As women, we know how a bra has become an indispensable undergarment for us, it’s just another cost to keep your breasts supported. As much as you want to keep wearing your favourite one or two bras, they do have expiration dates, according to experts. However, good news is, there are a few ways that you can prolong your bra’s lifespan which also helps you save up your money. If you want to know how, you’ve come to the right article!
1. Keep Your Bras In Rotation
It’s not like you need to prepare a bra schedule for which bra to wear each day, but make sure that you don’t wear the same bras for a few days straight. It’s ideal to have your bra rest after a day of doing its job of supporting your breasts. You should have at least three bras for everyday wear in rotation, this way you can avoid over-washing which will make your bras wear out faster
2. Wash Your Bras Every 2-3 Wears
First of all, machine washing bras is always not advisable. However, we know that women can get busy at hands sometimes and we would want to save the time to hand wash them. Hand washing your bras does make them last longer because it’s more gentle for their delicate fabric and paddings, and you don’t want your bra cup to change shape after just a few washes, right? Machine washing bras can be your alternative, but keep in mind that you should switch to a gentle wash cycle (if there is) and ALWAYS, always keep them in a lingerie bag before you put them into the washing machine, this will minimize the ‘damage’ done to your bras. Ultimately, the fate of the bras are in your hands!
Nonetheless, this rule will not be suitable for those who sweat easily as you would have to change your bras from time to time to avoid sweaty bras as bacteria can get trapped in fabrics; and same goes to sporty women! If you are the sweaty type person or likes to get active, it is recommended to wash your bras after every wear!
3. Your Detergent May Be Killing Your Bras Slowly
Yes, correct. This is extremely important, yet a lot of women missed this step. It’s not recommended to use regular detergent or alcohol-free detergents to clean your bras. The reason being is that detergent that contains alcohol will dry out your bra elastic. The lingerie experts at Rigby and Peller recommended powder or liquid lingerie wash which have a gentler formula designed to clean bras while preserving their elasticity. We know, it may seem like your bras need a high maintenance cost for lingerie detergent, but if it is what helps you prolong your favourite bras, why not invest in some good lingerie detergent?
4. Handle and Wear Your Bra The Right Way
“Is there a wrong way to wear a bra?” you might ask. Yes. You must always be gentle when it comes to putting on your bra and adjusting them. Whenever you are flipping a bra or pulling the cups to adjust them to the right position, make sure to do it gently or it will cause tears and stretches over time. You may also want to avoid spiky jewelry by keeping them away from your bras as they might get hooked by your jewelry, which is not a good idea if you want to maintain your bras in good condition.
Hang Them Dry
The best way to dry your bras is to air dry them. Avoid putting them into the dryers. The temperature in a dryer will heat and break the elastic or worse, melt the underwire casing, consequently, this will ruin their quality, change their shape and greatly shorten your bras’ shelf life. You can choose to lay them flat to dry to avoid stretching the bra straps or bands, but if it is not possible, hanging them dry should be fine.
The bottom line is: try to follow these steps if you wish to make your bras last longer. We know that sometimes you have other priorities in life that machine washing your bras will help you save up quite a lot of your time, and that’s okay, so do what works the best for you! We are just sharing this information here so that you can make the right choices with this knowledge in mind!
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