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I can't be alone in this conundrum
18 mile flat commute. Toilet but no shower at work. Its retail but.no close contact but n one likes smelly colleagues.
Can of smelly in locker at work but maybe a festival shower, followed by a french shower would be more acceptable.
Do get abit sweaty on the way in. Its an hour give or take 5 mims depending on the wimd direction and bike choice.
No, i dont want to ride in slowly, fast is fun. Its mostly b roads and mostly 30 or 40 limits with about 50mtr of elevation hence the high average speed.
I used to just shower before I left and then have a flanel at work to give my pits n bits a wash in the toilet.
Travel Towel and sink, they need regular washing though.
Water wipes seem to work best, they don’t have some hideous scent to them.
Might be worth looking at the dry shower type cleaners, they work well for me after commuting.
https://muc-off.com/products/dry-shower
I used to just shower before I left and then have a flanel at work to give my pits n bits a wash in the toilet.
Travel Towel and sink, they need regular washing though.
These. If you have a sink you don't need wet-wipes, and wet-wipes (even the 'better' ones) are horrible single use things.
I've a similar conundrum, no showers, 14 miles commute with 400m of climbing.
I typically take the last 1 mile nice and easy to stop any dripping and cool down.
Wash before depart is a must. Panniers to stop sweaty back. Wee face wash at work. Get in work gear, done.
Travel Towel and sink, they need regular washing though.
+1
Be sure to wash the flannel very well after use then stash in a watertight/ziploc/vacuum/drybag etc
Hand-wash and wring out towel and flannel again at home. Hang to dry overnight in summer/tumble-dry in winter (or keep a second dry set on rotate)
When commuting I stash some Original Source Mint shower gel at work. Also made up a small spritzer spray bottle with tea tree oil and water. After wash and dry just spritz ye pitz and pat dry.
Wee face wash at work
You what !!! 🙂
Whatever was on special offer at the supermarket
But yes, shower before setting off, it's the old sweat that smells, apparently.
You what !!! 🙂
Last-ditch effort when the sink at work is out of order.
Quick splash of water and dry with paper towels then put on clean cotton T. I think just as importantly leave home washed and in clean cycling gear - you get sweaty but not smelly. No one has complained yet, and I work with my sister in law and she's vocal on my other failings.
When I had to do a shower less commute I'd just leave a pack of baby wipes in my desk drawer, wipe sweaty bits and apply deodorant in the bogs and get dressed.
Cheapest 'unscented' baby wipes from the supermarket of your choice will do, bag them and bin them after, do not throw them in the loo!
Good shower before, clean cycling kit, change into work clothes and you probably won't smell. Generally, sweaty people don't smell much - it's sweaty clothes. I don't thin I'd want to walk around stinking of baby wipes all morning tbh.
Although they're called babywipes I don't fancy the soapy stuff on them on my skin all day without washing it off, I imagine it'd be quite dehydrating. I'd use a flannel and a sink too.
I used to use wipes but gradually realised that a handful of them per day adds up to lot of unnecessary waste. I now leave a flannel in work, which is replaced every few days. Works just as well as as wet wipes.
The MucOff dry shower gel works well but doesn't seem to be sold widely.
18 miles in an hour, that is a decent pace! I recently started a 14 mile commute to work, much like yours, very flat, and i do that on average a few minutes under the hour, but have managed to pace myself so i am not a sweaty mess. Keep the heartrate below/around 130bpm. Then on the way home i can beast myself if i feel so inclined.
I just have a towel to mop most of the sweat up (which as mentioned, due to a sensible pace isnt too much), then i throw my work clothes on and am good to go. Hang my riding gear up to dry out/air during the day.
Obviously the above is just my experience and doesnt help at all... therefore i think i would go down the flannel route or water wipes, topped up with deodorant.
I now leave a flannel in work, which is replaced every few days. Works just as well as as wet wipes.
Better, IME, as a flannel has a raised texture. Flannel can also be rinsed and re-applied as many times as you like until skin is squeaky fresh.
Epic Wips - 80 x 50 cm and made from 100% bamboo. They are awesome.
I used to just shower before I left and then have a flanel at work to give my pits n bits a wash in the toilet.
Same, but I use water from the sink rather than toilet.
Get merino cycling gear, its really remarkable stuff.
Get merino cycling gear, its really remarkable stuff.
Yup, agreed
Shower before commute, Sure / Right Guard 48hr+ anti-perspirant, clean clothes to commute in. You may get sweaty but you shouldn't smell. Therefore a towel / dry flannel to dry up should be fine. Maybe a can of the same stuff you put on before the commute to top up might work?
Another vote for that Dry Shower stuff linked to above (made by Muc-Off). It's brilliant.
towel and sink. I think my work colleagues were a bit surprised the first couple of times they found me standing half naked in the loos but I tended to arrive early so it wasn't too much of a problem
any cheap gyms near your place of work? puregym starts at a tenner a month, much nicer than faffing around in a sink 🙂
If you absolutely must use wipes just please don’t flush them down the toilet. Even if they say they are flushable they certainly are not.
Ok with the wipes. My idiot neighbour blocks the sewer with them, whicj then overflows where i park.
Fishing for turds round a u bend 1 meter down a casement, with a hangover on a Sunday morning is enough education to ensure wipes are not flushed.
I use my Propel with 50mm carbons to commute on so paniers are not an option
Hence 18mph is easily achieved.
Also i dont do back to back commutes yet so chance to clean and dry kit in between.
Makes me feel good for the shift, and if its sunny i really look forward to the ride home.
Colleagues think im nuts but no one else rides.
Weirdly it can take 40 mins by car so time difference is not as much as you would think.
Ok with the wipes. My idiot neighbour blocks the sewer with them, whicj then overflows where i park.
Fishing for turds round a u bend 1 meter down a casement, with a hangover on a Sunday morning is enough education to ensure wipes are not flushed.
Report to your water company when this happens. They will attend a sewage escape pretty quick and unblock it and clean it up and send letters (we call them network protection letter or 3rd party abuse warnings) to the residents.
Sounds like it’s on the shared parts of the sewers so not your responsibility to fix.
get an ebike
Same, but I use water from the sink rather than toilet
Same but I user water from the tap rather than what may, or may not be, in the sink 😄
get an ebike
£5.00 Set of 7 Pure Cotton Face Cloths
£??? ebike
An e-bike's not going to help on a flat commute.
I use my Propel with 50mm carbons to commute on so paniers are not an option
Tailfin rack with aeropack?
An e-bike’s not going to help on a flat commute.
Especially not at an 18mph average 😀
Re: wipes - not Pampers, they're awful things
18mph average means you need a shower. To avoid excess perspiration you need to ride at leas than 12mph or go electric and 15mph.
What you want is a proper strip wash with flannel in a toilet with a cup of water to wash your hair. And a microfibre travel towel. I’d take a wash bag with a wet flannel in a bag, small tubes of shampoo and shower gel.
Baby wipes won’t cut it I’m afraid.
Can people please stop advising the OP to have a wash with a flannel in the toilet?
I miss Covid when no-one else was in my office, and I could lock the door to the whole set of men's loos (six toilets), shave using one of the sinks and no-one would notice or care.
We have showers at work but nowhere to shave.
Same, but I use water from the sink rather than toilet.
🤣 Suprised it took so long actually.
We have showers at work but nowhere to shave.
W(hy)TF would you want shave at work?
Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle works pretty good at killing odours. Just direct the spray a couple of times into each armpit.
Shaving at work? WTF?
Can people please stop advising the OP to have a wash with a flannel in the toilet?
Or at least do it after you've flushed.
We have showers at work but nowhere to shave.
Just get a travel shave mirror with a suction cup fitting and shave in the shower. You'll get a better shave and save quite a bit time compared to faffing round at a sink after you've had a shower.
Baby wipes here, work well - yes commute clean, but they work fine. Aldi's are OK. Can get unscented ones. Pit's and bits mainly. Roll on deo (saves pannier space). Baby wipes also handy for cleaning hands if you get a flat/mechanical.
shave using one of the sinks and no-one would notice or care.
I was under the impression that (face*)-shaving was one regular/common function for a sink? Why would anybody care about you shaving at a sink?
* Unless you meant…oh…(ew)
Got large lockers so storage for towels, deo and face cloth is easy enough.
Will try the shower before trick.
And avoid washing in the toilet.
Ample supplies of hot water so can fill sink and have a gpod enough flannel down, dont have alot of hair anyway anymore.
That muc off dry shower may well be a good investment to try as well
Also trim all your armpit hair etc. really short (not at work) and this will dramatically help prevent unpleasant odours developing.
^^
Yep go metrosexual :-),tbh I find it less sweaty.
Wet wipes are the pits.
I used to use a very rubbery travel flannel and one of those blue life venture soft fibre towels.
I found pace and merino also made a difference.
Also trim all your armpit hair etc. really short (not at work) and this will dramatically help prevent unpleasant odours developing
so true that
shave using one of the sinks and no-one would notice or care
Your sinks are a lot sharper than ours.