Keep bras fresh and clean, you’ll thank them for it

Bras are the most misunderstood part of a woman’s wardrobe. Not only do we rarely ever get the right size, fit and texture when we want it, it turns out we have no idea how to care for them. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • As a woman, you will need to have no less than three bras in total to have in rotation during the course of the week.
  • The best option is to always hand wash, especially if made out of gauze, very fine lace or silk.
  • If you want a lovely scent all over your bras, keep an empty bottle of your favourite perfume in the drawer.

Question. Where do you keep your bras? Do me a favour, walk on over and pull one out. Now sniff it. Pull out the other one. Sniff that too. It probably has the fruity hangover of 48 to 72 hour perfume, lotion and, if you are honest with yourself, perspiration.

And if you are not a dainty princess with polite sensibilities, if you were wearing it sometime between 9am when it was 11 degrees centigrade to 4pm when it shot all the way to 25 degrees centigrade: dried up sweat.

CARING FOR YOUR BRA

Bras are the most misunderstood part of a woman’s wardrobe. Not only do we rarely ever get the right size, fit and texture when we want it, it turns out we have no idea how to care for them.

This “how often do you wash your bra?” conversation has been used as a tactic to gross out men in lifestyle articles and sites, that if they know how disgusting women were, quite unlike the fragrant, softly perfect creatures they were otherwise raised to believe, the idea of sex would not even come up.

Bras, women are told, need to be washed as soon as they are bought. They come with instructions, these bras, on how to wash in a machine.

That itchy annoying label that sticks to your back, attaching itself to the hooks at the back and inspiring you to keep readjusting in the middle of a conversation because it is now so standard.

Bras may have a reputation as a sexy gateway to 2nd base but they are also made of pragmatic things. Rayon, silk, cotton, lace, microfiber, polyester, Spandex, underwire consisting of mouldable plastic, resin or actual metal that can beep at an airport.

The more expensive a bra is, the more that degree and amount of research that went into its making. Expensive bras should have a better fit, better craftsmanship, awe-inspiring support and are prettier to look at and softer to touch. Especially if made out of 100 per cent silk.

If you had not figured it out by now, bras are a thing of beauty and pure genius.

On the 2nd of May, an interview with one Jené Luciani, a bra expert and author of The Bra Book, surfaced. She said, “You should wash your bras after every wearing, which is something a lot of women don’t realise.”

WASHING YOUR BRA

Your bra is underwear, just like your panty, and it comes into contact with your skin every single day.

Your bra gathers a generous amount of sweat and gunk just from the fact that you are alive and wearing it. And, the less you wash your bra, the faster it will lose elasticity.

While every bra you buy comes with laundry instructions, here is how you should, in fact, wash your undies, bra included.

Use cold water. With a delicate detergent. I leave that up to your discretion. Enough brands have proclaimed their tenderness to fabrics and hands. No hot water. That’s just unkind and says more about your relationship to your bosom than it does your relationship with underwear.

Besides, considering the fabrics bras are made out of, this is a sure way to break down the elasticity and wiring, if any, of your bras.

The best option is to always hand wash, especially if made out of gauze, very fine lace or silk. If you prefer a washing machine, the delicates get their own wash cycle.

You would need to have a garment bag — some say a pillowcase counts as such — and wash in cold water and mild detergent. Do not mix them with other clothes.

Which means, as a woman, you will need to have no less than three bras in total to have in rotation during the course of the week. It makes sense therefore to hand wash all delicates.

The more you love your bras, the more they will love you back. After all, you and her will have a relationship that lasts a year. Hang your bras out to dry.

If you want a lovely scent all over your bras, keep an empty bottle of your favourite perfume in the drawer. Underwear should be kept as far away as possible from fabric softeners.

Store your bras by lining them up in a neat row, laying them flat while keeping all of them in your line of sight at the same time. Just like they do in stores when you go shopping.

Eliminating any despair that follows any time you need to get dressed, and anxiety about how you can tell when it’s finally time to buy a series of newer, shinier bras.