Cleaning Your Undergarments

Delicates are, of course, delicate. You should always be mindful of the design and material of your bras and panties when washing and caring for them. Some are sturdy enough to withstand a gentle cycle in the washing machine, but they should still be washed in a mesh bag so it doesn't snag onto anything. Others should be hand washed only, especially it's a good quality bra!

Here are some tips to help make your lingerie last.

"Because it is worn so often and loses elasticity over time, a bra generally lasts no longer than two years. But proper laundering can help ensure that bras and other intimates age gracefully. So how delicate do you need to be with delicates? Perhaps not as delicate as you think....
Underwear
To ensure thorough cleaning, wash underwear in light loads. Use the gentle cycle with warm water and all-purpose detergent, unless the label specifies “mild.”Tumble dry items that contain spandex on low or air-dry them to prevent shrinking. Hand wash delicate items, as with fine bras and lingerie.
Swimsuits
Rinse them well when you get home from the pool or the beach to remove chlorine or salt water, which can cause fading or changes in color;chlorine can also damage elasticity. Launder by hand or in the machine, as with everyday bras and lingerie. Air-dry.
Shapewear
In most cases, wash as for underwear. If the item has underwires, use a mesh bag. Since shapewear typically contains spandex, air-dry or tumble dry on low."

Read more about how to care for your undergarments on Real Simple! Click here

Variation of Bra Size by Brand

Do you find yourself needing bras of different sizes depending on the style, material, or brand? The variance of bra sizes among brands makes finding the perfect fit feel like a guessing game. Finding your size through rough estimates makes finding the correct bra size challenging for some women.
Lucky Magazine investigates this by observing 5 bras from different brands, measuring them at identically marked sizes and comparing results.

"To help figure out which size you are at what brand, we measured the end-to-end length of T-shirt bras from five popular lingerie lines—Calvin Klein's Level 3 Seductive Comfort Customized Lift, Victoria's Secret's Full Coverage, Gap's Favorite T-Shirt, Bali's Back To Beautiful and Elle MacPherson's Bare & Bold—to compare proportions. Consult the charts below to see how you size up. (Or down!)"

See the charts here: http://www.luckymag.com/blogs/luckyrightnow/2012/03/sizing-up-your-5-favorite-lingerie-brands#slide=1 

Why Lingerie Retailers Don't Carry More Sizes

Women are left very disappointed when they find a lovely piece of lingerie, but soon learn that the retailer doesn't carry their size. What's even more disappointing is that for most of these women, this isn't a rare experience for them by any means.
Lingerie retailers usually carry sizes only within a certain range, making it necessary women of different sizes to resort to specialty stores for their intimate apparel.
Why is it that lingerie retailers don't carry a wider variety of sizes? Catherine from Kiss Me Deadly has done a lot of research and pondering on the subject and has shared her theory with The Lingerie Addict. Read it here:

"Catherine:I once wrote a huge thing about this containing some basic stats ideas, and I’m going to return to that, but because it’s pleasingly simple and very gross, let’s talk fingers first. A small amount of people have no fingers. Some people have less than 10. And a very few people have extra fingers (depending on your definition of fingers). This means that the average number of fingers is less than 10. But would you make gloves with less than 10 fingers? No, because the average isn’t always the same as the most common – which, in this case, is 10 ( or 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, for the pedants)."

Read more: http://thelingerieaddict.com/2012/03/why-do-lingerie-retailers-not-carry-more-sizes.html

Proper Bra Storage

If you want to maintain your bras shape and extend their lifetime, it's essential that you care for them correctly!
When storing your bras, be sure to keep the cups facing upright and to stack them one on top of the other. Never invert the cups and be sure to keep them wrinkle-free.
Follow The Wife has bra storage tips on her blog that you should check out!

I have a lot of bras. Truthfully, I wear two or three of them all the time—a seamless nude bra and a padded black push-up are my everyday staples. But I can never say no to a pretty bra. Therefore, I have lots of pretty bras all crumpled a drawer. Additionally, last summer I went through a bright bra phase and now I have lots of bright bras crumpled in the drawer, too. Typing that made me cringe a little bit. My bras—pretty, bright or basic—should not be crumpled anywhere!

Read it here: http://followthewife.blogspot.com/2012/03/proper-bra-storage.html

Your Bra Transforms Your Body

Wearing the incorrect bra size can really do some damage on a woman's silhouette. With the right bra size, a body can be completely transformed into a smoother, leaner figure with breasts held upright in the right place. These women's before-and-after pictures show how drastic of a difference a bra fitting can make.

See the Shape Magazine before-and-after bra fitting collection here: http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/beauty-style/change-your-bra-change-your-body

Alleviating Back Pain

Having large breasts causes back pain for many women, even after a proper bra fitting. This blog on Venusian Glow has bra tips that'll help ease back pain caused by heavy breasts and/or bad posture caused by them. More hooks, a tighter band, and wearing a soft, lightly supportive bra to sleep are all ideas that can help.

"For a lot of people, finding the proper bra size is enough to prevent back pain. Unfortunately,this isn’t the case for everyone. Some women will still experience those discouraging backaches no matter how well-fitted their bra is. There are many causes for back pain, but having heavier boobs, or posture that is bad because of them, can really exacerbate these issues.
   Breast reductions are often touted as the only solution for breast-related back issues, and for some women, they are the best choice. But if you DON’T want to have a reduction, there are a few other tricks you can use to ease your pain."

Read more: http://www.venusianglow.com/2012/02/back-pain-even-after-proper-bra-fitting.html

Linda's Bra Problem Guide

With more than 80% of women wearing the wrong bra size, it's no wonder why there are so many issues and questions regarding their fit and appearance floating around. For the most common bra problems among women, Linda The Bra Lady has the reasons why they happen and the answers to help you find your correct size!
Check out her Bra Problem Guide if you have any questions regarding the fit of your bra's band or straps, breasts, any medical problems, uneven sizes, or anything else.

"It's important to care for your bras properly. Every woman knows how painful the wrong bra can be. Learn how to solve your bra problems here, once and for all."

Read it here: http://www.lindasonline.com/bra-problem-guide.html