Commuting - Washroom wet-wipe wipe over.

[PaulSecteur]

Hi,

I will be doing a commute to work this week or next - 15 miles each way , mostly along the south staff railway walk.

There are no showers at work, so I will be having a wet wipe-wipe over.

I was just wondering if any regular commuters that do this have any recommendation for which are best?

Thanks, Paul.

 

[ianrauk]

Yep. Been doing this for years.
A nice bag of scented wet wipes works well.
Luckily, i'm not a prolific sweater so a couple of wipes works well.

 

[fossyant]

Same here. Did it for years with just wet wipes and a can of deo. Also handy if you get a 'mechanical'.

I'm back commuting from tomorrow - all off road now, so grabbed a pack of huggies wet wipes. Aldi ones are fine too. I do sweat, but even 2-4 is enough. Just allow 'cool down' time.

At least I get a big nice disabled loo to change in. Not a tiny smelly toilet cubicle, with my panniers balanced on the loo.

I'm a bit out of touch as I've not commuted for 5 years since getting splatted. I'll be doing a canal route, so winter MTB boots it is. Still pulling my 'kit' together.

 

[T4tomo]

a good old fashioned flannel also works, provided you have a sink in the toilet cubical. I'd advise against it if its a mixed sex communal sinks area!

 

[rockyroller]

shower before leaving home, at work leave or bring w/ you a washcloth & a small bottle of diluted body wash. basically making your own wet-wipe but better

 

[fossyant]

How you doing for drying kit ? We have a drying cabinet but I doubt we'll be using it with mixing wet clothes from many people at the moment with Covid. Going to take a couple of clothes hangers and hang my kit in the store room to dry. No using fans to 'push' germs about.

 

[fossyant]

Oh, don't remind me about the motor biker who was a heavy smoker and used to put his wet kit in the cabinet - hot stale smoke ergh.

 

[MichaelW2]

Cooling down is critical if you dont want to arrive sweaty. You can either ride full on and spend 5 mins in a sweat cooling off at the end or you can cool off more effectively on the bike by riding more slowly and catching the breeze. If it is hot, use your water bottle for a travelling shower.

Camping towels dry much more rapidly than normal cotton ones.

 

[rockyroller]

How you doing for drying kit ? We have a drying cabinet but I doubt we'll be using it with mixing wet clothes from many people at the moment with Covid. Going to take a couple of clothes hangers and hang my kit in the store room to dry. No using fans to 'push' germs about.

put mine in a plastic bag, in a drawer & wear fresh shorts & shirt for the ride home

 

[BurningLegs]

Top tip from me is alcohol gel for the arm pits

My commute is approx 30 minutes each way, and I take it easy on the way in to avoid excessive sweating (I don't carry anything on my back to avoid sweating, too). I wear office clothes (jeans or shorts and a t-shirt) and when I arrive I take 5-10 minutes to properly cool down, then I get myself cleaned up and ready for the day.

The 5-10 minute cool down is really important. If you get ready too soon then you will feel like you need to do it again!

For me, I only need to change my t-shirt on very hot days. If I do need a new t-shirt I will use a dry bit of the one being replaced to wipe dry sweaty arm pits, then alcohol gel followed by deodorant. Pop the new t-shirt on, style my hair and good to go.

On the way home I usually treat it like a HIIT session and go as hard as possible, arriving home a sweaty mess!

If it is wet then I will put office clothes in the pannier, ride a bit harder and do a full change when I get to the office

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I used to do a little strip wash with a flannel, and take a microfibre camping towel to dry off.

The smell of Huggies wipes will now and forever remind me of three years of wiping my infant daughter's filthy arse with them, and I don't want that memory smell lingering around me all day. 😄

 

[Bazzer]

If you intend to use wet wipes, try to get biodegradable ones and certainly don't flush them.
A strip wash and towel down does me at work, then shower when I get home.

 

[TwoStews]

Social distancing means that no one comes within 2 metres of me at work anymore and the days of close quarter meetings are long gone.

I had considered stopping washing altogether after my ride in, but my few remaining shreds of dignity told me I should keep it up

 

[DaveReading]

+1 for a flannel, much greener than wet wipes.

 

[lazybloke]

Like @BurningLegs, I was a fan of a slow ride in - so I'd arrive cool and calm. Probably helped that I changed clothes at work.

Some on here are not fans of lycra, but it certainly helped keep me cool during the ride, was always comfortable, and if I got caught in the rain it would quickly dry once hung up at work. No "drying cabinets" either, usually just a hook.

Come the evening I didn't have to worry about getting sweaty, so I'd go nuts on the way home, sometimes doing it in less than half the time.