Summer is here and the time is right for… yes, dancing in the street, but more appropriately for going down to the beach and spending the day in a bikini stretched out on a towel, or when you get too hot, doing a spot of swimming in the sea. After all, you’ve been shopping and now you’ve got an amazing new swimsuit that you need to show off. The thing is that your bikini will only stay looking at its best if you know the best way to wash it. Too many be-jeweled/crocheted/underwired swimming costumes have died the death after only a few times through the laundry as a result of incorrect washing. So what is the best way to wash a bikini to keep it looking as good as new?
The first thing to do as soon as you’re out of the sea/pool is to rinse the bikini so that all of the salt/chemicals are out (depending on where you were swimming). At the beach don’t be tempted to lay it out on a rock to dry off as the salt will stop it from drying out fully and the sun will make it fade. You can rinse your costume out while it’s on you if there’s a beachside shower, or you can take it off and find a public bathroom with a sink to give it a wash in, or, if all else fails, take an empty bucket, put some bottled water into it, and swill your costume out in there.
When this is done the next thing to do is to wrap your costume in a towel and squeeze out as much of the water as you can. Try to roll your swimming costume into it rather than wring it out as, if you wring it out, you’re likely to bend any wires, dislodge any mirrors or beads and put any padding out of shape. Even if your bikini is quite a simple one with no adornments it’s not good for the material to be overstretched or you might find that you’ve got a very saggy bikini before long.
Once you’re at home and able to wash your bikini you can put your costume into the washing machine, but if you have a laundry bag then zip the bikini inside to prevent anything else rubbing against the delicate fabric. It’s also best if you can use a delicate detergent on a delicate wash setting, or if you have a bikini that is covered in lots of appliques or beads it might be worth your while to wash it by hand. Either way you need to make sure that all of the detergent is out afterwards or else it can damage the hi-tech fabric. Put it through an extra rinse if you’re not sure. Then finally, if possible, dry flat and out of the sun to avoid it losing it’s shape and colour.
Voila! Follow these rules and your bikini should look just as good at the end of the summer as it did at the beginning.
