Caring for Your Lingerie

Caring for your lingerie shouldn’t make you fret. Just check the tag to see what your unmentionables are made of. This list from Pampered Passions will prove to be just what you need when it comes to sudsing up your sexy delicates.

Materials to Use

Some fabrics, such as acetate, some linen, some rayon and silk, should be dry-cleaned only. Others, like cotton, polyester, spandex, nylon and acrylics, can be machine-washed. How convenient! Remember to always refer to the care instructions on the garment itself before opting to follow directions from sites that break lingerie into general fabric categories.

If you’re dry cleaning your lingerie, you obviously won’t need any materials on your own (unless you want to try Dryel, the method of “dry cleaning” in your own dryer). All you need is money and a way to get to the dry cleaner.

Extra care needed

If your lingerie tag suggests that you hand wash your items, you’ll need a bathtub, sink or bucket to fill with water and light detergent like Forever New, Eucalan or Stergene (as recommended by Knickers Blog. Woolite’s website also offers this chart to show you how to take care of your clothes, from washing to drying. Soak your lingerie pieces for a little bit, then hand wash. In most cases, you’ll want to lay flat to dry. Some pieces can be tossed into the dryer if you wish. Again, refer to care tags and the fabric chart above.

In the washing machine, caring for your lingerie requires the use of the delicate cycle and gentle detergent. You may also want to use a garment bag specifically designed for washing lingerie. Those will protect your unmentionables from getting snagged on something inside the washer.

When Your Skin-Baring Attire is Leather

Caring for your lingerie is a bit different when you’re working with leather lingerie. You can’t just toss it in a drawer when you’re done wearing, washing and drying it like you can with other materials. Leather needs to be stored on a wooden or plastic hanger so that it maintains its shape.

To clean, use products only meant for leather care. Even then, test a small, unnoticeable spot before you embark on the task of cleaning the whole item. Use warm, soapy water and rinse thoroughly before even attempting to dry your leather lingerie (go over it again with a damp cloth just to make sure you’ve removed all the residue). Air dry, but not in front of a heater or in direct sunlight.