How to Reduce Wear on Swimsuits for Pool

[EdnaMarie]

The title just about says it all. We have swim lessons twice per week and I just bought her a new swimsuit and am not keen on getting her another one until she outgrows this one, and I'd like to hand it down. Which is worse, letting it stay in the chlorine or washing it each time? Should I soak it in regular water? How can I best reduce wear? Ideally I'd like to wear them at least twice (one week's worth of lessons) before washing but not if the chlorine will eat them up in the meantime.

Advice?

[Ruthla]

It's definitely better for the suits to be washed out after each use- or at least rinsed out thoroughly. Sitting in chlorine will wear them out faster than repeated harsh washings.

An easy way to do this is to get in the shower after swimming with your suit still on, then take it off while in the shower, so it gets the residues of soap from your body and plenty of water. Then hang it up to dry between more formal washings.

[Pinoikoi]

I would rinse the chlorine out EVERY time.. but not wash every time..

Chlorine has eaten the elastic in my suits before and also caused the color to fade incredibly..

I have often thought that a light blue suit would probably fair the best.

[runes]

Definitely rinse out the suit in cool water after each swim, and lay it flat to dry after rolling it in a dry towel to get out as much moisture as you can. Hanging a suit while still wet will stretch the fabric out.

If your pool has one of those centrifugal suit dryers in the locker room, that would work too, instead of the towel.

[notneb]

Rinse the swimsuits every time. The chlorine will eat through a swimsuit surprisingly fast if it isn't rinsed. You defnitely don't have to put the suit through the wash every time, though. Having DD wear it in the shower, either at home or at the showers at the pool if she would prefer to wear dry clothes home, is a great solution, otherwise, toss the suit in the sink, plug it and cover the swimsuit with water. Let it soak for a few minutes, then wring mostly dry and hang it to dry the rest of the way.

Remind your DD to sit on a towel or kickboard rather than on the pool deck when she is in her swimsuit. The back of swimsuits is usually only 1 layer, and will quickly become see through or rip from sitting on the pool deck.

A little bit of unsolicited advice: If your DD is willing, ask her to get her hair wet in the pool showers before getting into the water. Having her hair saturated with fresh water will mean less chlorine gets to penetrate her hair and you don't have to deal with impossible to brush, breaking off at random points straw-like hair. Using leave in conditioner the night before her swim lesson is also great for staving off damage to her hair.

[chel]

I think you have unrealistic expectations to think you'll be able to pass down a suit that gets that much use.

[SuzyLee]

I swam competitively in high school.

We had a set of identical triplets who decided to do an experiment. They each got a brand new suit. One of them did nothing- just took it off and hung it to dry. One of them washed it in water. One of them washed it with soap. There was zero difference in the suits at the end of the season.

Swimsuits just don't last long. Buy a cheap one and expect it to be ruined.

[RomanGoddess]

Interesting post by SuzyLee.

My understanding is that you should never wash a swimsuit, as the soap removes the elasticity. Simply rinse well after use.

[1growingsprout]

Originally Posted by chel

I think you have unrealistic expectations to think you'll be able to pass down a suit that gets that much use.

I totally agree...

[SAHDS]

Mine have swim lessons 2 times/week and have had the same suits for 3+ years. They shower after every lesson (or at least a thorough rinse) and then I hang them dry at home. The suits still look brand new.

[cloudswinger]

The other thing about swimsuits is that the elastic rots if stored for any length of time. So does practically anything with a lot of elastic, so I wouldn't worry about handing it down. It's really unattractive when your butt shows because the elastic around the legs don't hold, unless you're a little 3yo... we got a handed down swimsuit that she liked, so she'd wear it. Good thing her butt is cute.

[jocelyndale]

I rinse mine out in the shower, then rinse it out in a sink full of water, then hang to dry in the shower.

I've tried soaking with dechlorination drops (for an aquarium), but it didn't help.

Now I just buy swimsuits which are meant for frequent water use, they're made out of polyester instead of lycra/nylon. I don't know if they make poly suits for girls. These last much, much longer than regular swimsuits. And if I look online, I can often find good deals. I went through several suits a year before starting to use these.

[Chloe&Coop'sMom]

I worked in/managed a swim shop for a number of years... Do not put your suit in the washing machine. Almost all suits say "handwash only" on the tag. The agitation breaks the elastic (in the lycra). Your best bet is to buy a swimsuit cleaner and use it to wash the suit every time or every other time it is worn in the chlorine. Hand wash, in the sink with cold water. Do not twist or ring the suit, it will break the elastic in the lycra too. You can buy suit cleaner at swim shops, in the women's activewear dept. of Nordstroms or online. You only have to use a very small amount and a bottle will last you a long time- it is worth the investment.

[KalamazooMom]

Originally Posted by 1growingsprout

I totally agree...

Yep me too. We swim in a chlorinated pool pretty much every day all summer. I always do rinse the suits well but experience has shown that I'm lucky to get them to last one whole summer. Lands End or better quality suits do last a little longer than the really cheap ones. But still I think you just need to plan on replacing suits pretty often.

[AuntNi]

OK, here's a question for those of you who have good luck with suits lasting: what brand of suits are you buying?

We swim every day in the summer, and weekly the rest of the year. I cannot get any children's suit to last an entire year. I've started buying 3 $12 Speedos at Sam's in February, and those get us through the year. I figure that's what we'd spend on one Lands End suit. (Starting in 2007, Lands End suits became much thinner, IMO.) I'm also really picky about suits, because so many little girls' suits are just skanky, IMO. I only like sporty-looking suits.

For myself, I buy the Speedo Endurance line. I can wear them 3-6 times per week and they still look the same for many months. (I did lose so much weight I had to replace mine before it even came close to wearing out.)

[EdnaMarie]

Originally Posted by chel

I think you have unrealistic expectations to think you'll be able to pass down a suit that gets that much use.

You are probably right. Her other one survived four months of swimming lessons, though. It was Target, Circo brand.

This time she has a Gymboree suit. It was on sale and really too cute to pass up. She's just learning the motions so we are not going for the sporty ones yet, not while she still has that cute toddler tummy and knee-dimples to show off in fashion suits.

Thanks to everyone. We do shower with the suits and use the water extractor, and wash weekly, but they still smell like chlorine after not being washed even if we shower with them and rinse them in the shower separately. So my guess is that that does NOT get out all the chlorine.

SAHDS- which brand do they have? I have a swimsuit I've used for years BUT- I was not going to a chlorine pool, and anyway I've found that adult clothes are made with better materials in general, so are your kids in adult / teen sizes?