How to take care of your underwear
A nagging question that lingers in the minds of most ladies is, “Is there a proper way to take care of one’s underwear or lingerie?”
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According to health experts, there is.
There are a set of rules that ladies have to follow if they want to keep proper hygiene in the intimate areas.
Looking after lingerie
A businesswoman, Ms Alberta Duah, says: “Although I was taught to wash my panties every day by my mother, now I wash them weekly because I do not have time, but I make sure they are well washed with the necessary amount of detergent to avoid any form of infections.”
It becomes quite important and necessary to know how to take good care of your lingerie. Taking proper care not only makes the lingerie last longer but also takes care of your skin as the lingerie is closest to your skin. The design of lingerie and the soft silkiness of its fabric will remain intact if you carefully wash, dry and maintain it.
The thing about lingerie sets, or delicates as they are also known, is the fact that they are fragile! From lace to silk or high quality cotton, the lingerie needs to be stored, washed and dried with extra care and attention. Storing your delicate lingerie in the right way is paramount to maintaining good hygiene as not taking good care of it, according to health experts, can lead to infections.
Tips to help maintain your lingerie
To make the colour of your underwear last longer, you should let it soak in white vinegar for 10 minutes, wash and rinse it. It is better to dry your underwear naturally - in the sun.
According to a banker, Nana Aba, “I used to wash my panties daily but I stopped because I did not have the time to wash them while bathing. So I use pantie liners after which I take my time to wash them during the weekend. I also do not get the time to iron them but I make sure I wash with medicated soap and hang them in the sun.”
According to fashion experts, one should never use bleach to whiten underwears as it discolours the fabric, makes black look yellow and destroys lace. Instead, they recommend the use of washing powder with whitening agents.
Washing your underwear
It is better to hand-wash your lingerie, but you can machine-wash it for speed. Either way, you need to take special care of it. Separate the colours — whites and blacks — for each wash.
The advice is that one should not use hot water but rather running water at less than 30°C, then soak the underwear for a few minutes and always rinse with hot water then cold water after wash.
A fashion designer, Ms Lizzy Nkrumah, says: “I wash my lingerie weekly. I soak it with warm water for about 30 minutes before I wash. After washing, I iron it very well to avoid any infections.”
Storage of lingerie
A lingerie bag will help keep the bras from being wrapped around the agitator. This protects your bra from being stretched out, and if your bra is under-wired, it protects the under wire from being twisted and puncturing the bra material.
It is a good idea to turn panties inside out before putting them in the lingerie bag.
It is not necessary to wash a bra after every wearing, but you should not wear a bra two days in a row. Give it a day off after each ‘day on.’ It will use that time to reform to its original shape, and the fabric will "breathe" by resuming its original volume and texture.
When you do wash it, allow it to rest a day in your drawer or on your shelf, before wearing it again, for the same reasons. Wearing a bra and washing it cause it to stretch, and in both cases it needs a day to resume its original condition.
Always store your intimate apparel in a drawer, or on a shelf. Never hang it in the closet, even if it is a corset, body stocking or other large items. Also storing your lingerie in a drawer along with perfumed sachet will give it a pleasant fragrance and make you feel good while wearing it.
Underwire bras can be safely folded in the middle. Moulded cup bras can be folded with one cup tucked inside the other.
A social worker, Maame Fosua, says she piles and washes her undies weekly, “After which I iron and keep them in a specific luggage for easy access.”
Weekend getaways
For those moments when your lingerie is vital to some weekend getaway, take extra care when packing so that your cosmetics and toiletries do not leak onto your bras and panties and damage the colours. Pack bras and panties just as you would if placing them in your dresser, fold them and keep them away from anything that might snag them.
For the extra-sexy items, lay your corsets, merry widows and bustiers flat so as not to damage the boning, and cushion ends of the boning with other clothing.