Friday, December 08, 2006

mini-showers

You want to bike to work, but need to smell professional when you arrive. The fact that your office doesn't have lockers or shower facilities makes that pretty much impossible, right?
Actually, a shower is often overkill in cleaning up for work. Keep in mind that fresh sweat doesn't stink. It's the waste product of bacteria eating the old sweat that creates a nasty odor. Wiping of the old sweat and changing clothes will work just fine, unless you are really using your commute for a work-out.
Here are a few different methods for a mini-shower you can manage in any bathroom stall.

Wash cloth
Keep one at work and dampen. It's the simplest solution. Soap is not necessary. It does require some place to hang the cloth to dry and getting it in the laundry once in a while.

Baby Wipes
Baby wipes have the versitility of duck tape. They are cheap, widely available, easy to carry and do a fine job of knocking the sweat off before work.

Rocket Shower
If you can't get over the association of baby wipes with dirty diapers, or you just prefer over-priced, sport-marketed liquid in a flashy container, you might give this a try. It does get good reviews. Alternatively, combined the listed ingredients at home for a cheaper DIY version.

Armpit diapers
Zajido offers pads that you can stick either directly on your armpit, or on the armpit of your clothing. If you aren't totally weirded out by the idea, maybe you can give it a try and report back.

No matter what method or product you use to wipe down, remember to let yourself cool of and stop sweating first.

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