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How Often You Should Wash Your Bras (Plus How To Store Them Correctly)

How Often You Wash Your Bras Will Make A Difference To Their Lifespan
Laundry hangs out on a clothesline to dry. Colorful bras hanging against blue background. Summer time.
Izabela Habur via Getty Images
Laundry hangs out on a clothesline to dry. Colorful bras hanging against blue background. Summer time.

Admit it, girls. You get home from work and the first thing you do is peel off your blazer and 'thread' your bra through the armholes of your top before chucking it on 'the chair' (that one spot where all of your 'maybe I'll wear this again before washing' clothes pile up).

Then, the next morning, you pick up the same bra and put it back on again, vowing to wash it next time. After all, most of us only have a precious few favourites on rotation.

Though wearing your smalls day-in-day-out without laundering them isn't ideal.

"A lot of women take their bras for granted, and wear them for three or four days in a row before washing. Bras are delicate garments made from delicate materials, and should always be treated with care. I recommend rotating your bra each day, and washing after no more than two wears," Elodie Giorgis, Head of Design at Intimo told The Huffington Post Australia.

While were sorry to add more chores to your life, caring for your (often expensive) bras will make them last longer, saving you coin in the long run.

And think about it -- you wouldn't sleep in the same pajamas for a week. The same train of thought should be given to bras, or any garments close to the body which come in contact with bacteria and sweat.

"Lingerie should always be washed by hand, and laid flat to dry. This will help to maintain the integrity of the cup shape, and avoid any wires poking through," Giorgis said.

"Soak your bras in lukewarm water with mild detergent, then gently massage and rub the cups and wings of the bra together. Rinse well in lukewarm water before reshaping the cups. Lay flat or drip dry by hanging your bra from the centre-front on the line so that the weight of the bra is balanced."

If you're too lazy for that, at least invest in a lingerie wash bag so that hooks and underwires don't get tangled in the washing machine with other garments.

"To dry bras after washing, lay flat in the shade or hang by the bridge (center) to avoid compromising the cup shape. Pegging by the straps or wings can cause the cups to lose their shape, and distort the fit on the body," Giorgis said.

Once dry, storing them in an orderly fashion will help them maintain their shape, particularly if your chosen style has cups or padding.

"Bras should be stacked inside one another, never twisted with one cup inside the other. This will distort the shape of the bra, particularly foam cups (that will tend to crease and dimple) and also increase the chance of wires being displaced," Giorgis said.

This is not the ideal way to store your bras. Twisting in the middle distorts the shape.

In regards to when a bra is on its last legs, you should know it's time to replace when the fit goes awry.

"Discomfort, gaping in the cup and cups digging in are all classic signs that you need to replace your bra. Women naturally change size numerous times throughout their lives due to things like pregnancy, weight loss, weight gain and ageing. For this reason, I recommend being refitted every six months," Giorgis said.

As with most material objects, the more love you show and less abuse you put the item through, the longer it'll last.

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