What about the mone? Launder it.

February 16, 2008 7:13 AM

Must I really wash my sweat-resistant 'technical' athletic clothing in cold water and then line dry as instructed on the label? If I put it in with the rest of my stuff that gets washed warm and machine-dried, will I ruin it?
posted by bingo to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 comments total)

Yep. The heat from the hot part of the water (most washing machines, you can feel that hot and cold are mixing in the basket, not before), and from anything more than the "gentle" dryer setting, will make it stretch out funny.
posted by notsnot at 7:18 AM on February 16

Yes. Luckily, synthetic clothing tends to dry quickly - that's what it is designed to do. Plus, smells seem to stick to synthetic clothing if you don't wash them frequently. A quick wash in cold water + Woolite and hung up to dry while I'm in the shower seems to do the trick.
posted by casaubon at 7:26 AM on February 16

I also think that the heat of the water tends to set a strange smell into the fabric. I ignored the instructions on mine and washed it in hot water. It has smelled weird ever since.

Normally I oppose the dictates of the clothing instruction overlords, but this is one time when it's best not to do so.
posted by winna at 7:57 AM on February 16

Damn. I usually send all my clothes out to be cleaned. Unless I can make a regular arrangement with the cleaners to do this, it's going to put a crimp in my entitled yuppie lifestyle.
posted by bingo at 8:00 AM on February 16 [2 favorites]

Rather than stretch it out, I have found that my tech stuff shrinks and never fits again. One of my Under Armour shirts also got all pilly and sticks to itself really bad. And it became stiff and scratchy. PITA, but I just wash and hang them over a dining chair.
posted by peep at 8:00 AM on February 16

Well, you could just wash your regular laundry in cold water. I only use warm or hot for really dirty or germ-y kinds of wash. You'll save $$ and and energy and get pretty much the same results. But you'll still have to take your workout clothes out and hang them to dry.
posted by mmf at 8:14 AM on February 16

Yeah, they tend to get little pills all over them, and lose shape, either by stretching or by shrinking. If you've invested in this nice clothing, it does make sense to take care of them. Why not get a big mesh laundry bag, and put all of your athletic/technical clothing in that? Then, have all of your clothes washed on cold, and have the laundromat grab that mesh bag and hang those clothes to dry. Not one of the small lingerie bags - one of the larger sweater bags, like this.
posted by barometer at 8:20 AM on February 16

If you shower at the gym, you could give your clothes a thorough rinse in the shower and spin-dry them in the swimsuit thingy. On days I know my fiance isn't going to do laundry, but I'm on my last pair of gym shorts, I've stretched out laundry day over two or three days.

And I guess I didn't necessarily mean stretch *out*, above. More like, if you put a wool sweater in the dryer - it gets loose one way and shrinks up the other way.

Also, the one time a pair of bike shorts went through the hot dryer cycle, I could use one leg as a body sock, it stretched out so much.
posted by notsnot at 8:23 AM on February 16

I put my Underarmour stuff in the dryer all the time with no obvious ill effects.
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:46 AM on February 16

Never use any sort of fabric softener on synthetic athletic clothing either.
posted by whoda at 8:49 AM on February 16

I wash mine with my regular clothes (warm with a cold rinse and any old detergent) and then hang dry it. I wear my stuff more often than most because I work outdoors a lot. I have field clothes I've been washing this way for years and they're in good shape and don't stink.

It is worth buying the slightly nicer stuff but not the super expensive stuff if you plan on abusing it. I've had the best luck with Speedo, Nike ACG, Burton or REI brands, I typically get 5-6 years of near daily wear out of those. The spendier brands like Northface, Hot Chilis, Patagonia seem to shrink or fall apart very quickly under my care.
posted by fshgrl at 9:42 AM on February 16

Definitely better off washing as per instructions. I've had all sorts of unfortunate things happen to high-tech clothing/fabrics when I've either been lazy, or someone's decided to be "helpful" by washing stuff for me. ("Oh, you mean nylon/polyester/spandex isn't supposed to be washed in hot water and then put in the dryer on high heat?")

"Entitled yuppie lifestyle" or not, it's really not that difficult. Pick up some Woolite, or another type of hand-washing detergent, and wash the stuff every few wearings in the sink. The shower thing is a good idea--toss in the sink with some cold water and detergent before you shower; when you get out, rub the dirty/stinky bits together, rinse well, and either toss over the shower rod or get one of those drying rack thingamajigys to drape them over. The whole point of these fabrics is to dry quickly, so if you do it in the evening they should be dry by morning. Get into a routine, and pretty soon you won't even notice doing it.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 12:04 PM on February 16

All of my dri-weave/synthetic running/jogging/skiing gear has been absolutely fine on a cold wash and then a gentle dry, which is my default setting for washing basically all of my clothes, and seems to have worked well for almost everything, with the three very notable exceptions of my ipod nano, a pure wool sweater, and my passport.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:14 PM on February 17 [1 favorite]