The art of washing a swimsuit
HOW TO WASH YOUR SWIMSUIT
Once you have invested in a premium swimsuit you want to give it the best care. After all, swimsuits are exposed to salt, heat, chlorine, suncream and body oils can leave tricky stains. Follow our guide and tips and tricks to ensure you wash it in the right way.
First rule: Never store a swimsuit in a plastic bag
First of all, rule number one: never leave your wet swimsuit in a plastic bag for long: plastic bags prevent air circulation and cause bacterias to grow and bad smell. Better to store your wet swimsuit inside our bikini bags or, as an alternative, to wrap them in a towel. After spending a long day at the beach, you’d better remove all sand from your swimsuits before washing.
1. RINSE (BEFORE AND) AFTER YOU SWIM
Make it a habit to use the shower, before (if possible), and after a swim. When you rinse first, the construction of the swim textils will be filled with fresh water, and therefore will wick less of the chlorinated or salt water. After a swim, rinse in fresh water or shower will help to remove some of the chemicals, salt, and sand that your suit has been exposed to until you can give it a proper wash.
2. HAND -NOT MACHINE WASH
Rinse immediately under cold or lukewarm tap water. Even though the fabric itself can be machine washed, we do not recommend machine washing for a bikini since it is a harsh clothing care process. The movements, twisting, centrifugation etc, manipulate the seams and trimmings which may result in damage. Instead, we recommend you to hand-wash your swimsuit after every day. Wash with a small quantity of mild & neutral soap to remove any stains, you can focus on these spots only.
3. USE ONLY MILD DETERGENT
Choosing a fitting detergent for your swimwear is important. Using the wrong detergent can actually destroy your garments. Never use laundry detergents such as powders as they are far too harsh for synthetic stretch fabric and will often cause the color to fade and break the fiber bindings. Even just a little bit of detergent can lead to color fading.
Use a mild detergent, we recommend Almgrens organic wash soap found here, which is our best tried soap to date, to gently rub any stains from sun-creams and oils off the fabric. Rinse well in lukewarm water.
Rinsing is really important because detergents tend to alter the fabric pH and, consequently, to interfere with the chemical bond between the dyestuff and the fiber, thus creating darker marks.
Remove excess water by rolling your suit in a towel (as you would with a down jacket or cashmere sweater), and hang it inside out. If the weather allows it, let it dry in the open air but away from direct sunlight which may speed up color degradation.
4. STORE IT RIGHT
Good maintenance is key for the duration of your swimwear. Also knowing how to fold swimsuits is important, since elastic bands mustn’t be stressed and pads have to be preserved, in case of padded bikinis tops. In the closet, always store your swimwear flat, that lets air flow through.
