Where should my running clothes live?

December 1, 2015 9:54 AM

I'm getting back into a daily outdoor running habit (yay!). I don't have enough running clothes for an entire clean outfit every day, nor do I want to wash stuff every day, so I want to air things out for a second (or third, or fourth... some of it is merino) wear. Looking for suggestions on how to keep one set of clothes/gear dry and organized between wears.

Currently I'm leaning towards one of those clothes valets. These tend to be designed for men's suits and I think it might be overkill/silly to use them for women's running clothes, so I just wanted to hear about other options/solutions. I do know of two more modern looking valets at Ikea--the Grundtal and the Mulig. Feedback on these would be great as well!

I have enough bras, base layer tops, and socks to throw those in the hamper every time, but I want a way to air out my winter running pants, mid- and outer layers, one pair of shoes, and cold weather accessories like headband and gloves. Bonus if the solution can also keep my mace, GPS watch, and sunglasses handy (like the tray on the Ikea models). I have some floor space and a good 6-8' of closet space (the closet rod is only about 5' high, though, because it's built into sloped attic walls). Right now I'm just kind of throwing stuff on a chaise longue which isn't good at all.

posted by mama casserole to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

I just throw things on hangars and stick it on a doorknob to let it hang and air dry until next wearing.
posted by astapasta24 at 9:58 AM on December 1, 2015

Can you buy some cheaper (clearance, Old Navy, Target) running clothes for the price that the extra furniture would cost? Your fellow runners will thank you for not being smelly! (And yes, we can tell)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:12 AM on December 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'm not a runner, but all of my runner friends just use a traditional drying rack for their running clothes. You can put a boot tray under it for the shoes.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:16 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I use another Ikea solution, the ALGOT, which you can get freestanding, with a drying rack (actually 2) that I can lay my clothes over. It comes with smaller baskets and trays as well as shelves. It even comes with shoe racks so you can air out your shoes, although what I've done is put a small tray with pebbles in it (so that the mud and snow can trickle down into the tray) to dry my shoes below everything. I have different running shoes that I rotate, so I even keep a basket of running shoes in there. I also have a charging rack - the outlet is in a weird spot so I put just a regular Ikea spice rack on the wall and ran some cords to it.

I also keep all my running clothes on shelves above - I really like using their cheap storage bins for things like socks and bras - and know at a glance how much laundry I have to do.

If you like the drying rack solution but not Ikea's, there's a number of fold up and other drying racks on the market.
posted by barchan at 10:16 AM on December 1, 2015

Anything that will allow as much air flow to the clothes as possible will work just fine. For this reason, I prefer to hang sweaty items on hangers rather than folded over on a drying rack for example. A pants hanger with clamps would be best - you gotta make sure the crotch gets aired out! I also wouldn't dry out sweaty clothes in the closet unless you keep your closet open at all times.
posted by blueberrypuffin at 10:27 AM on December 1, 2015

I hang stuff on hangers from the shower curtain rod with a fan blowing over it, or with the bathroom window open, weather permitting. In the summer I will hang stuff off the long horizontal arm of a floor lamp in front of the a/c. I turn everything inside out before putting it on hangers because I feel like that works better somehow (that's where the sweat started! on the inside bits touching my sweaty gorilla self!) but tbh I doubt it really matters. Basically just hang it up somewhere with forced air flow.

If you are outdoor running you definitely do not have to ever, ever care if your fellow runners think your shirt smells sweaty. Good lord.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:38 AM on December 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've run hundreds of miles and never gotten close enough to smell anyone's sweat outdoors. Especially from outerwear. Maybe it's just me.

Also, Sierra Trading Post can be a good place to pick up extra running clothes for not a lot of money. I picked up some of Old Navy's running shirts, and they're fine, for a third of the price I paid for my previous North Face Running shirts. Note that they're not all the same weight and texture. Go in and look at them before buying.
posted by cnc at 10:47 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I run on my lunch hour, so during the week my running clothes live in my cube. I just hang 'em up on hangers and put them on my coat rack. You can only smell them if you put your nose right up against the fabric, which I certainly hope none of my coworkers are doing when I'm not around.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:51 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Sorry to pop back in but I just want to make clear that I'm not in the market for new running clothes. I'm looking for a solution for the ones I already have.
posted by mama casserole at 10:54 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I use hooks on the back of my bathroom door, which is convenient because I can hang them right up while stripping down for a shower. I keep other goes-in-the-pocket type stuff in the same bowl just inside my front door that I keep my wallet and keys in. My gloves don't get too sweaty so they just go where I keep all my gloves.
posted by metasarah at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2015

My approach is exactly the same as metasarah's. Things are usually dry in 6-12 hours.
posted by mmascolino at 11:32 AM on December 1, 2015

I leave my washing machine open and drape my running clothes over the open lid.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 11:37 AM on December 1, 2015

Thirding metasarah, although my hooks are on the back of the closet door, rather than bathroom. I used them for any clothes (pjs, jeans, bras, etc.) that get multiple wears before washing.
posted by platinum at 12:07 PM on December 1, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions and sharing what works for you! I didn't want to go into too much detail but one aspect I'm really looking for is to keep things relatively neat and in one place--my husband is a very tidy person and I'm... not, and while he has never complained about my stuff strewn about, I think we both prefer to have clean spaces and I want to work towards keeping them that way. That also means I don't want to keep my stuff in the common spaces like the shower curtain or washing machine, although those are great ideas.

Sooo, the Algot freestanding system looks ideal! It's configurable to many of the methods mentioned here (hooks, drying rack, trays, hangers all work) and what I really like about it is that you could put together a unit that both stores all the clean clothes and airs out the already-worn stuff. The height might be a problem for my sloped walls but I'm going to measure and try to find a spot, because really, it looks like it's tailored for just this problem.
posted by mama casserole at 6:11 AM on December 2, 2015

A friend of mine has a shoe dryer that I covet. But since I'm cheap I rigged a drying rack to fit over my dehumidifier that I keep in the basement anyway. Nothing as nice as actual dry shoes, oh yes.
posted by disconnect at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2015

My wife and I use a sweater drying rack. It resides out of sight under our bed and keeps the running clothes off the floor and gives them airflow. (We live in a tiny apartment so we have no laundry room and limited closet space and don't want laundry hanging up in plain sight all the time)

The downside for us is that our cat loves the under bed "cat hammock" and our running clothes gradually become cat wool outfits.

Technical fabrics reek really fast and need to be soaked in salt water about every second wear to kill off the smelly bacteria. I avoid them except for when I am doing really long runs in extreme heat.
posted by srboisvert at 8:38 AM on December 2, 2015

The best way I've found for storing random running accessories is an over-the-door shoe organizer with pockets. I have one on the inside of my closet door. The pockets on mine aren't see-through, so I labeled each of them with an index card stapled to the outside of the pocket. It not only corrals lots of little things in one space, it makes mission-critical things much easier to find (things like my inhaler, for instance).

You wouldn't believe how much stuff fits in one of those things. Mine basically holds everything but clothes and shoes (with the exception of small, cold-weather items like gloves, hats and arm-warmers. Bonus: this keeps paired items from getting separated in drawers or on shelves.
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2015