Hand washing 'fragile' clothing

Katgrit

Hi,
Know most of you ladies on here are happy to act as surrogate Mum's to those of up who's own Mum's didn't have a clue themselves. And i know theres no such thing as a stupid question!! So i'll say thanks in advance :-)

I've never handwashed anything in my life and now the time has come. Usually it all just gets bunged in the machine regardless. But this item i cant afford to lose. Its one of those brand new strapless wonderbra's with the 'hands' inside (if you haven't seen one honestly they are AMAZING - only strapless bra i have ever seen that doesn't make my hippo sized boobs look like a giant mono sausage wrapped round my chest - people actually thought i'd had enhancement surgery cos they looked so wonderful! - anyway, i digress!). The plastic hands are made of a cartiledge (?) type stuff that would just get mangled by a washing machile and as every shop everywhere has sold out of them i cant risk ruining it.

So my numpty question is - how do i handwash something. Please assume i'm a total idiot and tell me everything from scratch!! I think stuff rots if you leave it soaking in cleaning stuff for too long, but i dont know what stuff to avoid and what is too long. 10 mins? An hour? A day?

I have in my cupboard some persil/daz tablets i use for whites, some supermarket own brand coloured tabs and some dark wash liquid i've never used cos i lost the dispenser ball. I have a bath and 2 sinks. Oh, and some stardrops too!!

Because of the pre-formed hippo sized cups and the cartilege stuff inside i think wringing it out wouldn't be possible.

Dont all laugh at me being so dense at the age of 31, i'm trying so hard to learn! I cringe everytime i go back to my parents and see the matted fluff all up the stair carpet and the grime and grease splattered up the kitchen wall behind the cooker. I never noticed it all when i lived there!

ivyleaf

((((HUGS)))) Katgrit, you're not dense at all! How can you just "know" how to do things you haven't done before?

Is it a white bra? I think a whole washing tablet might be a bit much for washing one item, unless you dissolve it in loads of water, but come to think of it, the box the tablets come in may well tell you how much water to put with one tablet for hand washing.

Otherwise, I think I'd try shampoo if you haven't any ordinary washing powder or liquid. i can't really tell you how much shampoo to use, put your warm water in the sink or bowl, and maybe start with a couple of teaspoonsful and see how lathery it is

Squeeze the bra gently or rub it gently with your thumb on one side of the fabric and fingers on the other (hope that makes sense), then rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. As you say, you can't wring it, but you can roll it in a clean towel to get rid of excess water. Dry it either on a line or an airer, whichever you have. Of course you'lll need to hang the towel up to dry too

Hope this helps

I haven't heard of these bras, sounds wonderful!

rosieben

I use something like Lux flakes for my hand wash but that's a personal preference as I find washing powder/tablets difficult to dissolve; I usually hand wash in my bathroom basin

I would soak the bra in warm soapy water for half an hour, change water adding a little more detergent, gently 'massage' the bra under water - sorry that sounds funny but its the best way of describing what I mean (for sturdy fabrics I rub hard but this can damage some fabrics);

run a basin of clean water and rinse just squeezing gently and moving the bra around in the water; repeat until the water is clear; you may prefer to rinse under running water but watch the temperature if you use the hot tap! I think your best bet is to wrap it in a clean towel and squeeze it to dry it a little then drip dry over the bath or shower

ivyleaf beat me to it!

Katgrit

Thanks so much for your help! I didn't know if just rubbing it would work or i had to soak it for any length of time.

Its a 'nude' coloured one but it was so good i bought one in black too, as i knew they were selling out quick. Couldn't get hold of my size anywhere round the Midlands but eventually tracked some down in Manchester. It had sold out in every size in every catalogue i could find. This was the reason that at 9am on the morning of my friends wedding i was sitting on a bench outside a distant Debenhams in hair rollers waiting for them to open!! Ha ha ha thing we do to look good!

If anyone else in interested its called something like 'Ultimate perfection' or 'Ultimate uplift' and it comes on a black card rather than just a hanger. The sizes run slightly bigger than usual wonderbra's. Its got coloured hands on the card, and says you can run dance and even jump in it. I'm usually a FF cup and i cant emphasise enough how gravity free, rounded and supported it makes my boobs look. Never jumped so much in a shop changing room in my life! Its strappy top city from here on!

valk_scot

I'd go and buy a bottle of something made specifically for handwashing. M&S have their brand on BOGOF atm.

Fill the sink with hand hot water, add the recommended amount of washing liquid, swish the bra around in it a bit, let it sit for five minutes, swish again. Drain, run a sinkful of clean water and repeat above swish-sit-swish, then lift it out, let it drip over the sink for a minute, roll it loosely in a towl, pat out the excess water then let it drip dry over the bath.

thriftlady_2

I know nothing about laundry -well not much anyway but I want to know more about these bras with hands -they sound like fun! Are they any good for people with chicken sized boobs?:D

Olliebeak

rosieben wrote: »

I use something like Lux flakes ......

Wow, rosieben, not heard of those for ages - thought they must have been discontinued. I used to used them for handwashing my stockings in the early/mid 60's.

Katgrit

Well my mate with just b/c sort of cup size bought one and was raving on to me about it not realising i already had one. Its the only bra i've tried that seems to have been designed with girls of all sizes in mind. Usually hippo sized ones are just small ones made bigger, if that makes sense. Imagine someone standing in front of you pushing each of your boobs up, fingers at the sides, thumbs underneath slightly. The 'hands' only have 3 fingers rather than 4, and obviously they are flat and slightly padded. This bra has been excellently well thought out!

I've just checked and they are called ULTIMATE STRAPLESS. At £32 it aint cheap but worth every single penny!! Deb's do them, as do all the big catalogues, but like i said they've sold out EVERYWHERE, maybe you'll be lucky and chicken sized ones will still be available though, obviously us hippo's snapped the big ones up first!

rosieben

Olliebeak wrote: »

Wow, rosieben, not heard of those for ages - thought they must have been discontinued. I used to used them for handwashing my stockings in the early/mid 60's.

omg showing my age again ... :rotfl:just ran up to the bathroom (well more sort of puffed my way up really!) and the box says 'Te*co Handwash' sorry if I confused you Kat!

SUESMITH_2

if your going to hand wash it a lot i would buy some stergene hand wash liquid, its what i use for mine and dd bras, i dont use powder as its a pain to dissolve

i wash ours in the bathroom sink, chuck em in the basin to soak while i have a bath then a gentle squeeze and rinse when i get out

not a silly qestion at all

Pennylane

I'd go along with Stergene. Make sure whatever you buy is NON-BIO for handwashing. Lots of clothes items say use non-bio and people don't even notice it and then their clothes end up with holes and they blame their washing machine .... or the garment manufacturer.