Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Machine wash cold with like colors, Tumble dry low

As crazy, intense, recreational, elite, beginner, or simply tag-a-long athletes, we've all have heard of the various moisture wicking (tech) materials from which they make just about every form of clothing.  Heck, most of us have more of a moisture wicking wardrobe than we do for work.  haha  And some lucky rascals can say they are one in the same (yes, you know who you are TMB!). 

Anyways, today is... 
Laundry Day!  

When doing laundry, the first rule is to read each article's tag because each one gives instructions on whether it should go in warm or cold water, normal tumble dry or low, bleach or no bleach, what colors to separate, etc.  How many people actually follow all of those instructions?  I think it'd drive me nuts!  I used to do cold and hot, colors and white washes separate back in high school, but when I got to college, everything got mixed, everything got washed on warm, and tumble dried.  Made life a LOT easier.

Moisture wicking clothing all (at least in my experience) have the same instructions:  Machine wash cold with like colors, tumble dry low.  Have you ever noticed that?  How many people follow THOSE instructions?  I mean, they are your favorite clothes, right?  Maybe you take special care of them for that reason alone.  Maybe not.

I bought my first tech shirt last summer and I washed it like all my other clothes - warm wash and tumble dried.  I washed them a few times and then started noticing something - it didn't seem to wick the moisture as well towards the end of the summer.  I thought "maybe I'm just sweating more" and just continued on as normal.  Finally, I got online and it turns out that those washing instructions, especially the tumble dry low part, are quite important.

Heat drying your tech materials ruins the ability to wick moisture.

So now I am back to separate loads.  However, I don't have enough tech clothes to justify a full cold wash, so I wash everything - my socks, shirts, and shorts - by hand in the bathroom sink.  So since it's laundry day, my bathroom is covered with drying tech clothes.  (I'd give you a picture, but my camera bit it at girl scout camp and hasn't turned on since - I'm in the market for a new one if you have any suggestions)

Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to think of washing them later this evening after my run.  So before I can run today, I have to wait for them to dry.  FAIL!! 


Questions
1.  Do you separate laundry loads?  If so, what by? - colors, cold/hot, etc.?
I generally have a light and dark load, but that is only because I have enough to do so.  Otherwise, everything gets mixed 

2.  Do you wash your tech clothes/materials separately or as according to instructions?
I do now.

3.  Do you have any suggestions for purchasing a new camera?  
My camera stopped turning on Saturday.  I have no idea what's wrong, but if it's not the battery, I'm not sure it's worth putting money in to fixing it.  


Stay fit.  Stay healthy. 

11 comments:

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

I do at least a load of laundry every day. I never separate colors/materials. But I do not machine dry anything that says line dry, is my husbands, or I think might shrink.

Runners Fuel said...

I wash ALL my darks together and so on, but Ihang dry all my running gear (aka 95% of my clothes). Tomorrow is my laundry, as well as every other day.

Anonymous said...

Canon Digital Elph. Done. 'Nuf said.

I've bought three of them and never been disappointed. They are a leader of the industry and have a wide selection. (Plus they're trendy as hell and cute)

I have sworn off ever using an electric dryer again. Old school air drying I'm all about.

JohnP said...

Totally a woman's job. I leave it in her capable hands ;)

In the 5yrs we've had these machines I only ever once had to operate them myself... luckily the kids were around to push the buttons for me lol

Unknown said...

I separate into three categories - whites, darks and workout clothes. Other than that, they all go in the washer and all go in the dryer (although I do use the airdry feature on the washer for the workout clothes).

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I've added yours to my following!

CupCake@ Bigger Girls Can Run Too said...

I used to just throw everything in together in one load, but have since started to separate.

Good to know about the tech shirts though- will have to keep an eye out on that one.

Also, like the new look of the blog. :)

5 Miles Past Empty said...

I seperate everything into whites, light colors, dark colors, black. Almost everything is done on cold to save $$$$$$$$$$$$$. I pretty much ALWAYS air dry, hang dry, my workout clothes-tights and moisture wicking clothes. Never dry them...EVER. Expect my Nike Tempo shorts, they are expendable.

but I do A LOT of laundry so I don't have empty loads, expect maybe my whites is usually pretty small. but I just put it on "small" and use less soap.

And i have a small Cannon point and shoot, it is amazing!! LOVE IT!! I also have my serious Nikon D80 which is the best but not so great for shoving it in my purse or carrying around conveniently.

Jenn (junkmiles.org) said...

All wickin' wear gets hung in this house. When we built it, we had to design an enormous laundry room to support 3...yes 3 hanging rods. I do mix wickin' fabrics with regular, but fabric softners don't go in until the dryer. No more liquid Downey, unless its for sheets/blankets or a rare load without training gear!!

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

I do dark and light loads at least twice a week each. I never, ever put any of the my cycling or running related apparel in the dryer, NEVER, EVER. So basically, my master bathroom looks a lot like yours with stuff hanging to dry all over the place. Thankfully, I have a ton of apparel so the time it takes to dry doesn't hinder my workouts. I always have workout clothing. Speaking from personal experience, I would buy a flip hd video camera. You can freeze the video into frames and make pictures and make videos. They aren't that pricey.

Tri-James said...

One bin for regular and one bin for sports clothes. The sports clothes get wached and hang dried.

They last a very long time if not dried.

Richelle said...

1. I separate lights and darks. Every few months, I also wash my bedding (sheets, pillowcases, quilt).

2. I do not currently separate my running clothing from my regular clothing. I have plenty of running shirts to wear. But I may start washing my running clothing separately and actually follow the instructions. :)

3. Canon makes awesome cameras. My Canon PowerShot SD1100-IS takes great photos AND video, and I love using my Canon Digital Rebel XTI for more important events (like weddings and my fiance's races).