It Only Takes One Wrong Wash to Ruin Your Bra Saturday, 27 August 2016  |  Essili

Do you Want Your Bra to Look as Good as New This Time Next Year?

Let me make it quite clear. We do not receive many returns. We are well below the industry average. We put that down to three things:

• Good quality products.
• Plenty of care information on the site as well as on the products.
• Careful customers who follow washing instructions.

But there are always some who try to break the rules and this year we have had twice as many returns claiming a fault on their bra when in fact the items have not been washed as instructed by the manufacturer.

Now we do understand that it can be tempting to chuck the bra in with the rest of the wash if you are in a hurry. But remember it actually only takes one wash in the tumbling motion of a machine or at the wrong temperature to ruin a bra.

• The fabrics used in a bra really don't like high temperatures.
• The tumbling motion inside the washer can cause underwires to work free.
• Hooks and eyes can get caught in other fabrics and cause tearing.

There probably is not a woman alive who has not ruined a favourite garment through ignoring the washing instructions, me included. In my case it was a lovely violet coloured cashmere roll top jumper. It went into the machine wash a size 12 and came out as a very small size 6! This was despite putting it on the lowest temperature setting. I was devastated but only had myself to blame for an expensive waste of a beautiful jumper. So sad, even more so because it was a year old and had looked as good as new until then because I have carefully hand washed it up to that lazy day. One very expensive lesson learned and now I hand wash every time. 

The results of hand washing can be amazing. It is confession time now for me - I have bras that are five, six and seven years old and they are still almost as good as new. Hardly any elasticity has been lost, underwires have stayed in place as have the decorative detailing. Just think of the money saved over the years by not having to buy replacements.

Hand washing need not be time consuming or difficult. A bowl of warm water (think bathing baby for the temperature) some gentle non bio washing liquid or powder and an over night soak. No need to scrub and rub - just dunk and leave. In the morning rinse, pat dry with a towel and leave to air dry on a flat surface. It is, at most, a five minute job.

It is not just cashmere jumpers and bras that benefit from this gentle form of hygiene. Any lingerie whether made from natural fibres such as silk or cotton or man-made material will benefit from this treatment.

So the next time you are doing the laundry pull out your undies and any other delicate garments and try the dunk and leave method of washing.

If you would like to buy a new bra and see just how long you can keep it looking like new you will find a great selection of bra styles, from push-up and padded to soft cup and bralettes to buy here.