Pantyhose is one of the most commonly found items in women’s wardrobes. Available in different fabrics, such as cotton, silk, polyester to nylon and even lace, it is worn under skirts or dresses. When it comes to tights, you need to take an extra step to wash them right. So, how to wash pantyhose?
Let’s look into the topic in detail!
The best way to wash your pantyhose in just 4 easy steps!
Step 1: Create a mixture of lukewarm water and mild detergent
Take a bucket and fill it with warm or lukewarm water and add half a cup of mild detergents to wash your pantyhoses. Always remember to use mild detergents for your tights as strong detergents can affect the color, texture, and elasticity of the pantyhose.
Any detergent will do but opt for delicate fabric detergent or dilute your detergent before you see it. Lukewarm water helps you to remove any stains and keep the fabric intact. Hot water can affect the fabric and reduce the elasticity of your pantyhose and loosen the treads.
Step 2: Turn your pantyhose inside out
The general thumb rule of washing any pantyhose is to turn them inside out before you wash them. If it’s cotton, avoid rubbing and pulling while you wash.
Gently scrub the areas most prone to bacteria like ankle rib and crotch areas. Once you turn them inside out, let them soak in the lukewarm water for 10 mins before you scrub them.
Step 3: Rinse well in sugar water
After scrubbing them gently, rinse the pantyhose under cold running water. Make sure the detergent is completely cleaned away.
Once the soap is removed, rise them in sugar water to help the pantyhose retain its texture, stiffness, and color. It helps to prevent any kind of color bleeding and texture loosening.
Step 4: Hang them to dry
Remember to air dry your tights always. Avoid drying them in the dryer except for any emergencies. Gently squeeze them from head to toe and hang them to dry.
You can even lay them flat to dry. If you want to use the drier, put the tights in a laundry bag and let it dry in the delicate wash cycle.
How to clean pantyhose and preserve them?
When you find a perfect set of pantyhose, you want them to last. Bad laundry wears down a good pair of tights irrespective of its material.
From nylon, cotton, silk, or sheer, any pantyhose will last longer without losing its color, texture, and stiffness only if you take good care of them. Let’s look into ways to keep your tights cleaner with the right washing instructions and maintain their form.
Tools you will need
- Wash bar
- Delicate spray
- Scented Vinegar
- Mesh washing bag
Instructions
Step 1: First care
Before you wash your pantyhose, look for any form of stains or marks. Take the wash and stain bar and lather the bar with warm water.
Directly work it on the stain and deep dirt. Scrub it gently. If you don’t have a bar, pick a mild detergent and apply it to the stained places. Gently rub on it and remove the marks.
Step 2: Wash with an aroma
Once the marks are scrubbed, take a bucket with water. Add some detergent to it and let the tights soak in for ten to fifteen minutes.
You can add scented vinegar to remove any odor and freshen up the fabric.
Step 3: Delicate wash
If your pantyhose are made out of delicate fabrics like sheer or hosiery, hand washing is the best option. After soaking them in warm water, use delicate wash detergent powders.
Add it to the bucket and soak it first. Then take them out and scrub them gently.
Do not use any brush to wash them. Once you finish scrubbing them, rinse well under running water till all the soap is cleaned.
Do not wring the delicate fabric. Instead, slowly squeeze them or press the fabric to remove the excess water.
Step 4: For machine wash
There are times where the machine is the only option. Remember during those times, wash your tights in the most delicate wash cycle.
But you must know that washing machines can expose hosiery tights or silk pantyhose to lint and they fade the color.
Firstly select the most delicate cycle and choose cold water temperature for the water. Insert the tights into a mesh washing bag.
A washing bag helps to avoid tangling or snagging. This is a crucial step as it prevents lint formations that are impossible to remove later.
If your pantyhose have embellishments, it is a must to have a mesh washing bag. Once the mesh washing bag is placed, add mild detergent or delicate washing fabric to the machine.
If you don’t have mild detergents, you can dilute your regular detergent and also add a cloth softener.
Step 5: Hang up
There is a washing delicate spray in the market which is used on delicate fabrics and dresses. It is the best way to retain the texture and fabric strength of the pantyhose.
Once the tights are washed, you can take them to dry them in the air. Hang it and apply the spray. Let it dry.
Step 6: Preserve them
The best way to preserve your tights depends on how well you treat them after a delicate wash. If your tights are cotton, once they are dry, iron them at low temperature and fold them without any creases.
If your tights are nylon or any synthetic fabrics, you can either roll or fold them flatly and place them inside. Do not let the tights dry in the sun, always prefer sunshade. Too much sun can affect the elasticity, flexibility, and color of the tights.
Why should you not put pantyhose in the dryer?
Pantyhose are commonly called nylon tights. Nylon is a synthetic fabric that tends to react to excess heat. The mesh material of the nylon tights will either shrink or the threads completely loosen up when they are exposed to heat in the dryer.
It is better to hang them dry or maybe use a hairdryer if you are in a hurry. Only in emergencies, you can use the drier but more than a max of five times, the nylon tights will shrink, lose color and texture.
How to dry your nylon tights in a hurry?
It is not always that you would do your laundry on a leisure day. There are going to be days where you would be searching for matching nylon tights for work and find them unwashed.
To times like those, here are a few tips to dry them faster for your big day.
Use a dry terry towel
Once you wash them in lukewarm water with mild detergent, make sure you rinse them thoroughly with running water. Gently squeeze the tights and remove excess water.
Take a terry towel and lay it flat. The thicker the terry towel, the more effective the method is going to be. In case you don’t have a thicker towel, take two towels for the best results.
Place the wet pantyhose on the flat towel. Spread it out and lay it flatly. Now slowly roll up the towel with your tights on the inside.
As you roll it with pressure, the towel will absorb most of the moisture. Avoid twisting or wringing the rolled-up towel as it will create creases on the tights.
After three minutes, the tights come out and just hang them to dry. The tights are ready to be worn. But if you still feel the tights are wet, use another towel and roll it up.
Heating the pantyhose
If you have a heating vent at home, you can use it to dry your wet tights. Set the heating vent to 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 degrees celsius.
Once the hot air flows through, hang your tights on a piece of furniture or something right above the vent. Let it dry for five minutes and then change its position.
Let the waistband hang over the vent if the legs were there before. Avoid leaving it hanging over the vent for a long duration. It can cause stretching and the pantyhose will loosen up and lose their fitness.
Use hairdryer
The best and fastest way to dry your clothes in a hurry is with the help of a hairdryer. Make sure you remove all the excess water and lay your tights flat on the table. Take your dryer, set the instructions on low, warm or cool heat settings.
Do not use excessive heat settings, it can damage the tights. Keep the heat low and start drying it. You can hang it on the towel rack and start drying it for ease. It would hardly take a max of 7 to 10 minutes to dry it.
Avoid using a hairdryer often as it can affect the tights’ texture, color and even shrink or loosen the fabric.
Drive the wetness
This idea might sound crazy but desperate times call for desperate methods. Once the tights are nicely washed, take the tights and place them over your car’s window.
Close the glass window till a slight part is on the inside and the rest is hanging outside. Once it’s set, take your car on a spin.
After one spin, change the position of the tights. The fabric on the inside is put out now to dry. Your tights are dried by the end of the ride.
If you are scared to hang it on the window, try holding it tightly outside the window.
Drive on a discrete road when you dry them. hold on to the tights tightly, and accelerate the car. It will be dried soon.
Dos and Don’ts while washing tights
Even though it is silly to ask how to wash them, but it is important to follow the right steps to wash them. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts while washing your pantyhose.
Do: Check the label
It is essential to understand all the tights are made up of different materials. Sometimes it is made up of nylon, cotton, cotton-polyester blend, lace, silk, and many more. Every material is treated differently and washed differently.
The wash care label is always stitched with the inseam of the tights. always check it. The symbols help you understand how to wash it. Is it okay to bleach it or not? Is it okay to use tumble dry?
And what temperatures do they need to be washed at?
The wash care label will give you a clear set of instructions to make sure your tights remain in shape for a long time. Let’s look into a few symbols to make sure you have a burden-free washing experience.
- Machine wash symbol: It indicates which temperature is apt for that particular tights. one dot means it needs to be washed in cold water, it is mostly seen in nylon tights. Two dots mean you need to wash them in warm water, which you can see in silk, lace, cotton, or cotton-polyester blend tights. Three dots means you need to wash them in hot water but it is very rare to find this on tights.
- Dry Clean symbol: It is a big circle that means dry cleaning only. But if you see an X mark on the label, then it means it can be washed in the washing machine. Dry cleaning is very common when your tights are embellished or made of delicate silk. Very delicate pantyhose with extensive working or attachments will definitely need dry cleaning.
- Bleach symbol: The symbol is a plain triangle with a clear X on it. It means the tights cannot be bleached. If it has a simple triangle, the tights can be bleached. But in most of the tights, you will find no bleach symbol. Bleaching can impact the texture of the pantyhose.
- Tumble dry symbol: The symbol has a square with a circle in it. It means the drying method, but if it has no dot in it, you can wash as you want. If it’s with dots, one dot- low temperature, two dots – regular temperature, and three dots – high temperature. You will find tumble dry in most of the pantyhose made up of cotton, nylon, and poly blends
If the package label does not use any wash care label, then you can wash them normally. But prefer washing them in either cold or warm water. Avoid hot and strong detergents.
Do: Turn your tights inside out
This is one of the most important steps when you wash your tights. You should always turn them inside out, irrespective of their material. Turning it will prevent any lint formation when they are washed.
Lints are tiny blobs created over clothes when there is a lot of friction or rough action. Tights are easy targets of lints. Turning them will help them stay in shape.
Do: Separate them from the bunch
Your tights, whether opaque, sheer, fishnet, lace, or colored must always be washed separately or with your pile of delicate fabrics, undergarments, or stocking.
Do: Hand wash
Tights are delicate in nature. The best way to wash them is by hand and maintain their shape and texture. You will be able to prevent any runs or tears.
But if you are using the machine, set it on a gentle cycle.
Do: Use mild detergent
Many detergents are very strong that they affect the fabric of the tights. they tend to cause color bleed or loosen up the threads.
Check for the label and as long as it is rated safe for hosiery fabrics, you can use it on your tights. In case you don’t have a mild detergent, dilute the strong one and add cloth softener to it. It helps to balance the acidic nature of the detergent.
Do: Air dry your tights
Avoid using the drying cycle in your washer to dry your pantyhose. The strong heat of the machine and the constant spinning will wear down the fibers in the pants and loosen up the stiffness.
It will lead to color bleed, fading, and even make it prone to holes and tears.
Don’t: Wear jewelry
Hosiery pantyhose are very delicate. If you wear any sharp jewelry while washing them, they are prone to holes and tears. Even your long and sharp fingernails can be dangerous.
Don’t: Wash tights in hot water
Hot water has the power to cause color bleed, reduce the elasticity of the tights and even shrink nylon threads. It can lead to a saggy crotch and a loose ill-fitting pair of tights.
Washing them in hot water can also decrease their lifespan. You should stick to warm, lukewarm, or cool water temperatures.
Don’t: Wash them too often
Don’t wash them too often. Too much water can make your fabric threads either shrink or get swollen up. Thus making them prone to faster wear and tear.
Instead of washing them after every wear, you can use them for three or four wears before you wash them.
Conclusion on How to Wash Pantyhose
Pantyhose require care while washing them. The more careful you are with them, the longer they last. You will have to take strict instructions when you wash them.
Check for the wash care label, follow it. If they are made up of delicate fabrics and have embellishments, all the more reason to be more careful. Let’s wash them right!
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