Got soaked riding on Sunday, hanged the gear to dry in a garage. Only to discover this morning (Thursday today, 3 days to dry) that shoes, knee pads, waterproof socks are still soaking.

Garage is not the best place for drying – almost no air flow, no heating. Hanging it outside with the current humidity level will not do any good either. Can’t really take the dirty smelly kit into the house – wife will make a fuss out of it. Thinking about getting a heater fan and put it on scheduled-socket to dry the kit for an hour.

But how do you dry your kit after rides?

Indoors

Get home routine is –

Strip off
Hose most of cr4p of gear
Bung in washing machine
Hang over radiator in garage or
Bung in tumble drier
Also got a boot drier which is great

Rinse the worst off.
Washing machine
Dry inside

Clothing straight in the washer or in the sink then the washer depending on dirt level.

Shoes and pads are wiped with a damp cloth then placed on a shelf above the boiler in the utility room – usually dry the following day.

We took the kids to lapland a couple of years ago and the hotel had clothes driers in each room for wet ski stuff. Looked a bit like a fridge but circulated hot air and dried stuff really quickly. Seemed an excellent idea and worked really well

carlos – Member

Get home routine is –

Strip off
Hose most of cr4p of gear
Bung in washing machine
Hang over radiator in garage or
Bung in tumble drier
Also got a boot drier which is great

much the same here except we’ve got a utility room to dry the kit in.

A drying locker might right up your street trailmax:

http://www.skiequipmentuk.co.uk/shop/industrial-drying-systems/drying-lockers/

I’m a proponent of bring it inside once it’s been washed (unless it’s proper muddy, a 15 minute “quick wash” with the residual detergent is sufficient) and dry it all normally.

For shoes you’ll obviously need them somewhere warm and stuff them with newspapers or whatever, although I bought a pack of giant silica gel bags (the bags are about 10x5x1 cm) and it appears that dropping one of those into each shoe works a treat too.

Waterproof socks are a pain though, aren’t they. Once washed I turn them inside out and squeeze out all of the water that was trapped inside (and is usually still brown) then leave on a radiator, turning inside out occasionally. Again, a bag of silica gel would probably speed that along.

GO out for ride…

Come back in…. Hand all the dirty kit to Mrs Weeksy… Go get in the bath…. 24 hours later… it’s back in my wardrobe folded neatly.

A drying locker might right up your street trailmax:

That indeed looks cool. I’ll look into that. Though suspect the price won’t be worth it.

Washing machine

Yeah, but not for shoes/pads, not for every ride. Destroyed my previous pads this way. Shoes destroy washing machines if used too often.

Shoes and pads are wiped with a damp cloth then placed on a shelf above the boiler in the utility room – usually dry the following day.

BOILER! That’s great! Boiler is on a wall on my kitchen, but nobody will see shoes and pads above it!

But how do you dry your kit after rides?

I’ve got a boot dryer in the garage so shoes/boots get dried with that. Other kit gets dried in the house, that’s jacket, waterproof shorts, gloves. The rest can go in the washing machine.

If I’m dripping wet I take outer layers off in the garage as my cycling shoes are kept in the garage so I have a pair of shoes I can wear to walk to the house.

I’ve got a fan heater in the garage too so could leave my jacket in the garage. Leave on for an hour and it soon dries stuff.

Come back in…. Hand all the dirty kit to Mrs Weeksy… Go get in the bath…. 24 hours later… it’s back in my wardrobe folded neatly.

What is that service “Mrs Weeksy” you are talking about? Not seen any ads for that! 😉

Washing Machine – most stuff end up in the dryer, some stuff that dones’t like them on a rad.

TBH whilst it looks horrific, mud / grime isn’t hard to wash off and in 10 years I’m yet to break a washer because it’s full of mud – I check the filter now and again – hairpins, baby socks sometimes, coins – never mud or grit.

Shoes are a special case, I’ll almost never hose them off unless it’s to the point when you can’t tell left from right – stuff them full of kitchen roll (haven’t bought a news paper in years, but I’m told that works too) leave them somewhere warm-ish.

Jackets I try to avoid washing unless I have too, hang them up in the cloakroom with all the other coats and stuff, obivously not touching the clean ones, wash it every 4-5th use with Nikwax – that’s a twice a year thing for me, I only wear them when it’s very cold, I don’t mind being wet, it’s cold and wet I don’t like.

Dirty stuff in pile for wash, clean-ish but damp stuff hung on an airer (or over a door) until dry, then put back in “part worn” bike clothes bag.

Funny enough I was just thinking of creating some kind of drying cupboard that I could also put my Five Tens and wet backpack in.

This is the shoe dryer I use, for £20 I wouldn’t be without one.

Nappies in the shoes and leave till next weekend when I need them,Jacket hung on radiator and all else flung in machine to wash and dry as normal

Hose down chunky deposits whilst hosing the bike down, strip off at the back door, then into the washing machine on a cold cycle.
Shoes (5.10s) get hosed down and then fill with newspaper and leave on top of the AGA, simples.

strip off at the back door, then into the washing machine on a cold cycle

I prefer a shower, washing machine is a bit cramped. 🙂

Bring it inside, it won’t dry at this time of year in the garage. If the wife makes a fuss then keep her in the garage.

Or try and find a compromise on somewhere you can keep it out of the way. (How do you dry anything that’s got wet? – I’m really cannot get my head around that you keep it in the garage).

I took a little heater in to work to dry stuff quickly and that worked well, but it would be a complete waste of money at home when you are heating your house.

Gary – you have just cost me £24.95 🙂

looks decent, I have an old 3 pair dryer, which is bulky and takes an age with shoes going over warm pipes. Your one looks much better !

Gary – you have just cost me £24.95

Sorry 🙂

It is great though, take boots or shoes off in the garage, stick the boot dryer on for however long and they are bone dry in the morning. Also great for a quick warm up of boots before a chilly commute.

I was going to buy one for work but it’s a wee bit noisy, like a loud hair dryer, to leave in our changing area.

^^^ Ideal, the old one is right faff to use, so that sounds much better

Similarly..

What about actually washing dirty kit,? Sweaty base layers obviously need in the wash, but mud splattered, shorts/top/jackets?…Half of me thinks ‘It’s just going to get dirty again’ it sounds manky and if you applied that principle elsewhere nothing would get cleaned ever, but ..its only mud.

and it costs running the tumble drier, heating all the time. Whens summer?

With my boiler in the garage I never used to bat an eyelid about stuff drying – just hang it anywhere and it dried, but since we’ve moved I really struggle with this. I think a DIY drying locker is on the cards.

If filthy and/or a base layer, then wash. If not then hang it up in the kitchen and hall rad for shoe drying. It’s only a house and a bit of mud ffs. Seems bonkers not to dry your stuff inside and put up with wet kit.

Sweaty base layers obviously need in the wash

Mine never smell even after a week of being worn for cycling and running. They do still get washed though. The rest of the gear doesn’t get washed very often as it gets muddy twice a day at this time of year.

It’s only a house and a bit of mud ffs.

Yes, and in isolation it’s probably manageable, but we have a mud seal (spaniel) and 2x kids that between them horse ride, MTB, play hockey and football. The way our house is arranged means everything comes in the front door, which is less than ideal.

Clothes straight in the washing machine, helmet, anywhere in the house, shoes (if wet on the radiator) or by the door ready for the next ride.

You’ll be telling us next you aren’t allowed bikes in the house, but children and pets are fine inside.

When I’m commuting (Tue, Wed & Thu) the base layers, socks, liner, gloves and hats and tops get washed once a week. No point trying to do it every day just a waste of time. Outers e.g. jacket and shorts generally get washed when they’re minging so once every couple of weeks. There’s no point washing them regularly as they get dirty within 10 minutes of cycling.

I should probably fit the mudguards to the commuter 😳

When we first bought our house it had some damp issues which we addressed using a dehumidifier like this –

Generic dehumidifier

Turns out it was great for drying washing, so despite solving the damp issues (by extending the house) we still use the dehumidifier over the winter for drying washing.
If you chuck the damp gear over an airer in the spare room and plug it in, the washing will be dry the next morning.

Really dirty stuff gets hosed down outside to get rid of grit, etc. then in the washer, everything else goes straight in the washer.

Drying: sunny day – stuff goes on the clothes line, in winter then tumble dry as much as possible but things bike shorts with padded liners go on radiators or rack next to radiator, i.e low heat.

We’ve an immersion heater so have an old-fashioned cylinder cupboard so boots and the like will get packed with newspaper and go in there to dry off

Doesn’t everyone have a standard issue STW woodburner?.

3 pairs of Five10’s helps too….

Get home, shoes off at door, then into shower, rinse down clothing and shoes, strip and wash self, then clothing goes into washing machine and shoes get filled with crumpled newspaper which gets changed morning and evening for a couple of days. Waterproof jacket just gets rinsed in the shower and then hung up to dry on a hanger. Then I turn the water to warm after she’s got out of the shower and the same for me 😉

Waterproofs and pads go on a couple of clothes lines hung across the back of the garage, use coat hangers for the coats and trousers.
Helmets are also hung from these until dry and then hung above the backpacks on the garage wall.
Wet clothes go straight into the washing machine.
Shoes are put onto one of these.

Cost me around £12 in the sale.

I just try to make it to the bath with as little mud splatter as possible (rinse boots clean if I remember) then take a plastic bag full of washing and chuck into the washing machine post ride.

I would sometimes let the camelbak drip dry in the garage if it’s really manky, but then bring it in to dry properly. Leaving stuff all week for fear of being told off is nuts!

(Argh – wrong thread. Delete please! )

Similar set up to many: strip of in garage into a dry robe. Hose worst of kit off if necessary and straight into washing machine. Boots on a boot drier that lives in garage where all boots are kept. Kit gets dried on an airer in the utility room next to radiator.

Kit rinsed in sink if it’s properly muddy, then washing machine, then dryer/radiator.
Shoes hosed and scrubbed then handed over to the brilliant £20 shoe dryer from Clas Ohlsen as mentioned above.

Really filthy kit
[list]
Hose off in garden
In bucket to take to machine
Straight in machine with extra rinse on if proper grubby
Hang on airers in utility room when done
Shoes on a newspaper, stuffed with newspaper in utility room
[/list]
Only ride a maximum of twice a week. If I did more I’d have more kit to give time to dry it.

A heater in the shed may help soon when I get it sorted.

I wash it then chuck it in a tumble dryer or hang on/near radiators. Shoes get stuffed with newspaper and popped on a radiator.