Swimsuit going baggy saggy..what am I doing wrong?

tanith

I bought a swimsuit from a sports shop (can't remember the name) I've had it maybe two months and used it every week... I am very careful to rinse it straight away, wash in a mild detergent and rinse and rinse, hang out of sunlight and I never put it in the washing machine..
When I used it yesterday I notice that the lycra in the material is all gone, there are patches where you can see its gone all stretchy and seethrough, its unwearable... now its a Slazenger at least thats what it says on the label but it only cost £12 in a sale so was it a fake or am I doing something wrong cos I expected it to last longer than a few weeks, I'd take it back but I can't find the receipt...... I really thought it would last till my holiday in a few weeks..

Savvy_Sue

I don't know what you're doing wrong because I have a cossie which has been in and out of the washing machine for years and has only just developed a see through bit at the back!

mandi

Hi Tanith ,

It's the chlorine in the pool that does it . No amount of rinsing will stop it I'm afraid . Happens to me all the time

jenniewb

Is it worse in comparison to your past cossies? if it is I'd take it back to the store, could be a fault.


Otherwise, take your costume into the showers with you and always rinse it before drying it as much as possible to take it home. The chlorine in the pool is acidic and this will eat into the fabric. The more you can rinse out the costume the better it should last from that respect. But if it was an actual branded Lycra costume (there are many different types of fabric which make things stretchy, lycra is just one of them and is made by the brand Lycra, hence the name) I'd want to question it as Lycra the brand prides themselves on the quality of their product.

tanith

Thanks for you input everyone.. I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and buy another one..I do have a 'nice' on the beach swimsuit but this one was a sporty one that I use for my twice weekly hour doing lengths in the local pool, and I do always get in the shower with the swimsuit on as its a mixed changing area so its rinsed as soon as poss and as I say I take great care to follow the instructions.. anyone got any recommendations for makes that last in the pool? well for longer than a few weeks anyway I can't afford to keep replacing them every few weeks..

piratefairy

It's definitely the chlorine levels of the public baths! I grew up with a swimming pool, which we used to put the sufficient amount of chlorine in every week, to keep it clean. Public baths use an awful lot more than this.
When we were growing up, we'd swim at least once a day, sometimes twice, and swimming cossie's lasted ages, never smelt of chlorine and nevr had any problems.
The swimming pool at my gym isn't as bad as a public bath for chlorine / chemical content, but nevertheless, swimwear dones't last anywhere near as long.

Not much you can do about it really, just try to rinse out as soon as you leave the water, and wash as soon as possible. I find a swimsuit probably lasts about a year now if lucky, cheap or expensive, so try to stick to cheap or sale buys myself!

tanith

piratefairy if I could get one that lasted 6mths I'd be over the moon..lol........ thanks anyway

Katiehound

As everyone says- it's the chlorine in the pool. I have tried following the instructions (and instructions I have read in magazines too) but my costumes 'go' regularly- and once they start being see through that is the beginning of the end! If you have a nice one then save it for beach wear. It doesn't seem to matter if the costumes costs £12 or £22 ....or even more public pools kill them.
I would say buy the cheapest you can and then ditch!