How to Wash Swimsuits So They Last for Years

These tips will keep your bathing suits looking their best all summer long

Bathing suits are prone to stains and other fabric care challenges that aren't typically seen in other garments, and the delicate elastic requires special handling to prevent irreversible damage. Knowing how to properly wash and care for a swimsuit will extend the life of your swimwear, saving you money. Ahead, you'll find everything you need to know about washing bathing suits the right way, as well as the tips and tools you need to keep your swimwear looking great for years to come.

Give It a Rinse

The best thing you can do for the longevity and good looks of a bathing suit is to rinse it after use. The easiest way to do this is to bring the suit into the shower with you to rinse it off when you rinse yourself off, post-swim. 

This rule holds true if you've been swimming in fresh, salt, or chlorinated water; it also applies when you've worn a bathing suit for something other than swimming, as rinsing will help to wash away sunscreen, sweat, and other body soils, which can cause staining and break down a bathing suit's delicate fabric.

Hand Laundering Is Ideal

Bathing suits are best washed by hand, rather than in the washing machine. For the uninitiated, hand laundering may sound hopelessly tedious, but it is a quick and easy job, especially when the items being washed are small, lightweight garments like swimwear.

To make hand washing a swimsuit even easier, opt for a no-rinse detergent like Soak Wash and follow these simple instructions:

1. Dilute the recommended amount of detergent in enough cool water to fully submerge the bathing suit and allow room for your hands to move through the water.

2. Using a gentle swishing motion, submerge the swimsuit in the detergent solution and allow it to soak for 10 minutes.

3. Drain the detergent solution and gently press down on the swimsuit to extrude water; do not wring or twist the suit, as doing so will stretch and stress the fibers.

4. Air dry the swimsuit flat; do not hang a swimsuit to drip dry to avoid stretching the material, leaving it misshapen.
   

Wringing the bathing suit to extrude water from it will stretch the fibers, weakening the elastic and leaving the suit misshapen; instead, press down firmly on the suit to push excess water out.

Machine Washing Is Fine, Too

While washing a swimsuit by hand is ideal, machine washing is a perfectly acceptable choice, and the one most people will opt for. If you choose to machine wash bathing suits, make these simple adjustments to your regular laundry routine to ensure delicate swimwear comes out of the wash looking its best.

• Launder swimsuits in a protective mesh washing bag, which will keep it from becoming tangled and stretched.

• Wash bathing suits with other lightweight or delicate garments, and avoid including heavy or bulky items like towels, jeans, sweatshirts, etc.

• Swimwear should be washed in cold water, using the gentlest cycle available on your machine.

• Consider using a gentle detergent designed for use on delicates.

• Do not use bleach when washing a bathing suit.

Dry It Right

While machine washing is a fine choice, when it comes to drying bathing suits, skip the machine and opt for air drying. The heat from a dryer will weaken a swimsuit's elastic, and can cause fading in bright- or dark-colored suits. If you must put swimwear in the dryer, use a no heat cycle.

When air drying swimsuits, lay them flat, either on a drying rack or on a clean, dry towel. Drying a bathing suit flat, rather than hanging it to drip-dry, will prevent it from stretching out.

Keep Dark Suits from Fading

Bright- and dark-colored bathing suits will suffer from fading over time as sunshine, chlorine, salt water, and regular washing take their toll. But there are some things you can do to prevent fading: Rinsing bathing suits after wear will go a long way in preserving the color, as will opting for a detergent formulated specifically for use on dark clothing, like Woolite Darks Defense or Steamery Dark & Denim.

Prevent and Treat Yellowing in Light-Colored Suits

Exposure to sun, chlorine, sunblock, etc. can cause problems in white or light-colored suits, too. If white or light-colored swimwear begins to take on a yellow cast, a baking soda solution will reverse it. Start by dissolving a half cup of baking soda in a gallon of cold water, then allow the suit to soak in that solution for 1-2 hours. Rinse well and air dry.

Removing Sunscreen Stains

Sunscreen stains are tricky animals: Sunscreen creates a combination stain made up of oil and mineral compounds, which are broken down for stain removal in different ways. A key ingredient in most sunblock formulas, avobenzone, has the propensity to oxidize in water, causing deep orangish stains. 

These stains appear rust-like and, in a sense, they are—when sunscreens containing avobenzone mix with minerals that naturally appear in the water supply, the resulting stains have a similar makeup to rust stains. Those stains need to be treated in the same way as you would a rust stain.

To remove rust-like sunscreen stains, either use a commercial rust stain remover designed for use on laundry, such as Carbona Stain Devils #9 Rust and Perspiration, or make an overnight treatment of lemon juice and salt, following these instructions:

1. Flush the stained section of the garment by holding the fabric under cool running water. Work quickly, only exposing the stain to water for as long as it takes to saturate the area.

2. Lay the garment flat on a surface where it can sit, undisturbed, overnight. If the flat surface is metal, wood, or another material that should not get wet, place a folded towel between the garment and the flat surface.

3. Squeeze lemon juice directly onto the stain so that it is well saturated, then pour a pile of salt on top of the lemon juice.

4. Allow the lemon juice and salt to sit overnight, to penetrate and break down the stain. In the morning, brush the salt into the sink or trash and launder the garment as usual.

Treat Pilling

Fabric pills, the natural result of everyday use and abrasion, is a common problem with bathing suits, particularly when they're exposed to rough surfaces like pool decks or rocky beaches. The best way to remove pills from bathing suits is to use an electric fabric shaver; while a razor is another pill removal tool, it can be too easy to nick the fine fabric of a bathing suit, so opt for the shaver instead to avoid ruinous damage.

For more Better Homes & Gardens news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens.