Cycling UK Forum

When I'm touring I usually manage to find a launderette every few days but sometimes I have to rinse clothes out in a hotel room. I've done the clothes rolled in a towel trick but I wonder if there is any other way of squeezing out the excess moisture? - I also know the string bag on a cord centrifuge trick but I've found this is best suited to the open spaces of a campsite .

Go touring round Orkney/The Shetlands. I had no bother drying clothes there due to the wind.

ANTONISH wrote:I've done the clothes rolled in a towel trick but I wonder if there is any other way of squeezing out the excess moisture?

I've always found that way works. Simply hanging my half-dry cycling clothes around the room all night usually has them completely dry by morning. Or if a bit of damp should remain I drape them around the outsides of my panniers (make sure they can't go in the wheels or chain!) for a while the next day, or hang them up again the following night.

DaleFTW wrote:Go touring round Orkney/The Shetlands. I had no bother drying clothes there due to the wind.

I was thinking of something less extreme.

A plastic salad spinner makes a very effective spin dryer but finding the space for one on your bike might be a problem. They take one shirt or say a few socks at a time.

Most hotel rooms have a hair dryer. If clothes haven't finished drying by morning, the hair dryer may finish it for you.

Wringing clothes out properly is vital: wring them by hand by twisting them in a towel. If the veins on your arms do not bulge, you are not doing the job. When you are too tired to go on with that. refold the towel into a square, put the garment into the towel, fold it over, put the resulting packet on to the floor, and trample in bare feet on the towel until another attack of tiredness overcomes you. Then hang the garment up on a wire coat-hanger.

paieye wrote:Wringing clothes out properly is vital: wring them by hand by twisting them in a towel. If the veins on your arms do not bulge, you are not doing the job. When you are too tired to go on with that. refold the towel into a square, put the garment into the towel, fold it over, put the resulting packet on to the floor, and trample in bare feet on the towel until another attack of tiredness overcomes you. Then hang the garment up on a wire coat-hanger.

....and then hang yourself up next to it as you can't face the thought of doing it all again the next day...

Sorry, feeling silly tonight. Must be all that sunshine.

I saw some "touring tips" from Vin Cox (round the world record holder) & he recommended tri bars, not only for the aerodynamic benfits, but also for drying socks.

Rick.

I did lejog couple of years ago camping with a scout group. We were faced with the same problem of drying kit out especially if it was raining all night. One tip they gave me was to wash your kit, dry in a towel then put it all on and crawl into your sleeping bag.
It was always dry by the morning.

If you are staying in a hotel room, then they might have an iron for you to use. If you use one, don't bugger up the iron with synthetic clothing, put a dry towel between your wet item and the iron.

BeeKeeper wrote:A plastic salad spinner makes a very effective spin dryer but finding the space for one on your bike might be a problem. They take one shirt or say a few socks at a time.

I had thought of taking mine to the Semaine Federale as I'm driving there - I'll try it out. As you say it's a bit bulky for touring.

I've got a small netting zipped bag which is meant for putting delicate clothes into a washing machine. What I use it for is as a worn underwear bag, then when I've washed the underwear and wrung it in my towel, I can put them back in the bag and fix it onto my luggage - if the weather's OK it'll dry during the day's cycling without people seeing my keks hanging off my bike!
If I'm staying two nights at a campsite I'll hang underwear inside the tent between the inner and outer - even if it's not really sunny it usually dries.

I use those lingerie bags on my tours also but for other things. I like them because you can see what's inside and they are lightweight. You can also sometimes pick them up for only $2.