Everybody loves lingerie, however due to the cost and quality of the lingerie, special care and attention needs to be paid when cleaning and storing these precious items as they can be easily damaged. There are three key things you can do to extend the life of your lingerie.

1. Always Hand Wash All Lingerie

Most lingerie manufacturers recommend only ever hand washing your lingerie. Washing machines and even worse clothes dryers, do a lot of damage to key parts of your lingerie, such as the padding, underwire, bracing, lace and clasps which decrease the life of the lingerie.

I have seen many bras thrown out because the clasps on the bras as well as the underwire have been damaged beyond repair. When hand washing your lingerie ensures that you allow the lingerie to drip dry in a covered area. Do not place your lingerie in direct sunlight as this will damage the fabric and in particular the padding, lace or satin elements.

When washing your lingerie ensure that you are gentle with it and keep any rubbing to a minimum. This is particularly important if your lingerie has lace or satin on it. Excessive rubbing may cause holes in your lingerie. Make sure though that you wash your lingerie sufficiently to ensure that you remove all of the sweat from all elements of the lingerie or when the item dries it will still smell.

2. Storage of Lingerie

The team at Dreamy Lingerie always recommend that your high quality lingerie be stored in cardboard boxes, under tissue paper. The reason this is recommended is so that the lingerie is kept dry and free of mould. If it is not practical to store the lingerie in a cardboard box, then certainly store it in its own lingerie cabinet.

If you live in a climate that has a high humidity then drying beads or moisture absorption beads will be of a great help in the cardboard box as they will absorb the moisture and keep it away from your lingerie.

3. Be Careful What Clothes You Store With Your Lingerie

Always ensure that if you are storing your lingerie in your clothes cupboard that the lingerie is stored in a separate drawer. Items on lingerie like silk or lace are normally relatively strong however, when stored next to items like jeans they can be easily torn.

Ensure care is taken when Bras are stored next to corsets. Our team have seen that boning on corsets can damage bras when stored next to them. In particular the corsets and bras get caught together and result in tears and damage of the fabric.

If you look after your lingerie, there is no reason why it will not last you for an extended period of time however the key is the way in which you maintain your lingerie.