The Great Mumsnet Laundry Debate, Part II. £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

To celebrate Fairy Non Bio’s sponsorship of the Mumsnet Talk App, we’ve launched The Great Mumsnet Laundry Debate - as with all great series, it's a three-parter. Part I was all about how often you wash your bed sheets and part II is about how much you wash your bra...

Bra washing can not only be time consuming but can also require a bit of brain power. First there’s the conundrum of how to wash them, then there’s how often to wash them. Do you put them on a gentle hand-wash setting with a delicate detergent? Do you put them in a mesh bag to protect the straps from getting caught up with other items? Perhaps you only put them in a machine with other light clothing so the elastic doesn’t get stretched by towels and jeans? Or maybe you simply bung them in with everything and put them on a 40C wash? The options can make your brain hurt. So how often do you wash your bra? Are you the kind of person who can’t wear a bra more than once? Or maybe you can wear it for a week?

Whatever your bra-washing process, share it with Fairy Non Bio in the thread below, and maybe even give us a live update from the Mumsnet Talk App as you’re waiting for the load to finish. If you avidly check out Mumsnet's talk boards, you should download the app for yourself. It's free, and allows you to be part of the conversation wherever you are!

All those who post below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[leanneth]

I've never really considered the mesh bag for bras, but I might do if I had a fancy one! Mine usually gets thrown in with the rest of the similar coloured washing, then left to dry hanging on the maiden. Every few days usually.

[ThomasRichard]

Slattern alert! Mine just go in with everything else of a similar colour and then dry on an airer.

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

Every 2-3 days in with the regular wash (light or dark depending on colour). I do have a mesh bag I use for the more expensive sets!

[HannahLI]

I went through a massive period where I hand washed my bra but I just don't have the time now so I wash it every couple of weeks in the machine at 40% and its always fine, my sports bra I do more often and again totally fine.

[Nineloves]

I throw it in the the washing machine with similar coloured clothes. But I don't have very expensive lingerie. Rigby and Pellier is the stuff of my dreams.

In theory I wash it every day, but I can't face paying out for enough nursing bras to do this, so I wash every other day, or earlier if they are covered in baby sick.

Oh the glamour.

[Theimpossiblegirl]

I bought a mesh bag months ago but it is still under the sink unused. I wear my bras more than once but shower every day and don't sleep in them, so they don't get smelly. I just throw them in the right colour wash.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

I thought i was doing well by putting them in a seperate wash so that they didn't get caught on things.... watching this thread with interest- although can't be bothered with faff!

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

Every few days bra goes in a 40 degree wash with similar colours.
Please pick me, I've never won the voucher .

[Mcstriving4leanie]

My bras get thrown in with the rest of the mixed colour wash! I try to keep lighter bras in a lighter coloured wash but that's not always possible.
I wait until my.bras turn a '1000 wash grey' and they I buy new ones!

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

I treat my bras more kindly than my husband

Since childbirth it took about 2 years to find a bra that fitted so I bought 1 in cream, 1 in pale blue and 1 in black, at £45 a pop. So they get handwashed in ecover delicate liquid and dried on an airer.

(knickers on the other hand, are not treated quite as kindly - I admitted on another thread I have some that are about 20 years old)

[CordeliaScott]

I just bung mine in a 40 degree wash with similar colours and throw them away once the underwire starts poking out of the sides. Life is too short to hand wash.

[purplepandas]

Yep, no time for special bra washing. All done with the usual wash.

[GoodyGoodyGumdrops]

Mesh bag in a standard easy-care load, with the same detergent as always. Never had any problems, underwired or otherwise.

The one time a bra broke was when dh put it in a heavy-duty cottons load.

[CopperPan]

I hand wash my bras, I've had the underwires come out when I've tried putting them in the machine in the past and it always dulls the colour. They've cost too much for me to want to ruin them and they've lasted really well, some of them are over 10 years old!

[IDismyname]

I hand wash mine, too. Lost far too many underwired ones in the washing machine.

I have amassed about 8, so save them up and do them in one go. I do, however, leave them to soak for about 10 mins in a sports wash liquid, and then swish and rinse. Hang them over the taps to drip dry, and then air dry them.

It doesn't take long.

[mouldycheesefan]

I just put them in a normal 40 degree wash. I don't do anything with mesh bags etc. I tend to pay a bit more for good quality so they do wash and wear well. For delicates such as silk though I would wash on a handwash cycle in the machine. I would never handwash life is too short to be scrubbing bras at the sink!

[purplemunkey]

I put mine in a pillow case and put them on a cool wash with other delicates, maybe once a week.

[mouldycheesefan]

People wearing ten year old bras, you need to go and get up to date measuring. Your body does not stay the same for ten years and you are likley wearing the wrong size. Wearing ancient bras is not good!

[GinAndOnIt]

When I used to wear 'proper' bras, they used to get shoved in the wash with everything else, but then I realised I hated bras. Now I just wear tshirt bras from H&M so they go in with all my other washing. (I do wash all my clothes on delicate though because our old machine has a habit of ripping... RIP favourite top!)

I only own two of these tshirt bras though, which is quite horrifying. The black one probably gets washed once a week, but the nude has to wait for a white wash which isn't a regular occurrence at all

[ememem84]

I have a mesh bag for bras. And another for socks. -preens-

But. I never use them. I usually forget. I generally chuck all underwear in together and wash on 60. Then I can tumble all dh's boxers and my pants and our socks. And bras just get out on an airer.

If I was to win the £300 voucher I would probably buy enough bras so I didn't have to wash them for a while.

[voyager50]

I just bung them in at 30 degrees with either my whites, lights or darks depending on their colour - I don't have any fancy ones - sadly I'm not blessed in that department so I don't bother buying any!

[DoItTooJulia]

I bung them in with everything else-but make sure the hooks are done up so they don't snag anything else.

I love a clean fresh bra!

[Gazelda]

I wear mine more than once. I tend to have a black and a white on the go durIng the week, so they 'air' between wears.
Then I bung the black one in with the dark wash and the white one in with the other whites. Only use 40degree wash, fairy laundry liquid. I don't bother wit mesh bags, but I love the tip upthread of doing up the clips so they don't get caught on other stuff.

[Coffeechick]

I just pit mine in with a normal 40c wash. No mesh bags or special details

[Sammyislost]

Ah wow, this is interesting!! I wear my bra for a week before I wash it. I own 2 bras (really cheap ones as I replace regularly) and I wash them on the regular 40 degree wash with the other washing, no mesh bag. I haven't got time for anything else!