Washing Cycling Clothing - How do You Ensure your Cycling Clothing lasts Longer? [How-To]

Cycling clothing gets dirty. Whether you’re cruising along the open road under a midday sun on your road bike, or thrashing your local trails on a mountain bike through rain and mud. Dirty clothing deserves cleaning. Read our blog on how to wash your cycling clothing for the best tips to keep your favourite cycling kit looking perfect for longer.

Since cycling clothing is often made using special fabrics -for instance with water repellent properties- it pays to take special care when washing your cycling clothing.

Before your first ride

New cycling clothing can best be washed in cold water by hand at least once before you wear it for the first time. It’s preferable to do so using washing powder rather than liquid detergent.

Washing powder tends to leave any protective properties or layers intact more than the liquid version. This then also applies for all the times you wash your clothes after, naturally. Fortunately, these can be done with your washing machine if you don’t feel like washing by hand every time.

After your first ride

It’s tempting for a lot of people to just kick off your dirty cycling clothing and leave it be in the corner of the bathroom for a night, only to actually start cleaning it a day later.

Not only does that constitute a blatant odorous offence, the quality and looks of your cycling clothing are better maintained if you get on with washing your cycling clothing right after a ride.

Furthermore, washing right after your ride also prevents bacteria from getting a chance to ruin your nice cycling kit.

Zippers up, Velcro closed!

Before you wash your cycling clothes you first need to make sure all zips are up and all Velcro straps are firmly closed as well. This prevents the zippers or Velcro from damaging your cycling clothing. Next you turn all of your clothing inside-out, which keeps them looking good for longer.

Doesn’t the Velcro hold that well, or do you want to make absolutely sure your clothing is fine? Often only your cycling gloves use Velcro, which you can easily throw into a laundry bag. Wash items of clothing with Velcro on them in a laundry bag.

Really want to get the most from your cycling clothing? Then you could consider to put each item of clothing into a separate laundry bag. So separate your bibshort, cycling jersey, and gloves.

Hand wash or machine wash?

Ideally you’d always wash your clothing in lukewarm water by hand. We get that you’re not really looking forward to that idea. You can use the hand wash programme on your washing machine at a maximum temperature of 30 degrees instead.

Don’t be too generous with the washing detergent; rather be a bit frugal than splash out too much. Again, washing powder is usually better than liquid detergent. Decided to wash by hand? Then make sure you thoroughly rinse the garments first. Whatever you do, never use fabric softener when you’re cleaning your cycling clothing.

Cycling clothes which have detergent residue on or in them can itch and irritate your skin to no end while you’re riding your bike.

Check for stains

Check your cycling clothing for stains right after you’ve washed them. If you let your clothes dry with stains in them, then it’ll be even harder to get them out again. Still see some stains? Then wash them again!

After the wash: let it all dry naturally

Cycling clothing is best not put into a dryer. Hang your cycling jersey up on a coat hanger. A bibshort is best layed out. This prevents the shoulder straps from stretching. Base layers can also be hung out to dry on a coat hanger.

Cycling clothing often dries up quickly, so if you wash up immediately after a ride you’ll usually be able to wear it again the next day.

Water repellent cycling clothing

Some cycling clothing is given a water repellent finish. A good example is the Nanoflex technology used in the popular Castelli Gabba. Unfortunately, that finish doesn’t last forever. You can however reactivate it when its functionality has started to decline.

You can do so by placing the garment into the dryer for 30 minutes at a low(!) temperature of about 30 degrees. This reactivates the Nanoflex technology, making your garment ready again for many rides to come.

Don’t own a dryer? Then you can reactivate the technology by ironing the garment at a low -once again, 30 degrees- temperature. Always place a towel between the iron and your garment to avoid damaging it.

Cycling jackets and wind jackets

Every time you wash something, it wears. Particularly with cycling jackets, such as cycling rain jackets and wind jackets, you should really ask yourself whether it really needs a wash or not.

You can usually wear these outer layers a few times before they really demand a wash.

We hope that our tips on washing cycling clothing will help you get many more enjoyable years from your cycling kit!