How often do you wash your bras?
I happened across a Business Insider article this morning featuring a Q&A session with True&Co CEO Michelle Lam, in which she talks about the ethos of her company and her own personal views on lingerie.
It’s an interesting enough read, if a bit on the PR-heavy side, but the part that caught my attention was this:
ML: Our customer is a true woman. No push up. Perfectly fitted. She wears it to work. In her closet is a little bit of fantasy and a lot of reality. Guys have more boxers than girls have bras. Women wait a long time to replace bras. When they bought it the fit was right. But spandex and cotton, when you’re wearing it all the time, can get ruined in the wash. So American women don’t wash them that much.
BI: Really? I assumed women washed bras the way men wash boxer shorts — after every use.
ML: Most women may not wash them ever. Fibers break down. Sixty percent of women didn’t replace their bras in last three years. I was probably one of them.
Firstly, there’s that irritating tag again “true woman”. I cannot think of a description that irks me more than defining women into categories of “real” or “true”. All women are “real” and “true” – any other description is offensive and specious. The logical conclusion would be that there are “fake” and “false” women on the opposite end of the spectrum. Can we stop this nonsense now, please?
Secondly, there’s the part about “most women may never wash their bras ever”. Well, I don’t know about Michelle Lam, but I wash my bras after one wear; that is, I wear the bra, I take it off, I put it in the wash and I launder it. To not do this causes a build-up of bacteria on the material, deodorant stains and bodily sweat stains. On a very rare occasion I may have put a bra back on that I had worn the day before – but probably more out of necessity than anything else (such as waking up in a strange place with no change of clothing – which, let’s face it, hasn’t happened to me for about 15 years).
Think about it – would you repeatedly wear a pair of briefs without washing them? Ever? I think not.
I’ve blogged about bra care, bra laundering and bra storage numerous times in the past here on Brastop Blog, and I’ve always emphasised how important it is to wash your bras regularly – but also to wash them carefully (such as by using a net-bag, or by hand-washing them) to avoid the materials and shape deteriorating (even putting bras on a radiator causes their life to shorten dramatically).
How do you wash your bras?
I’d dearly love to know where Michelle gets her statistics from. When I read her reply to the question – after spluttering my coffee all over keyboard and putting my eyes back in my head – I sent a quick email-round to 10 of my friends with the simple question: how often do you wash your bras?
Every single one of them replied: after one wear.
Of course, it wasn’t the most scientific of polls, but I’d like to think it was honest, at least.
Lastly, there’s the final statement she’s made about “Sixty percent of women didn’t replace their bras in last three years”.
Again, this doesn’t hold up to scrutiny – and I’d be fascinated to find out where she obtained her data. The whole thing smells of intentional controversy and marketing.
If it was the case that only 40% of women replaced their bras in a three-year period, the bra industry – or the lingerie industry in general – would be suffering badly. It’s not – it’s one of the major growth retail industries – especially in the general shopping arena (Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda have all increased their in-store lingerie retail spaces by 20% in the last three years).
According to a 2011 report the market “has seen continual growth over the period 2006-2010, performing well throughout the recession and within the current economic climate, owing to new innovations and designs and the fact that consumers are using the industry to purchase an inexpensive treat during financial hardship. The total UK lingerie market was worth an estimated £2.93bn in 2010, increasing by 17.8% over the 5-year review period.”
That doesn’t strike me as women not replacing bras, but I think we need to get deeper into this idea that women don’t wash their bras (ever, apparently), so we’re asking on our Facebook Page – how many times do you wash your lingerie? Join the conversation today.
