When it is all said and done, at the end of the day, you will want clean cycling wear. If you’re not careful, when you wash your cycling wear, you could easily ruin them. If you want to prolong the life of your clothes, there are some extra steps you should take. Today, we are going to give you some tips for washing your cycling wear.
Wash Them Separate – Avoid Washing the Whites with Blacks
When you wash your cycling wear, don’t put them in the washing machine with your normal clothes and don’t toss all of the gear together. You will need to separate the whites from the darks when washing – this is to prevent them from looking dingy.
Stick with the Basic Detergent – Avoid the Detergent with Extra Perfumes
We know, you will be tempted to use the nice smelly soap. Yes, there’s special soap that is specifically made for athletic clothing. However, you don’t really need to buy special soap. You can use basic detergent. We highly recommend you using detergent that is concentrated and avoiding the liquid.
Do as you would normally do – add the clothes in there, fill the washing machine with water, then mix the detergent in there. This way, the residue won’t clog up your fabrics, which have been designed to keep you cool by wicking away the moisture when you sweat.
On another note, make sure you avoid using fabric softener – this isn’t good for your cycling wear either.
The Delicate Cycle – Avoid the Heavy Cycle
Some people choose to hand wash the delicate fabrics. For example, some may put their socks and jerseys in the washing machine, but hand wash their bib shorts. However, you could put your bib shorts in the washing machine as well, but make sure you use the delicate cycle. Using the heavy or regular settings on the washing machine will probably damage the delicate fabrics and after paying all that money for your cycling gear, you don’t want to do that. Point blank, the delicate cycle will make your gear last for a longer period of time.
Make Sure You Zip the Gear Up and Turn it Inside Out
When you wash cycling gear, such as jerseys, that have zippers on them, make sure you zip them up. If you are washing a jersey with your shorts, for example, and the zipper isn’t zipped up, it could rip the shorts. For this reason, you may also want to turn the jerseys inside out.
We highly recommend you using these tips on washing your cycling gear. As you know, quality clothing, like you probably have, can be pretty expensive and you don’t want to do anything to lessen the lifetime on the clothing. To get your money’s worth, you need to take these precautions when you are doing your laundry.