Caring for merino cycling clothes (and a disaster averted).

Since spending the most money I've ever spent on an item of clothing on my Rapha merino under-layer, I was determined to care for it as well as possible. Firstly of course, being a science-minded kind of bloke, I had to test the ability of merino to resist odour. To this end I decided to wear it until it started to smell. Several rides later, this proved to be about a dozen rides which I was quite impressed by. I knew the garment was hand-wash only so next time I was in Asda I looked for a hand washing liquid and picked up a bottle of Woolite. I washed the under-layer in warm water and half a cap of Woolite in my bathroom sink by hand and the rinsed it thorough in clean water a couple of times and then squeezed out a lot of the water and left in hanging from a line indoors until it was fully dry. There wasn't a hint of pong from the armpit areas and the garment looked like new so I was very impressed.

That wasn't the end of the story however. Last weekend I needed to change the oil and filter on my car but it was cold and raining so I decided to wear the Rapha under a thick sweater thinking that it should be safe enough. However... As I was lying under the car removing the old oil filter, about a table spoon of used diesel engine oil ran down my wrist and I ended up with a circle of oil about an inch and quarter in diameter on the cuff of my Rapha, gutted! After I cleaned up, I poured some neat Woolite on the oil stain , rubbed it in and rinsed it in the sink. To my extreme surprise, I could actually see the oil wash off with the Woolite under a stream of warm water. I then gave the whole thing a wash and let it dry and I was extremely pleased to see the stain now all but invisible - brilliant!