The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Practicing at Home or Travelling? › Washing Yoga clothing everyday?
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Practicing at Home or Travelling? › Washing Yoga clothing everyday?
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Do you wash your yoga clothing everyday? Even if doing Yoga everyday?
If so, how do you make it dry over the night, or do you have 7 sets of yoga clothing?
Do you wash it everyday even if doing it at home without heaters and thus not sweat as much?
It may be a strange question… but when you do yoga in a studio and get sweaty, the next day it takes 1 minute to get sweaty again… is there a point in washing the clothing everyday then?
Hi Stefan,
I have 2 fitting short sleeve shirts made from CoolMax Active & Lycra fabric. This fabric not only wicks moisture away from the skin in a jiffy, the shirts never feel wet at all, they also dry extremely fast. (Love Mountain Design clothing! :lol:) Hence I did wash them after every class when I was attending every day. The biker shorts length tights I use have some cotton but because they are very thin they dry fast too.
On a good fine day, they dry in an hour or two. When it’s raining, typical here in Tasmania, I dry them indoors. I leave them overnight, that usually does the trick.
The towels are the real problem, they don’t dry fast at all, so I have 4 sets of towels.
It may be a strange question… but when you do yoga in a studio and get sweaty, the next day it takes 1 minute to get sweaty again… is there a point in washing the clothing everyday then?
For me it’s simple: I can’t BEAR the thought of putting on yesterday’s sweaty clothing!! It sends shudders of revulsion down my spine LOL :gulp: . I wash anything that I’ve perspired in, for me it’s just hygiene I guess, so yeah that’s why I’ll wash every day.
Even if I had 7 sets of clothing, I’d still wash on the very day I had class (at studio for me) simply because I’ve learnt the hard way a looong time ago that leaving a pile of sweat soaked clothes even over one night in the laundry basket is a recipe for a choke & gag fest due to the stink the next morning! :sick:
Hi Stefan & Silver,
Stefan that made me laugh (not at you, but the idea of not washing). Where we are in sub-tropical Queensland Australia, even in winter the yoga clothes need washing every day … they wear out faster because of this that’s for sure.
We also have a ton of towels – have now lost count – and our dryer is certainly adding to the general electricity use – not too green I’m afraid. (I comfort myself by the fact that by doing yoga I bring way less stress into the world and also eat very little junk. There are many ways to reduce a “carbon footprint”, not that I believe the heavily politicized messages about such things.)
Silver – I laughed even more at your learning the hard way – me too! I once forgot to bring the towels and clothes in from the car and left them there overnight … oh goodness. That only happened once. Choking and gagging is right.
So Stefan, we wash every day and have multiple sets of towels and clothing – for smell and hygiene it’s well worth it. But where you are being in a less humid climate, it could be a very different story … *intrigued to find out*.
😉
Robert
one time I was doing a yoga marathon down at my studio! an am class, a private lesson and another afternoon class..
when I went to go back in for my afternoon…… i did not have fresh clothes!!!!! I would have bought something there but nothing was in my size ( believe me I would have paid ANYTHING not to have to put my old clothes back on! ) but…… we do what we have to :snake:
I always rinse my clothes after class so atleast I had that going for me and after a few min of cold and wet I did manage to focus and forget.
I guess the moral of the story is being clean and comfortable is worth the few extra $$$$$ for a couple of diff outfits!!! ( make sure you pack them w/ you however ;-P )You use a washing machine everyday? Lots of people here only have access to that once a week when you live in an apartment. Myself, I have one in my apartment but using it everyday would ruin me… the electricity cost would be so high. And, we are told to always fill it up. Twice a week using the washing machine is normal here I think. But when you have small kids it can be more.
And yes, it is dry here. When you do outdoors sports lke skateboarding in the autumn and spring you may have:
– underwear
– “long jones” functional
– long sleeve functional
– long sleeve t-shirt
– t-shirt
– long pants
– wind jacket
– beanieCan you imagine washing that everyday? Or have 7 sets of each…?
With hot yoga, well, speedos/bike shorts and mab a tanktp is not much too wash. And havig 2 sets is very little anf affordable
When I do my Bikram Yoga at home I sometimes hardly sweat, my clothing do not get wet.
At least here in Sweden dermatologists suggest no more than 3-4 showers a week. They say that exzema and other skin conditions is a side effect of showering too often. I have exzema myself and do see that too much showering too often and baths do make make the exzema worse.
Hi Stefan,
Actually I do agree with the showering no more than 3 or 4 times a week when in a dry climate because I myself have noticed that my skin gets all wonky if I shower every day, at least here in Tasmania where it’s not humid. I think it’s the soap? There were a few occasions when I didn’t shower after Bikram yoga in the morning, I just toweled myself dry & changed into fresh clothes, not a problem, skin’s all dry in a matter of minutes in the dry climate.
But where I come from, Singapore, with 30 – 35C heat & humidity so high that you sweat as soon as you step out of the shower, hehe, showering everyday is a must if you don’t want to knock anyone standing around you out cold! :gulp: I used to know friends who showered TWICE a day back home, once in the morning before they leave the house & another time when they come home in the evening LOL! %-P
Lucky thing about getting good quality fabrics is that they are very easy to quickly hand wash in a small tub of soapy water without a washing machine & dry quickly indoors, well at least they are not dripping wet by the next day’s lessons! Only downside of hand washing is it wears out faster with wringing but then again, with light fabrics, you don’t need to wring all that hard. Plus, if you’re like me, I don’t mind having my yoga gear damp when I get into class, I’ve done that a couple of times already. Clothes not fully dry yet? No problem, I just pack them there & change into it when I get to the studio then rush into the nice hot room! That’s how I got by with just 2 sets of yoga clothes & washing every day :cheese:
I even had my towels damp on a couple of occasions, that was really weird to lie on LOL.
Gabrielle would confirm this – I sometimes have 5 showers a day (usually if doing yoga) at this time of year.
And almost always 2 a day.
Never ever noticed any skin issues (though I don’t tend to be afflicted by them anyway). We do use quality vegetarian soap, and very little of it.
As Silver says, in 30-35C heat & humidity … it’s a must.
Stefan I can’t imagine washing 7 sets of that a day! I can see why you asked the question about washing clothes now – reminds me of my days in England, where not everyone has a washing machine and one used communal facilities or the launderette.
So I would definitely think it is worth (from getting rid of a microbe/dead skin-cell point of view) hand-rinsing your yoga clothes (speedos bike shorts) and using a couple of sets as you say.
What a fascinating discussion about how our yoga practices can vary just due to climate & culture!
😉
I’ll join in!! Being a shopaholic and a yogaholic I have a whole drawer full of bikram gear. Last year in the post Christmas sales, Lululemon in Melbourne had a great sale and I walked out with a large credit card receipt and two full LARGE bags of gear. I did 2 60 day challenges this year, plus a regular practice in between, meaning my outfits were washed at least once a week along with my 4 ‘mat’ towels and the 4 ‘shower after’ towels. I have to report that they all still look like new and were worth the investment 100%. My husband is in the gym 5 times a week and our washing machine is going every single night. Well worth it tho! We manage to avoid the dryer when ever possible. I have done back to back classes and change after each class because I can’t stand the thought of another 90 mins in the same stinky sweaty clothes. And then there are the days when I do a 6 am and a 6 pm class… and have double the laundry those days as well…. the things we do for our practice.
I usually practice at 6 am…. and have been known to leave my yoga gear in the boot of the car all day, in 35 C weather! The studio is on my way to work, no time to drive back home to put the gear in the laundry, and get ready, to then sit in traffic for another hour in peak time! I can’t justify bringing them into the office to share the smell during the day!! And the thought of getting into my car after class without a shower is repulsive… I do a lot of driving for my work and have a brand new car with leather seats… the last thing I want is stinky sweaty leather!
🙂
I travel a lot and I have to say that Thailand in november was a great climate for me. Warm and humid, my skin got so much improved.
Brazil was a bit like that as well, but in Sao Paulo I got outbreaks of acne in my face, most probably due to the pollution. In Rio the acne disappeared…
And skateboarding, getting sweaty without freezing… I was actually amazed about being sweaty and not freezing in Thailand. And I did BIkram Yoga on a balcony and it felt like being in a studio. At a restaurant I had to ask to eat outdoors instead, as the airconditioning was way too cold for me… yes, some Swedes can not take cold very good as due to the extreme cold here, we always make sure to heat our homes and wear warm clothing.
California is not as humid as Thailand, but I always get frustrated how long it takes to dry t-shirts when I stay close to the beach.
I understand what you mean with washing the yoga shorts by hand. It’s like what I do with my surftrunks after being at the beach or in a pool, I rinse them off.
But right the beach and summer feels far away… This is how it sometimes looks like in winter where I live:
http://www.switchevents.com/sweden.jpgI’My husband is in the gym 5 times a week and our washing machine is going every single night. Well worth it tho! We manage to avoid the dryer when ever possible.
The washing machine going every night? If I did that my electricity bill would be very high… 2-4 times a week is more normal here. And I try to make it full to save on energy.I don’t use the tumble dryer, but do have a problem to dry the clothing.
well, Stefan why not buy 7 sets of clothes and wash them all in a week?
with clothes in thailand should be cheap right?it is just suggestion no offense..
I noticed that when doing my Bikram Yoga at home, I only turn into a light sweat, my clothing doesn’t always get sweaty at all. It is different when you go to a studio and only need trunks and a tank top.
Snow here now…
Hi Stefan,
When I do yoga at home, I don’t wash my clothes straight away. I usually use them 2-3 times before washing. Simple reason being: don’t sweat that much.
So don’t worry if you don’t wash them straight away – you are not alone.
Different story goes for clothes after the hot class – wash straight away.
😉Lubi
Hi Stefan,
I usually wash my clothes while i’m showering…. If u want u could put a bucket in the shower, place a little washing detergent and rinse your yoga clothes. I think this saves a lot of water??? With towels I have plenty – about 8 towels. With towels I have to wash with the washing machine, maybe about twice a week.
Christina 🙂
I just started Bikram/hot yoga last month. I only have 2 sets of yoga clothes. I washed it by hand and the towel after class and put it in the dryer. Then I use the 2nd set the next day to give my 1st set a rest. I practice 6 days/week and loving it. but in winter i will practice at home because i cant drive in the snow. The other day I dont want to use the dryer so i put it in my car while at work plus it sunny that day so it dried great.
I wash it right after each class during shower in the studio.
I practice mostly at home and my wife does the majority of the laundry. If the clothes are clean, great! If not, so be it. Practice continues ;-P
Steve
I wash my outfit (no cotton it takes too long to dry) in the shower with me or in the sink after shower right away. Towels I hang up outside for a few days until I have a load’s worth. I live in a cool humid climate so the towels don’t dry but they don’t mildew either. They always go into the machine damp-soaking.
i wash my yoga gear probably 3 times a week. I have about 4 sets of yoga outfits and I just switch it up. I could def use more apparel though. I’ve been considering launching a service where you sign up and get yoga apparel and accessories once a month at your door for a low monthly fee. what do you guys think?
Omg, I can’t believe some of the replies to this post, people showering five times a day, doing the laundry every day for just one person. Yoga is supposed to be about being conscious that we are part of a bigger world a larger system and think about others. It seems we are doing lots of damage to the planet with hot yoga. In our selfishness and by doing whatever it takes to be able to do our practice, we are wasting incredible amounts of water
Hi alcam
Of course it doesn’t have to be that way. Being mindful is a missing key from many humans. As you are suggesting there is much more to be mindful than knowing where to put what limb where, when and how. For that state to flow into as many areas of one’s life as possible is the key. How that happens is part of one’s evolution. There is no set schedule. Almost all of what we do is based in habit. Good or bad, most activity occurs because we ‘reflexively’ perform our lives. Making change is about changing habits. Which habits one changes is determined by one’s sensibilities and environment.
I am sure if you asked anyone how they unconsciously express their growing mindfulness now (ie how that’s borne out in their habits) as compared to how they did it before (and / or at different stages) I am positive that the answers would surprise the person asked. I believe they will think they were being pretty mindful back then and can’t believe now how far they’ve come. So I really do believe it is relative.
I would never go without washing yoga gear on the day because of the hygiene aspect. While they express their own experience I have to say however that after a yoga class, that a quick shower of 20 seconds is all that I need (all that anyone needs) – just to rinse the sweat off and ahem, wash underarms and bits. But that’s it – for the day. After almost 2 decades, I am STILL surprised at how long people stay in the showers at studios. It’s alarming actually. If I am teaching I may actually mention the quick rinse being beneficial and effective to my students in an anecdote or such, in order for that mindfulness to start seeping out to that activity (so that habits can change!).
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thank you for your mindful response :). Maybe hand washing our yoga clothes and towel, and hanging them to dry is the way to go. To think that our practice is all that is important and that we should do whatever it takes to do it, no matter the cost, is something we should think about. Maybe doing some days in normal temperature could save gallons of water (no need to wash towels), besides of the energy cost of heating the rooms. With the El Niño phenomenon lots of places in the world are having droughts, and we need to save water. All the best to you all.
I have a bunch of tank tops and one 2 pairs of shorts, all cotton. I have a micro fiber towel that I rinse/wash after each class in the sink and every other day my shorts, if I run out of tanks I’ll wash in the sink, I hang this stuff on the shower rail and is dry the next morning. I’ve been going everyday.
These questions made me laugh. Don’t see any problems in having several sets of yoga clothing if you don’t have the possibility to use your washing machine every day. And I’ve never heard that some dermatologists suggest 3-4 showers a week as a skin problem prevention. If you train every day you sweat and you need to go to the shower. I have some sets of yoga clothes and take a shower after each training. Also use my washing machine more than two times a week, because I have little children.
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