Give Your Bras A Rest

Let your bras rest!

I’m a bra expert and still I’ve been guilty of killing my favorite bra. Why? I didn’t let it rest enough.

Ideally, you should have at least 3 bras. Lingerie experts recommend that you wear a bra for one day, and then put it in the wash. The next day, you wear your second bra, and wash the first. The day after that, the second bra goes in the wash; the first bra is hanging to dry completely and rests; the third bra goes on you.

By the time the third bra is going in the wash, the first bra has finished drying and resting and you can wear it again.

Now, three is the smallest number of bras you can own in order to follow this system. Personally, I’ve never owned only three bras, so I should be able to wait to do a “load” of hand washables and then put a number of them to dry so that I have a selection of bras to wear at any point in time.

Well, that’s the theory.

I recently got a new bra that I just loved. It fit wonderfully. It was really comfortable. It was just a Playtex bra that I’d bought at a local department store. Nothing fancy, but a great everyday bra.

And that was the problem. I wore it every day.

In my defense, it was a bad week. The youngest one got sick. I was nursing her back to health 24 hours a day. I’m sure I slept on the floor of her room one particularly bad evening. I think that was the time when I slept all night in my newest Playtex.

Then, the oldest one got sick and I had both kids at home. Ever tried to keep two kids under 7 occupied while trying to ensure the older one doesn’t run around too much? That was the day the laundry didn’t get done.

I might have slept in my bra again that night.

When I took my favorite bra off, it was clear that the band was no longer the shape it was supposed to be. In fact, it had stretched all along the top and bottom borders where the elastic ensured the fit I liked.

I’m not sure if washing it (carefully) and laying it to rest for a couple of weeks in my drawer will help. If not, I might have to lay it to final rest.