Words by Hannah Reynolds
If you’ve invested in premium priced bib shorts you will want to look after them, to prolong their lifespan so they remain to look great and feeling comfortable, but hands up who actually bothers with the fancy mesh bags and expensive specialist detergents?
On our recent visit to ASSOS, we visited the laboratory where extensive textile testing takes place. Here garments are washed thousands of times, exposed to many hours of UV light and even put into a snagging box to tumble around with metal spikes, but once out of the labs, it is in our hands to influence how well our garments wear. TWC spoke to Simona Febbi – R&D Officer Textiles at ASSOS on the best way to take care of your cycling shorts.
Reviewed: ASSOS’ SS.Rally Trekking jersey and T.Rally bib shorts
“All the tests that we do in-house we wash at 40 degrees with commercial soap instead of the delicate one. We also use powder with phosphates and all the possible detergents so we simulate what a non-careful consumer might do. We are pretty sure that we have made as much effort as possible to simulate the worst care a consumer might give their shorts, so we can be sure that our textiles are able to cope with it but if you pay a lot of money for an ASSOS pair of bib shorts you should also take care of them. We put a care label in all our garments with recommendations to wash at 30 degrees on a delicate cycle and possibly using ASSOS’ own cleanser.”