how to wash and dry dri fit clothes
- Thread starter kylekyle
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Craig Sheppard
Hall of Fame
Regardless of what people will say here, I throw my Dri Fit clothes in with my other dark colored clothes and wash them in cold water w/ normal detergent. I then dry them in a dryer on a low-heat setting with other clothes, and with a dryer sheet (fabric softener). I've done this repeatedly for over a year and have noticed no difference in durability or wicking ability. Meaning I do not treat them any different than other brightly/darkly colored clothes and they are fine.
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
Bad idea using a dryer sheet. If you knew how the fabric worked, you wouldn't use them in the future. Just like fabric softener stops your cotton bath towels from drying you as well, fabric softener also hinders polyester clothing's ability to wick moisture away from your skin.Craig Sheppard said:
Craig Sheppard
Hall of Fame
I guess you didn't read my comment. I've been doing this for well over a year and have seen no ill effects. If it takes over 2 years to wear out doing this, then that's fine by me. The price is worth not doing an extra load of laundry.Waimea_Boy said:
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
I guess you didn't read my comment. If you understood how the fabric worked, you'd know that it affects the wicking ability. If you're happy not getting all of the performance out of your polyester clothes, continue spending money on fabric softener.Craig Sheppard said:
Fabric softener works by putting a fatty, wax-like coating on the fabrics to make them feel smoother on your skin. This blocks some of the wicking ability of polyesters, blocks the static electricity that some polyesters need to wick moisture and limits the amount of moisture that all fabrics can absorb.
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
Exactly. People who refuse to dry your clothes without using dryer sheets should at least pull their polyester stuff out and hang dry them.aidenous said:
Also, never use liquid fabric softener in the washing machine.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Waimea_Boy said:
Hmmmm...then why is it that socks made of synthetic materials like acrylic, polyester, etc., with moisture management properties, like Thorlos, demand that you MUST use a fabric softener when you wash them in order to maintain the socks performance qualities? In fact, they make it sound like that if you don't use a fabric softener, you'll ruin the socks and will not get the performance out of them that they were designed for.
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
I'd guess that Thorlo emphasizes their blister-prevention qualities and would therefore want to have a fatty, waxy layer of fabric softener in the fabric of their socks. There really isn't a lot of evaporation that takes place inside of your shoes anyway.
littlelleyton
Semi-Pro
i would like to ask why you would need to use a dryer to dry your clothes in North Carolina during summer?
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
You shouldn't have to. He said that he was too lazy to do two loads of laundry so I'm assuming that he's too lazy to take his dri-fit stuff out and let it hang dry.littlelleyton said:
I'd rather get all of the performance out of my dri-fit after I've spent my money on it. Seems like a waste of money otherwise.
littlelleyton
Semi-Pro
well thats what i thought. i would be surprised but i have seen it myself from too many people, but we wonder why we have so many problems with global warming etc. totally no need to to use dryers in summer as nature can do this for us and it doesnt cost a penny.
I hand-wash all of it with cold water and Woolite, then let it line dry. During the hand wash, I don't rub or scrub at the fabric; I just squeeze the suds through a bit then let it soak for about 30 minutes. Quick cold water rinse. I have a folding laundry rack that goes in my tub. The clothes are ready to go again by the next morning.
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
Colpo said:
honestly, I hate the handwash I have to do on Adidas Climacools.
feel I'd better go back to cotton.
I'd say I am following your procedure above.
Craig Sheppard
Hall of Fame
littlelleyton said:
Well thanks for the respect, so since you can't give any, I won't. You're obviously pretty ignorant. "Why do you have to dry clothes in NC in the summer". So you've never been where it's humid, nor lived in an apartment building? I live on the 3rd floor of an apt building. Where might as I ask could I pipe in this abundant free summer heat to dry my clothes? Besides that, things take forever to dry out in the summer humidity. And since I have nowhere to put them outside, and I'd rather not have my apartment strewn with wet clothing inside, I use what 99% of other people use, a clothes dryer.
And you pick on me for "affecting" global warming, when I'm the one who was trying to consolidate loads to save me time, which in the end saves energy by using my dryer less. Secondly, I do loads of laundry at night when it's recommended, and when I actually have some time to do it, which last I checked, isn't when people hang out their clothes to dry, if I could even do that.
My original point was: I've dried polyester clothes along with all my other clothes for over a year, and haven't seen any negative affect on it's "wicking" ability. I don't plan on doing separate loads, which saves time and effort, if I don't see any problem with it. Thirdly, if these shirts last a few years, they aren't much more cost than regular shirts, so that's fine with me. (And if you pay retail for this stuff then the joke's on you)
Marius_Hancu said:
Marius, I agree that hand-washing as a rule requires alot of disclipline - it's much easier to just throw it in the hamper and deal with it as one big load. This is especially true is you're talking about white tennis clothes, that stain just from bodily exposure/use. You've got to get them into a hand-wash bucket ASAP to offset this staining tendency.
Folks also think that hand-washing doesn't actually clean the clothes, that the smells don't go away, etc. This is false, but if one is paranoid about it, apply the Woolite directly to the underarm area, etc., and let the bucket suds up from there.
I do disagree with machine washing poly, unless you don't mind it having a limited usage life. The overall structure/shape of the garment will get worn down over time. The garment will start to thin and wear more floppily.
Craig Sheppard
Hall of Fame
Colpo said:
Colpo, what about using the delicate cycle? I don't do it for tennis clothes, but perhaps that'd be closer to hand-washing? The only thing I'm picky about are my cycling jerseys, which unfortuantely run buku bucks. My cycling gear I wash on delicate in cold water only with minimal detergent & very short dry.
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
Colpo said:
I am convinced of that, otherwise I wouldn't do it.
I had a close look at my Adidas Climacool and the tissues involved are very fine and stitched together in a somewhat risky fashion.
Craig Sheppard said:
Craig, delicate cycle sounds like a good compromise. Shorter cycle and less thrashing. I think the dryer does most of the damage, so I'd still line-dry myself, but it sounds like your set-up works for you! By the way, I disagree that the wicking properties are adversly affected by any of this, just the way the shirt hangs.
Waimea_Boy
Semi-Pro
That should easily be good enough for the polyester shirts. You're fine to dry them in the dryer on low or air only, but you really shouldn't use dryer sheets.Craig Sheppard said:
Colpo, the OP said that he always uses dryer sheets (softener) and that's what's bad for polyester clothes. I explained this to him on the first page of this thread.
littlelleyton
Semi-Pro
Craig Sheppard said:
im sorry i thought i asked a pretty straight forward question, but you obviously took this as a direct insult.
haha calm down, whos picking on you im not the one that said you were lazy am i, can we say Persecution Complex?????
am i supposed to feel sorry for you for some reason? is there not millions of people round the world that live in apartment blocks who do laundry? have you heard of washing horse? do you not have a bathroom/shower? if you put a washing horse up in the bath/shower then your apartment woundnt get "strewn with wet clothing inside" can you not get a line for in there like millions of people that cant afford a dryer? your attitude is typical of someone that thinks there is nothing they can do to reduce global warming and be energy effiecent. oh and by the way 99% of who? are you a spokesman for the world dryiers federation? i think not.
i do know exactly what the humidity is like and in alot more humid places than NC i have spent 2 months at the end of june in charlotte with firends. dont try to get all high and mighty because you cant be bothered to find an alternative to your problem. i am clearly not as ignorant as you, as you seem to have just giving up finding an alternative and more cost effiencent way to dry your clothes. mind you you probably though about it for about 2 seconds then couldnt be bothered with doing anything about it.
do you have your own washing and dryer machines???????
littlelleyton
Semi-Pro
no body was ****ging off anywhere, craig took offence to a simple queston. and my point still stands. its not about political stand points, its about the world we live in. Nike clearly states on its new sphere products that you should not put them in the dryer but people seem to just want to ignore that due to convience.
POGO
Hall of Fame
Colored Dri-fits you can wash with like colors in cold water, but I hang dry the dri fit clothing instead of putting in the dryer. White Dri-fit I usually wash seperately in cold water and and hang dry.
I find that putting polyester/dri fit clothings in the dryer causes static clean, so hang drying them seems to prevent static.
I find that putting polyester/dri fit clothings in the dryer causes static clean, so hang drying them seems to prevent static.
Craig Sheppard
Hall of Fame
littlelleyton said:
Ooooooook then my bad. It sounded like you were asking a rhetorical, smart-aleck kind of question about why I would even need a dryer in NC... and then busted into this global warming rant... Anyway... I think I've argued enough about my dri-fit clothes... i don't even think about them this much. later dudez.
littlelleyton
Semi-Pro
Craig Sheppard said:
hey no probs, i wasnt trying to be a smart-ALEC...haha just kiddn. no its something that is not thought about enough and it does nothing to help the planet.
peace man...haha flower power
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
stc9357 said:
I think this is esp recommended for those made up of several tissues stitched together.
Whiskeyrunner21
New User
Man ........ this is a sewing circle
Guys get out of the laundry rooms your starting to chat like a bunch of old women!
Guys get out of the laundry rooms your starting to chat like a bunch of old women!
tennisaddict03
Rookie
Just curious if anyone has tips for air drying in limited spaces such as condos or should I just keep using the low setting of the dryer with little to no heat?
MZ9526
New User
When I lived in a small studio apartment, I hung them on the shower curtain rod while I was out for errands.
Hmgraphite1
Hall of Fame
I dry on high goes quicker. No melting yet
SavvyStringer
Professional
Wash as normal with other clothes but I hang dry all of my shirts made out of a dry-fit material.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Use delicate setting on your washer and then just hang the dri-fit clothes anywhere you can. They will be dry after 6-8 hours. I also put my clothes in the shower right when I am finished playing and cleaning myself up so they get that initial rinse as well. I rarely use a dryer on any clothes that I value.
Gregory Eche
Rookie
With hand ! Best way (not the fast) to keep your clothes in good condition.
Hmgraphite1
Hall of Fame
Mine shrunk, good thing only $10
TahoeTennis
Legend
Wash cold. Never dryer, always air dry. Bingo.
Cheap dri fit clothing doesn't wear well in the washer/dryer.
The decent stuff will last and last even with lukewarm water and low heat.
I wash it with all my laundry and also dry it on medium-low or low. No issues so far.
If there are odors use white vinegar, super washing soda, borax, etc.
The decent stuff will last and last even with lukewarm water and low heat.
I wash it with all my laundry and also dry it on medium-low or low. No issues so far.
If there are odors use white vinegar, super washing soda, borax, etc.
Hmgraphite1
Hall of Fame
I soak mine in solution of Simple Green if I forget and leave in tennis bag too long.
Traffic
Hall of Fame
I wash all my tech clothing together with a tech wash. Then dry using perma press setting.
I've noticed my hats have shrunk a bit. But no noticeable change to other clothing.
I used to dry on drying rack, but with two kids in two sports plus wife's gym clothing and my tennis and biking crap, we'd need a whole room full of drying racks to accommodate.
I've noticed my hats have shrunk a bit. But no noticeable change to other clothing.
I used to dry on drying rack, but with two kids in two sports plus wife's gym clothing and my tennis and biking crap, we'd need a whole room full of drying racks to accommodate.
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