How to Care for your Delicates

02.25.10

Congratulations!  You are the proud recipient of a sexy, expensive lingerie set!  What will you do now!?  

The smartest thing would be to hightail it over to your nearest drugstore and pick up a bottle of delicate wash laundry detergent.  Your lingerie is beautiful but very fragile and susceptible to breakage and snagging during wash.  It is best to handwash all lingerie in cold water in order to extend it's glamorous life!  If you have a newer laundry machine, the delicates wash cycle should be OK, but make sure the water temp is cold and you put the garment in a mesh lingerie bag (you can find those at most home stores or a cute one here).  

To handwash, simply fill your sink with cold water and a bit of delicate detergent (La Perla recommends Dreft, but I don't like the heavy smell of it.  I prefer this lingerie wash by Bare Necessities or Ivory Snow).  Don't mix brights, whites and darks together, keep them separate.  Let garments soak for 30 minutes in the cold soapy water then drain sink and fill with fresh clean cold water and let sit again for 20 minutes.  Rinse gently and hang or lay flat to dry.  Never expose silk to direct heat or sunlight as it will yellow.  It is best to place on a dry white towel on a rack or mesh drying mat.

Finally, if your sweet little number says dry clean only, they mean it!  Nothing ruins the mood more than pulling a shredded lace teddy out of the washing machine!

--Lindsay