You’ve been washing your bras wrong your whole life

This will change everything

How many of us really wash our bras any different to the rest of our clothes? You tend to just shove everything in the washing machine, on the same cycle as usual, right?

Well you probably won’t be surprised to hear that’s really not the way you should be doing it if you want any kind of longevity out of your underwear.

In its new column Back to Basics, Fashionista explains that if you MUST machine wash, at least put them in a lingerie wash bag first.

‘Start by hooking your bras closed and then placing them in a lingerie wash bag, which is basically a mesh bag that you zip or tie shut. This serves the dual purpose of both protecting your bra straps from getting stretched out when they wrap around other items in the laundry and preventing the hook closures from snagging loose-knit items like sweaters and pulling out loops of thread or yarn,’ they explain.

It also might be worth using the ‘delicates’ cycle so you don’t damage your underwear, and you shouldn’t put it in the dryer either, but let them air dry.

But really, the best option is always to hand wash, which we get isn’t great if you’re pressed for time, but it’s a much gentler option.

Fashionista recommends to ‘swish the bras around for a bit to make sure the water and detergent get worked into the bras, and leave them to sit in the water for 10 to 15 minutes,’ before slightly twisting to get rid of excess water and letting air dry as normal.