# Ever wash your gloves?



## Jordan47 (Mar 23, 2006)

Hey guys and gals, just wondering how often you guys wash your gloves. I've had mine for 3 years and haven't washed them yet. Kind of a good luck thing I guess. They smell like used hockey gear and I use them as kleenex while riding, but just toss them aside after my ride. :skep:


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## driftwood (Aug 13, 2005)

I wash mine whenever I wash the rest of my cycling gear. That translates to being washed every two rides or so. Washing them does not make them wear out any faster it just keeps them clean.

Tip: make sure you close the velcro before washing. I damaged an expensive pair of shorts when the open velcro caught on a seam while in the washer


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## MoonriseRascal (Feb 5, 2004)

*Wash em*

I wash mine when they begin to get stinky. I do wash them on delicate cycles and add some vinegar...really, it helps kill the odors while keeping the dyes in the leather from fading.


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## rkj__ (Feb 29, 2004)

I wash mine rarely. not never, but rarely.


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## HarryCallahan (Nov 2, 2004)

driftwood said:


> I wash mine whenever I wash the rest of my cycling gear. That translates to being washed every two rides or so. Washing them does not make them wear out any faster it just keeps them clean.
> 
> Tip: make sure you close the velcro before washing. I damaged an expensive pair of shorts when the open velcro caught on a seam while in the washer


Good tip on the velcro. :thumbsup:

I tend to wash mine every couple of rides as well. It's pretty essential if I think I may have contacted poison oak on my ride.


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## quattrokid73 (Feb 16, 2007)

i wash them about every 7 rides because i dont like when they get stiff from sweat.

i also wash all new gear before i use it. most things come really starchy and irritate my skin a little bit until i wash them.


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## ArmySlowRdr (Dec 19, 2003)

maybe twice a year. and gloves are some of the quickest biking related stuff to unravel, wear, get damaged, what have you. i don't see where washing would not hasten their useful life span.


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## BikeSnob (Feb 14, 2005)

*Yuck*

Remind me never to shake hands with any of you people until you take your gloves off and wash your hands.


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## InvictaS1 (Mar 19, 2005)

my previous pair of gloves (Fox Static) fell apart when i washed them. i wore them for like a year or more before i washed them so maybe thats why they fell apart, i guess the sweat, dirt, and snot were holding them together. putting them in the dryer also probably didnt help. so if you do wash your gloves use the gentle cycle and only wash for a short amount of time, and let air dry.


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## quattrokid73 (Feb 16, 2007)

i always use gentle cycle and low temp drying. 

ive never had a pair fall apart from washing them. i bet yours died from abuse and the grime was playing the role of adhesive. ive washed my old Fox Sidewinders at least 12 times and they still have every stitch intact. the new ones i washed today look perfect too.


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## presslab (Jan 5, 2007)

Umm, I didn't use to wash my gloves until last year. I got some kind of weird fungus growing on my hands and I traced it to my gloves. I started washing my gloves and eventually it went away.

I now wash them pretty much every ride!


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## Brainstump (Jan 26, 2007)

Jordan47 said:


> Hey guys and gals, just wondering how often you guys wash your gloves. I've had mine for 3 years and haven't washed them yet. Kind of a good luck thing I guess. They smell like used hockey gear and I use them as kleenex while riding, but just toss them aside after my ride. :skep:


3 years! You've got to be kidding. By now you've got to have a serious case of "athlete's hand."


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## 9.8m/s/s (Sep 26, 2005)

I find it easiest to just fall in streams.


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## puckhead (Aug 9, 2004)

I guess I must be the weirdo cause I wash them after every ride. I tend to sweat a lot when I ride and my gloves really stink after each ride. I just throw then in the washer and dryer along with my other clothes. They tend to fall apart after one year, but who cares they only cost like $20.


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## Sixty Fiver (Apr 10, 2006)

I hand wash my gloves on a regular basis and let them air dry... my current pair is going into their third season, are holding up well, and don't stink.


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## PrincipalRider (Jun 24, 2005)

I wash my gloves in the gentle cycle and the line dry them about every 5 rides. If you forgot to wash your gloves and notice they are stinky, you can spray them with a little rubbing alcohol. This kill the stench and the bacteria on there and usually dries in a few minutes. 

By the way, the best mountain biking gloves I have ever owned are not mountain biking gloves. They are made by mechanix wear and are used by professional auto racing teams. They are incredibly durable, have a nice tackiness and grip to them, protect well, and breath well


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## Rex_Skidmore (Mar 5, 2006)

What are the odds of this coincidence?
I haven't read a good Troll thread in Three years.


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## ilostmypassword (Dec 9, 2006)

Jordan47 said:


> Hey guys and gals, just wondering how often you guys wash your gloves. I've had mine for 3 years and haven't washed them yet. Kind of a good luck thing I guess. They smell like used hockey gear and I use them as kleenex while riding, but just toss them aside after my ride. :skep:


In the summer.. after every ride. In the winter.. when they start to smell.

Not washing them is just plain wrong


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

Every 4 or 5 rides I chuck mine in the wash.


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## Indiefab (Feb 5, 2005)

I'm another every ride washer. I've never had a pair of gloves fall apart.

Washing them will extend their life, just don't put them in the dryer. Line dry like all your other bike gear. The only material that does well in the dryer is cotton, and nobody uses cotton riding gear. It doesn't breath and it retains odors.


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## KarlosPirahna (Sep 6, 2005)

*That's what wives are for!!!*

My wife washes all my kit after every ride, you wanna get yourselves a good lady 

:thumbsup:


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## CEB (Mar 17, 2005)

All cycling apparel gets shoved into the washer after just every ride. Gloves, "Do-Rag", jersey and shorts. I wipe my face and brow with my gloves (Fox Mohave). Dang if they don't get stinky within hours! After washing they get throw into the dryer (or out on a line in the sun) and VIOLA, they are like new all over again. I have 4 pair that I rotate thru. Never had a glove fall apart from cleanliness.......

Beautitful day in losocal.......... GO RIDE while the many riders are shoveling "sorbet" from their doorstep.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Dec 2, 2005)

I hand wash my gloves in the sink.. it's easier for me. Plus.. the black nasty ass water that comes off them doesn't get on any of my other stuff.


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## mamagobikeride (Jul 12, 2006)

Usually I just wait until they get really gross... about once a month or so in the winter. I will wash them with a separate laundry load for workout/cycling clothes. I don't put softener in it and I hang dry everything. I heard both strategies extend the life of the velcro and spandex.


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## tibug (Dec 5, 2006)

Once a month! I take mine once in their lifetime (at least 2 years unless I crash and bust em) to the laundromat and wash em with the rest of my clothes that I haven't washed in months.

You should have seen my Fox Digits that sat in the back of the Explorer for 3 weeks last summer. They went from black/gray to green/green.


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## Brutal Cycles (Feb 16, 2007)

For some reason, I've never even thought of washing my gloves, which is weird, considering a lot of friends consider me a germophobe bordering on OCD.

I still have the pair of gloves I rode on from 1986 through about 1997, in a box of helmets, race bibs, & trophys from those years. Luckily, for humanities sake, they appear to have fossilized. The delicately balanced volatile elixer of swamp mud, sweat, snot, blood, and other more unmentionable fluids would cause any biologist or chemical warfare experts gag reflex muscles to reach up their necks and throttle their brains. I'd throw them out, but I nailed the door shut behind me after exiting the room I discovered them in. That part of the house is dead to me now.


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

I wash my TLD XC's about every 3rd time I do my jersey and shorts or once a month. Hand wash in warm water, air dry. Never had any issues with things falling apart and I don't have to worry about "growth."


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## HarryCallahan (Nov 2, 2004)

I air dry my bike shirts and shorts when I wash them. Drying the shirts is usually no problem; you just hang them somewhere with good air flow. Shorts can be a little trickier. What I ususally do is hang them, inside out, from a clip type pants hanger, then hang that near a furnace vent, to ensure a good flow of warm, dry air over the shorts.

But I've had gloves get moldy smelling from air drying, so I ususally run them in the drier on "Low".


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## pfunk (Jan 12, 2004)

I put my gloves in a lingerie bag. I always close the velcro up, but they still seems to catch on things anyway.


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## MysteriousWind (Sep 17, 2005)

No, I don't wash mine...

However, mine can stand up on their own and I put eyes on them and call them my friends


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## sdsantacruzer (Sep 23, 2005)

Mine only get washed when I get caught in the rain....


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## markf (Jan 17, 2007)

if my gloves make my hands smell a few minutes after taking them off, next time i get home from a ride, i just wear them with me in the shower. hand wash, then velcro them around the shower curtain rings with i'm done to dry them. they usually dry overnight.


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## outdoornut (Aug 13, 2005)

I guess I fall into the catagory of washing them as soon as they start to show any odor :eekster: 
which in the summer translates to about every 3rd or 4th ride. Unless of course I get a
bunch of that lovely WV swamp mud on them and it's into the nearest creek and then the laundry as soon as possible. 


ODN


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## scott24 (Jul 3, 2006)

Wash them when they start to smell. When away from home on a riding trip my Dad and
I usually rinse them in the nearest creek and then spray them with lysol. Good for several
more rides that way.  


Malibu


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## ZoSoSwiM (Dec 2, 2005)

I will usually bother washing my gloves when they're really stiff to put on. Sorta tells me they're dirty as hell and need some cleaning.


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## Christine (Feb 11, 2004)

Yikes, what do you guys have against cleanliness?! :skep: Buy a few pair, toss 'em in the hamper and wash along with everything else.

Hang to dry, never the dryer. I dry the socks but none of my other riding gear.


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## noslogan (Jan 21, 2004)

*Gloves are always laundered*

After every ride. I also wipe after I use the facilities. It is just simple hygene.

That smell is not just on your hands. It is on your upper lip AND in your pants.:thumbsup:


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## Konnichiwa! (May 1, 2006)

Christine said:


> Yikes, what do you guys have against cleanliness?! :skep: Buy a few pair, toss 'em in the hamper and wash along with everything else.
> 
> Hang to dry, never the dryer. I dry the socks but none of my other riding gear.


Never thought of getting multiple pairs of gloves...good idea I have multiple pairs of shorts, shirts, socks...why not gloves. Thanks for the tip:thumbsup:


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## Dirt_Diggler (Jun 7, 2006)

i wash them once a week or so- i like to put my gloves on and off sometimes when i'm riding and sometimes that means i pull one on with my teeth. it i don't wash them it makes me sick, though its a good way to get the salts back.


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## EDDIE JONES (Mar 26, 2005)

I have three pairs in rotation and wash them all at the same time. I do handwash them. I don't know if that helps with their longevity or not.


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

*no*



Jordan47 said:


> Hey guys and gals, just wondering how often you guys wash your gloves. I've had mine for 3 years and haven't washed them yet. Kind of a good luck thing I guess. They smell like used hockey gear and I use them as kleenex while riding, but just toss them aside after my ride. :skep:


when they get too rank i just burn them.

3 years? eeeeewwwwwww!:eekster: no offense.

my gloves (of which i have 5 pr) get washed and thrown in the dryer after every ride.

rt


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## bykhed (Feb 20, 2004)

*Ewwwww!!!!!*

3 friggin' years? For god's sake please don't ever ride in front of me. That is just NASTY!


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## Cog Wild (Oct 10, 2006)

Only when they start to get really smelly. I had the most amazing pair of gloves, and then I washed them, only to take them out with one of the gloves having fallen apart. Since then I am afraid of washing gloves as I seem to have a hard time finding pairs that fit. 

This post is a good reminder that you really don't want to shake hands with fellow cyclists while wearing their gloves. Years ago my mom decided that she wanted to borrow my townie to see if she might be interested in getting into riding again and for some reason decided that she should wear my gloves and helmet. I don't know why because it should have disgusted her not me, but I got way grossed out by it, and that was the day I washed my gloves...not sure what the lesson is here!


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## dodo (Apr 19, 2005)

*Camelback's too.*



pfunk said:


> I put my gloves in a lingerie bag. I always close the velcro up, but they still seems to catch on things anyway.


The lingerie bag helps keep the Camelback straps from getting wrapped up in everything, too.

B


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## Jordan47 (Mar 23, 2006)

bykhed said:


> 3 friggin' years? For god's sake please don't ever ride in front of me. That is just NASTY!


Yes, I am one with the glove. Actually, I'm kind of superstitious - I haven't been hurt riding since I bought these gloves, so I don't want to wash them. Maybe I'll just buy new ones and throw the old ones in my backpack for good luck. Don't worry, I scrub the skin off my hands when I get home. :thumbsup:


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## Karupshun (Jun 13, 2006)

Not washing is gross. Removeable full face liners are a must too

I wash mine while they're on like I would wash my hands. Just a little liquid detergent, rinse till water runs clear/clean and air dry. I am nervous using a washer/dryer

at first when I started up, I didn't wash mine for a while and got caught in the rain one day. I was squeezing pretty gross water out of my palms. Now I clean them as needed, 4-6 rides or so


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

pfunk said:


> I put my gloves in a lingerie bag. I always close the velcro up, but they still seems to catch on things anyway.


That was going to be my tip.

As for why to wash them? Other than the fungus thing (that is truly disgusting) salt breaks down thread and fabric.


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## tibug (Dec 5, 2006)

*You're my Hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*



Jordan47 said:


> Hey guys and gals, just wondering how often you guys wash your gloves. I've had mine for 3 years and haven't washed them yet. Kind of a good luck thing I guess. They smell like used hockey gear and I use them as kleenex while riding, but just toss them aside after my ride. :skep:


Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

You beat me!

Don't ride in front of me either.

I use mine as a bandaid, tissue also, turniquet, an excuse to get out of the theater when watching an opera, to get people I don't like to go away, armor for my hand, as deoderant and air freshener (yea, I smell that bad and so does my room), as a method to look cool (not that I need any extra help), as a barrier between me and things I don't wanna touch, and occaisonally as a riding glove.... But I don't keep mine for 3 years. They either strangely disappear or fall apart before that. 2 years though.:thumbsup: Ya, know for all you sickos who wash your gloves, your taking away the good bacteria. Bad bacteria? No such thing.

JK all, I wash my gloves if I don't shred 'em first.


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## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

every time I remember... I don't wash them after every ride, but for sure... if they smell, they get washed...


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## mtbnewguy (Nov 29, 2004)

Jordan47 said:


> Kind of a good luck thing I guess.


I wash mine before every race; once the season is in full swing is about every four weeks or so.

Kind of a good luck thing I guess. :thumbsup:


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## MiffedMax (Aug 7, 2006)

Every three or four rides - Otherwise the snot gets too stiff.
I soak em in the bathroom sink while I'm in the shower post-ride - use whatever handsoap is at the sink. Airdry.


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## cbuchanan (May 18, 2004)

I also wash them every three or four rides unless they get muddy then it is after THAT ride.  I just throw them in the washer on gentle along with everything else and then let ALL of it air dry. I'm on my fourth season with one pair. :thumbsup:


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## James12345 (Jun 28, 2006)

*I wash mine about once every 5-6 rides.*

just hand wash them in a tub of warm water with some detergent. works really well and leave them out in the sun to dry off. gets them clean and dont have to worry about the velcro coming loose and ruining your other clothes. i have two pairs of gloves that i consistently rotate through. have had them for the last 5 years with no probs.


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## KeepTheRubberSideDown (Dec 1, 2006)

I wash mine very few times during the season. And most of the time I wear them in the shower. I got new gloves for christmas so theyre nice and clean right now.


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## K-max (Feb 20, 2004)

hi Pam!

Richelle's pregnant.

Yay!


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## VTSEAL (Apr 20, 2004)

Wash them. You can throw gloves and helmet pads into the wife's lingere bag, and toss them in on the gentle cycle w/ a little Clorox2 or something to kill off the bacteria.

For a stinky camelbak, a little dose of Wetsuit Cleaning Solution (available from your local dive shop) really does help. Those things can really get to reeking and seems like regular soap just doesn't kill the stank.

Forgot to wash my gloves before a 24hr race last summer, and every time I wiped the sweat off my nose I thought I was going to hurl...


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## Locoman (Jan 12, 2004)

Smell the glove.


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## TheDude (Feb 18, 2004)

When they stink like a cast that's been on for 6 weeks. Mmmmmm, stinky cast smell.


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## ilostmypassword (Dec 9, 2006)

KarlosPirahna said:


> My wife washes all my kit after every ride, you wanna get yourselves a good lady
> 
> :thumbsup:


I's rather do it myself... having my clothes washed for me......that used to happen when i was 6


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## paigeiscoolerthanu (Mar 3, 2007)

omg that so gross


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## akashra (Dec 30, 2006)

I've had to start washing mine at least once a week, but I'm finding it's pulling the grips off the fingers  I'm down to only half the pads left on my left index finger as a result, so I'm going to have a find a brand which has them embedded into the leather to prevent this occurring.


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## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

I only wash mine when I wash my undies....That is after a ride where there is no TP and I have to wipe with my gloves.


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