Washing tights....?

[Jester]

So, every year for Fantasy Fest, at least once, I dress up as a court jester. Considering my nickname, that isn't much of a shocker, I realize. Anyway, each year I buy a new set of colorful tights for the costume. By tights I mean dancer's tights, the one piece sheer item that covers both legs and the pelvic region. And each year, after I wear the costume, I toss the tights in the dirty laundry basket, where they stay until I come upon them again at some point...and I'll toss them back into the basket.

But can I actually machine wash these? What are your laundering suggestions for such tights? Because every now and then, as I did this year, I come across some that are cooler than the others, and I'd very much like to keep and reuse them.

So, as much as I do know how to do laundry, this is something I've never really known about, as I only wear tights once a year. So, instruct me, please.

[AnaKhouri]

I don't know what the actual instructions are but I have always hand-washed them and laid them to dry on a lingerie rack.

[catcul]

Put your tights in a hosiery bag or a pillow case. Wash them in cold water with the gentle setting. Then take the tights out of your bag and hang them to dry. Do not put them in the dryer. A lingerie rack works well for air drying.

[Kittish]

I second catcul's advice. If you don't have a something like a clothesline, drape the tights over hangers or lay them flat on clean towels to dry.

[KuariKaydrith]

I usually handwash mine and then hang them over the shower curtain rod to let them dry.

[MoonCat]

Never machine wash unless you have a lingerie bag or use a pillow case as Catcul advises. Otherwise they will run and/or get wound around the agitator (or whatever that thing in the middle of the machine interior is called). I handwash them, roll them in a towel and squeeze for a few minutes to remove excess water, then lay them flat to try or hang like Kuari says.

[Seshat]

Agitator is correct.

There are two important things: don't heat them, and don't stretch them. A lingerie bag keeps them from being stretched, so does stuffing them into a pillowcase. (The pillowcase they could, if you're unlucky, get out of. The lingerie bag has a zippered closure, so they can't get out.)

If you can dry them flat, they won't stretch at all. If you can't, then at least only give them their own weight pulling them - thus, the recommendations to dry them on a hanger or a shower rail or whatever.

And the reason not to use a dryer is 'don't heat them'.

If they're brightly coloured, dry them inside out, in the shade, to keep the colours bright.


* Any knitted or crocheted garment can easily be stretched, and thus if you want to keep them as perfect as possible, the 'don't stretch' applies to all of them.
* Any garment with the spandex-y substance can be affected by heat.

[Aria]

Do they have a tag inside with washing instructions? I would follow that. Although catcul's advice is very sound for anything delicate.

[catcul]

The instructions on my tights say, ...

Cold water wash light and dark colors separate. Hang dry.

Like I said before, use a lingerie bag or pillow case before putting them in the washing machine. Also, make sure not to mix light colors with dark colors.

[Kogarashi]

I'll second cactul's advice as well.

Are they spandex? There's a good chance spandex will hold up against machine washing without the delicates bag (though you can still use the bag if you're concerned). I've got a pair of spandex leggings I've owned for 20 years now (yes really) that's still in very good condition.

Anything lighter, however, like nylon or knit, I would definitely use the delicates bag to wash. These can be found at any major retailer in the laundry section (where baskets and hampers are kept). And hang dry no matter the material to keep size and shape consistent.

[Seshat]

Delicates bags are for two purposes (that I know of)

- to keep stuff that can be stretched out of shape from being stretched.

- to keep stuff that can be pulled (eg lace, embroidery, some other embellishments) from being caught in stuff like the hook from a hook-and-eye pair.


I've seen my clothing get in some terrible tangles in the washing machine; so anything stretchy is either 'I don't mind if it gets out of shape' or 'goes into a bag'.