't like fabric softeners (her parents told her they were a waste of money as a kid), so she'd be happy if I just quit. As it is, I only use the no dye/no perfume/no anything fabric softeners because of a child with skin issues, but I can make a note to stop for any load that has cycling clothes (I do all our laundry).

jp911

Been trying out a pair of Black Bibs for the winter trainer rides (wanted to spare my nicer stuff for the roads and trails) and they've been great. At $40/pair it's worth a shot to have something dedicated to sweating in the pain cave. I wash them with my other outdoor and exercise gear on delicate and hang dry...same for all of my cycling kit.

Bulette

I don't have many fancy bibs. My Pearl Izumi bibs (~$80 type) have lasted a few years with regular washing. The chamois in the Black Bibs fell apart after about 10 washings (they did replace the first pair, but it happened again, so I just moved on). DHB cheapy bibs are holding up okay after a few dozen wears; a custom club kit from HyperThreads feels about like the DHB in terms of quality, and had also held up without special treatment.

I was recently spoiled with some wool bibs. Pricey, but the fabric is noticeably thicker than most ... it feels like wearing actual clothing instead of paper thin spandex. Since I can't really afford to replace them, I only wash on delicate, dry on low, and pull them out before they're totally dry (and hang them to air dry completely).

When I'm at home, I'll usually wear each kit once before washing. But I also know from Touring that a little air drying between uses, a bit of hand washing the chamois as necessary, and my kits can go days without a full wash.

ClydeClydeson

I wash all my cycling clothes with regular laundry in my regular , then separate and hang the cycling clothing to dry.

caloso

I've done this often during the summer.

cyccommute 

I wash my bicycle clothes separately from my other laundry and don’t use fabric softener. I machine wash and dry all of them after each ride, however. I have roughly 20 pairs of shorts in rotation (some nearly 20 years old), 6 or 7 tights, and probably about 40 jerseys. Frankly, bicycle clothes are a whole lot tougher than most anything else you wear and don’t need to be treated like lingerie.

cyccommute 

I haven’t used fabric softeners on my bicycle clothes since the mid90s. We stopped using fabric softeners about 3 years ago after my daughter suggested using drier balls. We used plastic ones for a little while but find wool ones to be a bit quieter and just as effective.

pdlamb

Sounds like a problem I had with my favorite tires. Three out of three that I bought at the same time had the tread delaminate, leading to blowouts and long walks. I figure they had a quality problem in their production, and bought different tires for a few years to let those funky tires work their way through the supply chain. Then I went back (I really do like those tires and their price!) last year, and I've had no problems since.

FWIW, I found Black Bibs last summer. Averaging one ride a week per pair, that's about 25-30 launderings each since then with no problems.

Overdraft

^^^^ this! ^^^

c0urt

nope breaks my skin off something fierce, typically only use gain free and clear because strange smells aggravate me in my clothes

himespau 

After years of going sent/color free detergent, I tried something this last time because the store was out of my usual. Just the smell as I put my jerseys on (seems to cook off in the dryer so I don't notice it in my regular clothes, only the hung dry stuff) is so annoying. Will definitely go back after I finish this jug, if not before.

Hiro11

I just toss my cycling clothes in with everything else. We have a washing machine without a conventional agitator.

The three keys to washing cycling clothing:
- use cool or cold water
- wash everything in mesh laundry bags to protect the delicate fabrics from abrasion
- hang dry your cycling clothes

Do those three things and your clothes will last a very long time.

cyccommute 

I agree. Not an issue.

Stop to think about what your bike shorts go through on every ride. They aren’t “delicate”. Your shorts rub against the saddle 5400 times per hour (90 rpm over 60 minutes). Nothing in the washer is going to abrade them as much as that. Denim probably won’t stand up to that kind of abuse. Bicycle shorts (and other bicycle clothing) are made of tough, rugged material that doesn’t need to be handled like lingerie..

Life is too short for that. I used to hand dry my bicycle clothes but decided to just dry them in a dryer. Been doing that for more than 2 decades and I have bicycle clothing that is dragging 30 years pretty hard. How much longer do you think I want my bicycle clothes to last?