Over the shoulder boulder holders

July 2, 2007 8:04 PM

How do you take care of bras so that they stay in the best shape for the longest?
posted by arcticwoman to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (25 answers total)

Do not run them through the dryer.
posted by onhazier at 8:05 PM on July 2, 2007

I rarely wash them. (Once a month-ish? Is that gross?)

We've had a lot of bra-washing discussions on here. I am of the "put the bra in a pillow case" in the washer and let it air dry camp. The other idea that I read on here last summer was to wash it in the shower with you.
posted by k8t at 8:06 PM on July 2, 2007

Mine aren't fancy (like, $25/ea), but I wash them in cold in a lingerie bag, and the ones I have are at least 4 years old and in awesome shape. Air dry, always.
posted by tristeza at 8:06 PM on July 2, 2007

I wash mine in the sink with Woolite or shampoo and dry them hanging on the shower curtain rail, they seem to last normal long. And k8t, I don't think its super gross, but during the sweatier months I sometimes rinse mine out and hang them to dry without doing the full-blown washing thing.
posted by jessamyn at 8:09 PM on July 2, 2007

I buy really, really cheap bras from Target (they're the only ones I like...) and they last me well over a year apiece. I, too, do not wash them often. I just don't have sweaty boobs... I see no reason to subject them to that stress.

And actually, when I do wash them, I send them through on a normal (cold/cottons) wash/dry cycle with my other clothes. And they're fine.
posted by rhoticity at 8:12 PM on July 2, 2007

Hand wash with a mild detergent, such as seventh generation or planet. Or in the washing machine (delicate cycle) in a mesh bag . Line dry. Every 2-3 weeks, sports bras, after every use.
posted by carmina at 8:14 PM on July 2, 2007

PS - I'm super sweaty (gooDBYE hooking up at the Mefi party), but I still only wash them like every 2-3 weeks - they do fine. I rotate about 6.
posted by tristeza at 8:18 PM on July 2, 2007

I wash mine in a jar- fill jar with water, put in bras and soap, put cover on jar, shake jar. Like a little washing machine. Rinse under running water and hang to air dry.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:40 PM on July 2, 2007

I, too, have cheapo bras. I wash them in cold water on the delicate cycle about every 10 to 14 days (hello big sweaty knockers!). Hang dry on the shower curtain rod. They last reasonably long.
posted by chiababe at 8:41 PM on July 2, 2007

If you buy them at Victoria's Secret, you can just turn them in once they fall apart and ask for new ones. Just tell them that you always hand wash!
posted by thebrokenmuse at 8:51 PM on July 2, 2007

Like a little washing machine.

Salad spinners make absolutely top-notch little washing machines.

Just make sure yours is nice and smooth on the inside and isn't going to catch on the fabric, and maybe don't tell people you feed that your underthings go in the same place the lettuce does.
posted by kmennie at 8:52 PM on July 2, 2007

I wash in the wash machine, no lingerie bag, no special soap and then always air dry. Mine last years but that's probably also due to the fact that I'm not super sweaty and don't have big boobs - there's just not as much stress on the fabric all day. I have about 20 bras and usually there's about 6 or 7 that are in heavier rotation and then whenever I do wash, I throw in whatever I know I've been wearing a lot since the last time I did launrdy.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:02 PM on July 2, 2007

Honestly, I just wash them with the rest of my clothes...I think it's the dryer that kills them, so I line dry them.

Am I the only one who feels icky if I don't wash my bras at *least* after the second wear?
posted by tastybrains at 9:04 PM on July 2, 2007

This is probably an obvious trick but in case you don't know: close (hook together) your bras before washing them with other bras (or other clothes). It prevents snagging and makes them a lot easier to manage, for hand and machine washing.
posted by girlhacker at 10:34 PM on July 2, 2007

If they're foam cup bras, they should be washed on the gentle cycle, in a bag, and laid flat to dry. You need to reshape the cups when you lay them out.

Don't put them in the dryer. Foam cup bras, especially, distort in the dryer. Dryers also make the elastic and spandex in bras degrade much faster. Don't wash bras with jeans or sweaters.

I've found that the biggest reason for using a lingerie bag for washing bras in the washer is that it keeps them from snagging on the other laundry. (yes, I do hook them together, but I've got a couple that don't stay hooked unless I'm wearing them.)
posted by jlkr at 12:05 AM on July 3, 2007

it depends - i wash them whenever they stop smelling clean - that could be after a couple of days or a week depending on time of year and activity levels - washing machine, normal cycle, line dry. i buy cheap bras - they seem to fit best and last longest!
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:08 AM on July 3, 2007

For my exercise bras, I wash them in the shower after a workout. Regular bras, after a couple of wearings either hand wash or wash with cold water gentle cycle.
posted by Melsky at 1:49 AM on July 3, 2007

N-thing washing in a mesh bag and air drying. I have a lot of material in my bras, and they ain't cheap. I try to own enough that I can wash after every 3 wearings - otherwise they don't do the job they need to anymore. With this system, I can usually make a $50 bra last at least a year.
posted by dirtmonster at 5:16 AM on July 3, 2007

I use extra-boring (but padded) non-underwire bras for ladies not-so-well-endowed.

I wash them when I do laundry (once every couple of weeks), and rotate a few during this period. I do not do anything special apart from hooking them before they go in the washer, in the dryer, in the underwear drawer.

Most of my current ones are a few years old without looking too much worse for wear.
posted by that girl at 5:41 AM on July 3, 2007

I'm with you tastybrains. I have about a dozen bras and wash them after every use if it is a sweaty day and after the second use if it is not a sweaty day. I don't wear shirts for two to three weeks, why would I wear a bra that long?

When I stopped letting the bras go through the dryer, they started lasting much longer. With dryer use, I'm lucky to get 4 months out of a bra. Without dryer use, I'm getting at least two years. Since good bras can be pricey, I always search through the sale rack or buy them when the store has a buy one, get one sale.
posted by onhazier at 6:29 AM on July 3, 2007

I wash them in the sink with forever new - and then air dry them. They last me two plus years this way
posted by chickaboo at 8:07 AM on July 3, 2007

Am I the only one who feels icky if I don't wash my bras at *least* after the second wear?

I wash them after every wear. I also put them in the dryer in the winter (in the summer everything's line-dried). They seem fine. At the moment they're all nursing bras, though, and mighty rugged.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:21 AM on July 3, 2007

I handwash with any old soap (usually dish soap) and hang dry. All of mine are underwires, which don't do well in the washer at all. It helps to make sure all the soap is rinsed out when washing, otherwise it only attracts dirt later.

I find that the dryer ruins most things involving elastic, but then again I am super fussy about my laundry and hang dry most of my clothes. Bras that you wear for exercise will tend to not last as long as other bras (for the same type of bra, obviously), so you might reserve a few just for that purpose.
posted by yohko at 8:55 AM on July 3, 2007

The dryer is the enemy of elastic.
posted by theora55 at 9:01 AM on July 3, 2007

Have you heard of the bra baby? It's an interesting gadget, and a friend got one for me after I saw it advertised in the Sky Mall catalogue. I loved it at first. After multiple uses, though, I have determined it is not really suitable for cup sizes larger than C. I also found that if the straps slipped out, a fair bit of bra mangling occurred. With experimentation, though, I have been able to successfully wash my D cup bras with it by flexing the underwires a bit (not to disfigurement, though) and by squishing the bra straps underneath the center plastic bubble thingy rather than threading the straps through the slats as suggested by the website.
posted by omphale27 at 9:29 AM on July 3, 2007