Let's talk about laundry, baby

[martian687]

For the ladies. Answers are private.

Poll Laundering Lingerie

Comments

[ricevermicelli]

You been reading Dear Prudence?

With how much good bras cost, I just don't know anyone who can afford to have enough of them for an entire laundry cycle with no re-wearing.

[martian687]

You been reading Dear Prudence?

Yep =)

With how much good bras cost, I just don't know anyone who can afford to have enough of them for an entire laundry cycle with no re-wearing.

Exactly. I've got a bunch of cheap bras that I rarely wear, but for the past for years I've been cycling between the same four nice bras. Alas, the straps are so loose that it's time to pony up the money for new nice bras.

[garlikmongere]

If you really like the bras, you may be able to just replace the elastic portion of the shoulder straps. At least, depending on the color and the type of elastic, you can probably buy the elastic (actually replacing it on the bra may be more complicated).

[istar]

I typically wear Patagonia sports bras, and at the end of the day, when I peel off my damp, sticky bra, I don't really want to put it in the drawer with all the clean ones. So into the laundry it goes!

[martian687]

Yeah, that's true of the bras I wear when I exercise or do manual labor. If I've just been sitting in an airconditioned office/car all day, however, they go back into the bra pile to be worn until laundry day.

[color_so_loud]

It depends. In the winter, and here I am airing my dirty laundry to the interwebs, I probably wear them 2-3 times. In our A/C-free Richmond summer (or any other situation where sweaty clothing needs to be peeled off at the end of the day), they are one-use only.

[martian687]

Yeah, I also have to imagine it's different if you're nursing.

[color_so_loud]

I'd say only for newborns, or when you're leaking. Actually, it was really awesome when I finally got to buy *real bras* last year, after wearing nursing tanks and crappy, wireless, falling apart nursing bras for so long. It's nice to look in the mirror and realize that I have breasts, not just a saggy lump in the middle!

[color_so_loud]

Okay, I just read the article: http://www.slate.com/id/2226405/

I don't think it really makes any difference, hygienically, but I don't like to wear the same bra two days in a row. Could 36 hours airing out really be any different from 8 hours?

[paperclippy]

I wash sports bras after 1-3 uses since they are totally sweaty, but I don't wash my other bras that often. I have two bras that I wear regularly (at $50 apiece I don't want to buy more), so I usually end up wearing one three days out of the week and the other four days, not necessarily consecutive. I hate washing them because they can't go in the dryer (is that how to spell that?), and since I only have two, invariably one of them will be wet when I want to wear it. Also, frequent washing wears them out faster.

Really I should just suck it up and buy like ten. I actually own a total of seven non-sports bras, but of those, two are strapless (and so uncomfortable I only wear them if I'm wearing a strapless top - I have two because one is black and one is nude), one is backless/strapless/convertible (same thing applies), two have seams that show up through most of my shirts, and two are the ones I wear for everyday use (again, one black, one nude).

[paperclippy]

I just switched my poll answer back and forth like three times -- if you're wondering why, it's because I can't count. :p

[kuddliphish]

I've worn a bra maybe twice in the past five years, and I *think* I washed it after I wore it, so I answered "after one use" but it doesn't mean what you might think it means.