DRLski

What do you guys do to clean yourself up at work if you have no showers? I'm going to be accepting a job that will be close enough for me to commute to work at least a few times per week (20 miles each way on country roads) however they have no showers, I'm not so worried about the summer since my skin will be exposed to moving air but what do you guys do during the winter when you get to work all sweaty from multiple layers and would rather not make the nickname for yourself as "the stinky one".

Jarery

In the winter i sweat less due to the cold temperatures.
If your arriving at work soaked in the winter, id rethink your layering scheme.
Once you get your clothing perfected to where your arriving with minimal sweat, handy wipes do the trick, as long as you showered before you started, and wore clean bike clothes.

squegeeboo

I use the shower now, but when I didn't I'd make sure to bring a change of clothes with me for work, and wouldn't change into them until the sweat had mostly evaporated, then go, towel off really quick to get the residual, and deodorant, lots of deodorant.

Actually I still do the change of clothes and deodorant thing.

RonH

You're gonna sweat like a pig unless you ride REALLY slow.


+1

The ride to my last job was 14+ miles one way. I showered in the morning before leaving home. Make sure you do that. Showering at night doesn't work.
I'd stop about a mile from work at a small city park and cool down for about 10 minutes. Once I got to work I'd lock myself in the one stall bathroom and clean up at the sink with a wash cloth. If you can't lock the door, do as much cleaning with a wash cloth as possible. Then finish off with baby wipes, deodorant, and powder. My personal favorite is corn starch, not talcum powder.


Just curious, which bike will you be riding?

Doggus

You must perfect the birdy bath technique. Towel, wash cloth and sink. You can scrub yourself clean no problems. Do not use soap or this takes forever. I run my head under the sink to clean my hair. Takes a while but I've gotten to where I can do it in 10-15 minutes.

Two Buck Chuck

Showering before you leave helps tremendously. I sometimes skip the shower and just do a quick wipe down before heading to my office. Several others in my office do the same--we're the only ones that know.

DRLski

Probably turn my Redline into a commuter when I'm not racing.

NoRacer

No showers at my job. I use a cheap bandana, that likely was on my head or around my face during the ride in, as a wash cloth. I use the soap supplied in the rest room. I have a locker--a remnant of when more "hourly" personnel worked here--to keep changes of clothing, some of my riding gear (the stuff that's dry), and personal hygiene products. My "cube" is littered with drying clothing all year long, except when I know that I have to make a special effort to keep stuff out of sight due to a visit from one of our Customers.

Shiznaz

I ride in about 8km to work, and pretty much wear the same clothes all winter regardless of temperature (synthetic t-shirt, mid-weight long-sleeve synthetic bike jersey, light water resistant single layer bike jacket). I usually get to work pretty sweaty but I don't really care; I'd rather be sweaty at the end of my commute than too cold at the beginning.

As soon as I get to work I take off my hat, gloves and jacket and jersey and let myself air for a little while while I lock up my bike and dig through my trunk pack. Then I evaporate even more in the elevator. Then depending on how sweaty I am I will sit at my desk and answer a few emails while further evaporating. If I'm really really sweaty I will wipe myself down with baby wipes. Once I cool down I put on a fresh cotton t-shirt and that usually takes the final dampness off my skin. I find I don't need to reapply deoderant once I get to work, and I prefer to use less rather than more as I don't think its really all that good for you. Still, I have a stick here just in case. By the time I am completely changed I'm dry and cooled down.

I kinda like sweating it out on the way to work in the morning. Its invogorating.

PS. we have no shower or changeroom at work and I HATE HATE HATE changing in bathroom stalls so I change in my cube and if people see me changing they get more embarassed than I do. I don't change my underwear once I get to work though so nobody is going to be TOO shocked!

CaptainKurt99

I keep a big package of baby wipes at work. They work great.

DataJunkie

I do not sweat profusely since loosing 40lbs. I shower the night before, ride fairly fast 14-28 miles into work, and then use a wet paper towel to clean up. Plus, I work in an office with coworkers who have sensitive noses.

Scorer75

It's the summer you should be worried about, but that wasn't your question.

In the winter, I get to work, wait 10 minutes to stop sweating, wash my hands and face in the sink, a quick wipe down with a damp paper towel and get dressed. I do reapply deoderant and brush my hair to finish off.

In the summer, I'm am dripping wet when I get to work. Luckily my parents live 1/2 a mile from my office so I stop in for a quick shower (sometimes a bit to eat and clean clothes) before heading to the office. If you plan on riding instead of cruising, perhaps there is a gym you could join nearby and use the shower there. This worked for a friend of mine. There is no way I could not shower in the summers, I ride hard and literally am dripping wet when I arrive and have a feeling you will be too.

elares

spray bottle of rubbing alcohol, paper towels. Smells like a hospital.

LittleBigMan

Don't worry. If you shower in the morning, then change your clothes and put on deodorant when you arrive, you'll be fine. I haven't had a shower at work in 10 years of bike commuting 15 miles to work.

Seriously, unless you didn't shower in the morning or your clothes are not fresh, you shouldn't have an odor. The main cause of odor is clothes (helmet, shoes, gloves, etc.) that are not clean.

Wino Ryder

Not bad.

I commute 14 miles every day, rain or shine for the last three years, and there is no shower facilities at my job either. What did I do??........I commandeered an empty filing cabinet and turned it into my locker. In it is deodorant, cheap cologne with high alcohol content (like Brut), fresh change of clothes, and a sponge in a zip-lock bag.

Shower is paramount before you leave for work, and I'm not talking about the night before either. Shower right before you leave, because you'll still be fresh when you get there. Allow yourself plenty of time to get there and to cool down a bit. I carry a small hand towel in my back pack to towel my hair and wipe off the sweat. Soak the sponge with 'Brut and wipe yourself down, (the alcohol will invigorate you) rinse sponge lightly and re-seal in zip-lock bag for future use. After that you'll feel great, and be ready for your fresh change of clothes you have stored.

Works for me, and I "shine up like a new penny'.

BigAlMN

I recently accepted a new job that allows me to commute; 20 miles each way.

I do sweat profusely during the warmer months; so the winter clean-up is much easier!

No showers here also; No single stall bathrooms either. So it is the larger handicapped stalls for me and a sink bath. Seems that I am somewhat different in that I bring two wash cloths, a towel, and baby wipes. First wash cloth is pretty wet and soaped up, use that to thorougly wash down. Second wash cloth is lightly dampened, use that to wipe down and cool off. Then I towel down, apply fresh deodorant, and wipe down some accumulating sweat tendencies with the baby wipes. Not as simple or thorough as a shower facility, but it works. It is not quick but it is worth for effort for the invigorating start to some long days at the office.

Then I do put on my business casual clothes. In our office of 3000 employees, I am one of as many as 10 persons that commute on a semi-regular basis.

It seems that the newer facilities find that the rent from office space is more profitable than providing facilities for the commuter. ;( [Despite all the claims of conservation awareness]

Ritehsedad

I'm actually thankful there is a shower at work.

timmhaan

i have a very short commute of about 5-6 miles each way. i take a shower in the morning before i head out, but i take it easy so i'm not sweating too badly. i'd say the effort i put out going to work in the morning is roughly the same as a brisk walk. when i get to work, i just put on a little more deorderant.

on the way home i ride a bit faster and generate a lot more sweat and stink (it's also more uphill on the way home).

nycphotography

Here's another thread on the same topic (NO SHOWER AT WORK)

https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=251103

My contribution:

DC Wheels

ncyphotography gives the advice I would give about when to shower. The funky smell comes from bacteria that naturally grows on and in the skin. When you shower in the morning you lower the smell producing bacteria count on your skin. Now of course in the winter a hot shower will open your pores making you more susceptible to getting sick (according to my mommy). So take a shower that is very short and not real hot but make sure to wash what can get funky. If you can take the shower as long as you can before you have to leave in order to give your pores a chance to close. On a real cold day I would take an "army shower" of no more than a minute and a half. Shorter showers will also reduce issues of dry skin.

Now I'm on a bike commuting hiatus till I move again but when I commuted I carried my work clothes in my pack. I had my work shirts "boxed" at the cleaners which meant that they were folded and put into cellophane instead of given to me on a hanger. I got naked in the work bathroom and used a wet paper towels to wash up. Sometimes I had a bathroom to myself and sometimes I patiently used a cramped stall with plenty of wet and dry paper towels. I put the funky underclothes in the cellophane and got dressed after a bit. I tried to get to work early enough to cool down because it takes my body a while to stop sweating even after I've stopped riding. I reapply deodorant and then get dressed. Good luck and Merry Christmas.