Mmmmmm c r u n c h y … when to wash

A snowHead

This is a chance for all to tell the terrible truth …

When I used to climb a lot, being very grubby with stinking kit was …. Normal

When The Grom was 12, and went for a day with some top free skiers his first observation was ‘ … they were a bit smelly ….’ - grubby trashed kit …. Normal

This Easter the Grom shouted from his room ‘have you got any more socks?’ Me: ‘how crunchy are they?’ Him: ‘very - I’ve been wearing them for five days…’ Me: ‘ ok I’ll dig out some more…’. …Normal

Synthetic base layers = wear til honky
Wool base layers = wear til crunchy
Socks = wear til very crunchy

Anyone else?

A snowHead

@valais2, YUCK! The first sign of honk and it gets discarded. As for crunch - no thanks!

That said, I can alternate merino base layers for a week (hanging up to air, not inside a cupboard, on their 'free' days) before any honk sets in.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

No crunch and no honk for me either.

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Bit like food in the fridge, if it walks out to greet you, probably time to change.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I think the speed of honkiness varies a lot - I can wear stuff now for a lot longer than I could have done when young and in top reproductive form. I do find the modern tendency to wash everything every time it's taken off to be excessive. And VERY bad for the environment. Hopefully people will stop being able to afford it.
On the boat, opportunities to wash stuff are few and far between. Hanging things out to air on the guard rail makes a big difference.

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Some people produce more body odor than others

Some body parts produce more odor than others.

I can wear the top base layer for days if not week, and no one could tell (smell?) the difference.

But socks? Two days max, and you don't want to be around when I take it off at end of day 2. So unless I have no choice, I make a habit of one day only.

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@abc, agreed on socks. I can usually just about manage two days.

After all it is free

@pam w, indeed…for all the superficial humour of my original post, we are very environmentally conscious, and whilst we don’t want to offend anyone in our vicinity or clear a restaurant when we enter, we do try to avoid unecessary washing - since undue water consumption and the pollution from detergents (some of them with a powerful pseudo-oestrogenic effect) are a Very Bad Thing.

@Hurtle, …HAH!!!….out it comes … two days … you are a member of the Grubby Society too ….

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@pam w, and I do like the ‘speed of honkiness’. As in ‘our car travels at three times the speed of honkiness’.

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@valais2, well, I certainly don't wash things just for the sake of it. But once something honks, that's it. On the matter of ski socks, I don't even loosen my boots during the day, let alone take them off, so it's only anybody in the boot room at the end of the day who might be briefly assailed. wink

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@Hurtle, …seriously; that’s good…as PamW says…a lot of things get washed completely unnecessarily. Weirdly our socks and boots don’t smell, the socks just get increasingly rigid…that’s probably too much information….

From Nikwax website:

‘…. In synthetic fabrics, stubborn bacteria and microbes are the cause of the musty, sour, and ammonia-like odors. There are many suggestions on how to deodorize and wash smelly baselayers: put them in the freezer, boil them, soak them in vinegar, or some other DIY method…’

W H A T ??

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

All depends on the month. Jan skiing being very different to April in the sweat stakes.

Also: Have been known (more than once) to ski, apres, fall asleep on sofa, wake, brush teeth go ski, without removing anything but the outer jacket and boots during the process.

Seriously though, sun and wind does a lot to kill the bacteria that causes odour, so a good airing will def defer the need to launder.

A snowHead

@abc, …mtb kit is good in that respect. I go a bit further and just shake it out and chuck it in the corner…base layers get washed though…

A snowHead

@midgetbiker, that’s absolutely right - UV genuinely trashes the bacteria which causes honk.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@valais2, what about tech fabric, Goretex shell pants etc

I just wear them until I think maybe they need a wash, might only be once a season if that?

I try and avoid wearing tech pants when I know I'll be sweating, which is when ski-touring, so then it's normal fabrics, and then the dry salted lines from perspiration are a bit of a giveaway.

Does get a bit complicated with tops, but again I try to avoid wearing tech tops and down jackets when climbing keeping those in the pack, and only wearing layers I know I can wash.

If I don't sweat then it doesn't get washed is my strategy Laughing

And I'll often shower and wash tops and socks at the same time.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@Weathercam, …salt lines….like it.

And I think you are adopting the Inuit way - layer up, but discard into backpack when getting too hot, to avoid the body temp which means that heavy sweating cuts in.

Argh Tech layers. I have always found that replacement DWR never works as well as the factory instal. I value pit zips and leg zips, and always wear jackets and trousers with base layers, even in the higher temps. We have some really good, strong but thin base layers for late season. The main problem is that nasty black or dark brown grime which descends onto lime green or yellow kit, marking up the seams etc. I tend to do local external cleaning and spread the load on the gear by having lots of alternate garments which I mix up during the season….plays havoc with people trying to follow me in resort though sometimes - ‘sorry…thought you were in orange-green not yellow-lime….’

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Inside out, back to front, it must be Thursday!

After all it is free

And here is John Prine with "The Speed of the Sound of Honkiness".
http://youtube.com/v/eFvenjll1Bk

@valais2, I don't see what the problem is.

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if that's the Speed of Honkiness does this mean that after all these years, this song is in fact about ski socks...(forgive the travesty...I take my Stones very seriously...bless Charlie)

http://youtube.com/v/hqqkGxZ1_8I

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Yes, that's definitely about ski socks

You know it makes sense.

@valais2, Back in climbing days would wear the same base layers for a week winter climbing in Scotland, alpine climbing, no washing facilities for weeks on end - completely normal. Now skiing we are staying indoors, so do change more, but still wear base layers and socks for several days - give them a sniff in the morning to see if they are too smelly!
We still laugh when we see people asking if they should take a pair of socks and baselayers for every day of their trip.
Actually, when we cycle tour for three months at a time, we have two sets of cycle clothing, so wear one set until we come across washing facilities, and a dry day at the same time - with two sets you cannot have your spare wet, a spare dry set is for emergencies

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@RobinS, i take a base layer per day for April skiing….very different to mid winter when kit doesn’t get wet with sweat!

A snowHead

, @RobinS, …phew…endorsement of our conservative approach…I have to stop the endless flow of Grom1’s garments into the washing basket - barely worn and neurotically washed….

A snowHead

@kitenski, …April can be such a sweat-fest - but fine mesh base layers seem to work brilliantly for both cold and hot April days - skiing and cycling. There’s a view in cycling that even in high temps we should wear thin base layers - controversial, since sweating is a natural process to cool us in extremis

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@valais2, I'm never without a merino base layer even on the hottest of ski days.

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@Hurtle, …yes, merino is a stonking fabric - performs so well …

… but is so fragile … many many holes in my Icebreaker 200 tops … and those little winged bu””ers - the clothes moth - can be a curse ….

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@valais2, I have Icebreaker tops which I wear all year round, which I've had for 10 years and which go in the washing machine (on a delicate wash). They're still going strong. So far I'm winning the war against moths in my house, but that does take extreme vigilance.

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@valais2, I'm about to wash my salt-encrusted back-pack*, as that's it for ski-touring for the season, and will also throw a couple of old down tops I climb in when it's cold, they're never the same again after a wash, that's why I use two shoddy one.

You guys should see the salt lines on my clothing when I get back from a long ride.

*I'll leave the Avy pack as that's a bit more compliquée and I obviously don't use it in Summer, actually I might shower it ?

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I get one merino base layer and don’t wash it all season Eh oh!

. 60 or 70 days use. Totally antisocial. Sometimes go for a fish on the way home too so get fish guts and blood all over my pants. Luckily no gondies and mostly surface lifts so I don’t need to interact with people who have higher standards.

I have a nice base layer for heli days because I don’t want to make the driver lose concentration.

After all it is free

@hang11,

@hang11, …excellent

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@Hurtle, …Yep high vigilance vital re moths. I wash and bag, my partner washes and throws in the cupboard. Hers are moth-infested and it drives me bonkers.

Help!!

Mmmmmm c r u n c h y … when to wash

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