Hey, here's a random question, maybe Wes has some insight. Most of my Kissena kit, after just a few washes, looks like it's roughly 150 years old. Faded, wonky, stained whatever.

Now let me stop you JP right now. I'm not interested in hearing how I'm not supposed to wash my kit, just blow fairy dust on it and let it dry using the breeze created by a herd of flatulent unicorns.

Rather, I have exactly two older jersey's of the previous design, that despite fairy frequent washing/wearings still have nice dark blues and oranges. And it's always been a mystery to me. Anyone else have similar experience with an outlyer jersey like this?

I think our pristine white kit just ages quickly in general.  Strong UV light and constant washing (i.e. your kit during the summer versus winter kit) add to the accelerated wear.  It may also have to do with the detergent and machine (or handwash techniques)? 

Maybe the older design kit you still have may still look nice, but if you compared them side by side to brand new versions of the same design the difference would be a lot more apparent?

I've accepted the fact that white kit gets grody quickly.  If there was a Santa Claus, my wish would be for a darkside version of our kit - similar color blocking, but replacing most of the white space with the dark blue of the bibs.

David Yang said:

I've accepted the fact that white kit gets grody quickly.  If there was a Santa Claus, my wish would be for a darkside version of our kit - similar color blocking, but replacing most of the white space with the dark blue of the bibs.

Agree...would love a dark/side version of the kit. But that idea has already been shot down before. And I wouldn't want to be like WS United who has at least 11 versions of their kit out racing/riding on the open road.

I gotta be honest, I don't have any of these issues you guys are talking about. No yellowish stains on my jersey, and my shorts don't look ragged and such. And in the summer, I race at Floyd on Tuesdays and no issues with getting out the dirt and grime.

I'm with Phil. Cold water wash, whites only. Stain stick for dirt, blood and baby puke.

Coming from other sporting interests, 2 versions of the uniform/kit feels like the norm. All the major ball sports have home and away versions, usually with inverted colors.

I use cold water most of the time, presoak stains and I put everything in mesh sweater bags in the washer. I hang dry. Kit is holding up pretty well

Bruce van-Schalkwyk said:

So, Sommerville kit for our away games?

previous iteration for rain and muck.

@Bruce brought up Sommerville, so I'll tell you about a conversation I had with Dave about this very issue. My winter jersey got dirty on some epic snow day with Yang and never got clean after that. Dave (Sommerville) claims that the staining issue is related to the quality of the material used for the kit. This, combined with some disparaging remarks about Chinese suppliers, was used to explain why some pieces of clothing retain stains more than others.

I was pleasantly surprised that my very white skin suit came out of the wash very clean after the mudfest at Whirlybird last week. Cold water, Arm & Hammer scent free detergent (no bleach). I wash my kit with dark clothes, though none that would be expected to leak dye.

I too +1 vote for a Winter/Inverted kit (Gimme more blue, just please NO WHITE SHORTS). It doesn't have to be a kit, just an option for tops, since the shorts are pretty blue all over. jerseys and jackets that are mostly blue with orange and white accents would be pretty sweet. 

I often wear the old stuff in bad weather.  For the newer riders I see a problem.  For the long-timers, not so much.

  

Cross post for sale: 

Sold.

Craig
I'm interested in the leg warmers.

My white kit gets dirty easily too, but after washing it - it is back to pristine white. I suspect the issue is not the kit - but the washing detergent / machine. Or maybe not washing the kit straight after the ride.

eloy said:

Please excuse the rant nature of my post there.

Rant on brother. It's the internet!

Craig London said:

Sold.

To me.  And it is spectacular.  I love it so much I may just sharpie a "kissena" logo on the front and back and ride it all winter long as my outer layer it is that good.

For those who want to keep the kit looking good in muddy races, here's something I've learned and others experience seems to back up.  Dirt doesn't seem to stick to skinsuits the way it does to jerseys.  

Um my toxic sweat turns anything white on our jerseys into a used cigarette filter.  Who knew that my sweat (aka liquid AWESOME) could be so corrosive?  Just imagine what it would do to a carbon frame = delamination in record time!