Practicalities of drying clothes on tour

[graham bowers]

On my recent lejog, the hardest thing was drying cycling clothes in cool and showery weather. The labels all say no tumble dry, and drying rooms in the hostels and campsites I stayed at were non-existent or simply not hot enough to dry in a 12 hour overnight period as they would in my airing cupboard at home.

I don't really wish to have a non-cycling day purely for laundry purposes. OK if it coincides with a rest day or sight seeing day, but I'm curious on how others have resolved the laundry problem when cycling without rest days in cool and showery UK conditions, as all my cycling gear is labeled "No tumble dry".

Alternatives as I see it are:

1) Take enough clothes to last.........................too heavy and voluminous.
2) Take enough rest days to wash and naturally dry..................not particularly attractive, especially if a drying room is not available and the weather is not good drying weather.
3) Just wear for multiple days and stink..............too smelly.
4) Post restante clean clothes ahead, and post stinkies home. My current best idea.
5) Ignore washing instructions, tumble dry and hope clothes do not shrink to the size of a postage stamp. Could be an expensive experiment.
6) Find cycling clothes that can be tumble dried, particularly in the hot industrial driers found in camp sites.
7) Solution I have not thought of !!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to replies

Graham

 

[Welsh wheels]

Buy more clothes en route as you need them?

 

[hoopdriver]

Quick dry clothes - not cotton or anything like that. I have travelled a lot in the tropics where drying can also be a problem with rain and high humidity. I use lightweight quick drying clothes and it seems to work well.

 

[snorri]

I wear non cycle specific clothing that can take anything an industrial washing machine can hand out, but also agree with Welsh wheels that it's nice to buy something new and fresh to wear during longer tours.

 

[Lee_M]

if its cycling clothing then I always tumble dry mine, and so far none of it has shrunk or fallen apart.

If it cant be tumble dried I wouldnt buy it

 

[jags]

i tumbled dryed my top of the range assos shorts and jersey ,not a bother on them .
if u have a good towel then wrap your gear in the towel and twist it as hard as you can .

 

[mmmmartin]

Two cycling shirts are enough: rinse at the end of the day, roll it in a towel and wring the towel until it squeaks, then hang in a tent and it'll dry. if not dry in the morning, don a windproof or waterproof top and put the wet cycling short over the top, ie so it is the outermost layer. it'll be dry after 20 minutes, max. the 10mph air going through it will dry it. if no towel (i don't take one when touring but hotels do provide them, obvs) because you're a weight weeny and not in a hotel with towels provided, then wring and hang up, on the back of a chair or in the tent somewhere.
merino wool is said to smell less than cheap synthetic clothes. be careful with it in washing machines though.
it takes a while to get it right and each has their own method. even then, i tend to change it a bit with each tour - long sleeved non-cycling shirt, thicker cotton shirt, cycling top, merino wool cycling top, arm warmers, arm coolers, etc etc.

 

[mjr]

i tumbled dryed my top of the range assos shorts and jersey ,not a bother on them .
if u have a good towel then wrap your gear in the towel and twist it as hard as you can .

The towel trick is good. I've used that to dry clothes for the following day after washing on arrival.

Don't overheat clothes that say 40°c or no tumble dry. Some will shrink.

 

[graham bowers]

Thanks for the inputs. Using one's self as a washing line is something that hadn't occurred to me.

 

[steveindenmark]

Ignore do not tumble dry on anything that is not obviously impregnated.

Buy dry gear as you go along. Make sure you have the best gear to start with. I like Aldi gear but it's not Gore when it comes to wet weather

 

[graham bowers]

Ignore do not tumble dry on anything that is not obviously impregnated.

Buy dry gear as you go along. Make sure you have the best gear to start with. I like Aldi gear but it's not Gore when it comes to wet weather

I feel some tumble drying experiments coming on. I have bought clothing on-tour when I've cut my packing a bit too close to the bone by the way.

 

[berty bassett]

after recent tour up Scotland i found it didn't matter if you put clothes on a bit damp from washing them in evening - within minutes they are completely soaked anyway ! - i think i was issued with my own personalised rain cloud as soon as i crossed the boarder

 

[graham bowers]

after recent tour up Scotland i found it didn't matter if you put clothes on a bit damp from washing them in evening - within minutes they are completely soaked anyway ! - i think i was issued with my own personalised rain cloud as soon as i crossed the boarder

I'can cope with wet / damp but warm in most places but don't like to start the day in damp shorts as chafing soon follows.

 

[shirokazan]

I'can cope with wet / damp but warm in most places but don't like to start the day in damp shorts as chafing soon follows.

Something like Lanacane can be great to prevent chafing - available from Boots and other such places.

 

[Ian H]

One spare of anything you will need to wash. First task on arrival is to wash that day's wear. Use towels or whatever is available to remove excess water, then hang it to dry. What ever doesn't dry overnight, hang on the outside of the bike the following day (assuming no rain of course).