Why Your Underwires Pop Out
January 06, 2009
Underwires working their way out of a bra is not an uncommon occurrance. My Customer Service team receives emails and phone calls about this very issue quite frequently. Though this phenomenon is usually blamed on the manufacturer, you will be surprised to learn that in most cases, it is the owner of the bra who is to blame.
The number one reason underwires come out is because you’re wearing a bra with too large a band size. That’s right. A bra should fit snuggly around a woman’s torso and not move even when the wearer is moving. When a band size is too large, it will shift and move around a woman’s body. The metal of the underwire is now moving and rubbing against the casing covering the underwire. Eventually, the underwire will wear its way through the casing and pop out. In this scenario, it is not uncommon for a woman in a too-large band size to see her underwire poke out after about an hour of wear in severe cases, and about a month or two in more mild cases.
Another cause for a popped underwire is improper laundering. A bra should always be laundered in a laundry bag with its hooks and eyes attached, and never put in a dryer. The underwire can catch in the holes of the washing machine drum or get twisted around other clothing. This type of strain can not only change the shape of your underwires, but can push the underwire to one end and force it out of its casing. The dryer is always a no-no with bras. Many times the casing used inside a bra to protect you from your underwires is made in a different fabric than the rest of the bra. If put in the dryer, this fabric, usually made with cotton, will shrink. The channel holding your underwire has now shrunk, so your underwire has nowhere to go but out.
Of course, bras are not meant to last a lifetime. So, older bras with a fair amount of wear might eventually see a wire poke out. When this happens, it’s a sign that you need a new bra. Bras with larger cup sizes have more strain on them and will wear out sooner than say a B or C cup size. This is why it’s always recommended to have 4 bras rotating through the week. Allowing a bra at least 24 hours between wearings gives the fabric time to bounce back to its original shape, helping it last longer.
Now, there are some errors that can be made by the manufacturer as well. For one, the channel fabric covering the underwire inside the bra can be sewn too tight. The underwire then won’t have enough play and can force itself out one end or the other. Or the underwire selected could be the wrong size. The seamstress might pick up an underwire that is too long for the channel. Again, the wire will force itself out. Of course in this scenario, the wearer would probably notice the wire fitting strangely anyway.
Finally, I want to point out that you really do get what you pay for with bras. The cheaper bras simply do not use the best materials. They will pick a thin fabric for the wire channel that does not hold up but is less expensive. Obviously, the wire will eventually wear through. There are also different qualities of underwires. The good ones have polished rounded edges with covered tips. Less expensive underwires tend to have sharp edges and ends without a cover. Their edges act as a saw cutting through the fabric of your bra.
So, there you have it. Make sure you have the correct band size, launder your bras correctly and wear quality bras from well-known lingerie manufacturers. All of this should help keep your underwires where they belong.
Find underwire bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Follow HerRoom on Twitter for daily tips.
Posted by Tomima at 7:37am
1 Comment »
Another Broken Underwire! Why Do My Underwires Keep Breaking in My Bra?
August 05, 2008
Strange but true: the underwire in your bra can occasionally break. Usually right in the center and without warning. Why does this happen? I know of a couple reasons for this phenomenon, but as every good researcher knows, you also need to ask the experts. I put the question to several designers and experts in the industry. What came back was rather enlightening. There are a number of causes for underwire breakage. Here is a list of the 7 reasons bra underwires break.
- Washing your bra in the washing machine without a lingerie bag. – Now, we’ve all heard that we should stick our bras in a lingerie bag before throwing them into the washing machine. But do you know why? One reason is to protect the underwires. Without a lingerie bag, the wires can get caught in the agitator, stuck in one of the holes in the side of the drum, or get tangled up with another article of clothing. All this this puts a stress on the underwire and causes it to break.
- Putting your bra in the dryer. – The heat from a dryer can affect the chemical make-up of the steel in the underwire and cause it to become more brittle. Additionally, if put your bra in the dryer without a lingerie bag, the wires can get caught in the dryer’s drum hole and be twisted into a shape that reduces its strength. And, similar to what happens in the washer, your bra can also get caught on other clothes thus causing stress to the underwire and compromising its strength.
- The metal used in less expensive bras may not be tempered (or heated) to the appropriate temperature and therefore is brittle and will break more easily. – My friend Ellen Jacobson – designer/owner of Elia bras – explained this to me. Tempering is critical when making steel for underwires. She went on to say that most underwire manufacturers have excellent product. This usually becomes an issue when a manufacturer is trying to cut corners and buys their underwires from an unreliable source.
- Round underwires break more easily than flat underwires. – Wire as we think of it is round. If you hit it with a hammer, the shape becomes flatter. Most underwires today are flat. However, again, in less expensive bras, manufacturers may purchase round wire because it is cheaper since less production goes into molding round underwires. You can quickly tell if an underwire is round or flat by simply feeling the underwire between your fingers.
- Underwires without a plastic coating are more susceptible to breaking. – My good friend John Gilpin at Wacoal – America turned me on to this reason. As John explained, the better bras use underwires that have a plastic coating over the wires. This coating smooths the edges and allows the underwire to slide more easily in its channel. This movement reduces the chance of pressure or torque on the wire that could cause it to break.
- Your bra band is too tight. – Underwires are designed to splay when the bra is worn. This helps the bra to actually grab your breasts and give them support. If your bra band is too tight, you are pulling the underwires apart farther than they are designed to be pulled. This stress will eventually cause the wires to break.
- Your cup is too small. – Underwires are designed with a certain volume of breast tissue in mind. If you exceed that designed amount of mass, the underwire is again stressed and forced to splay beyond what it was designed to do. This kind of pressure on the underwire over time will eventually cause the underwire to break in the center where the greatest pressure is being exerted. The Le Mystere design team told me they’ve seen underwires under this kind of stress actually shred (rather than break cleanly) and create thin sharp shards of metal… ouch!
So what’s a girl to do? Well, there are several precautions you can take to prevent underwires from breaking. First, be careful how you launder your bras. Ideally, they should be hand washed and hung to dry. If you can’t do this, at least fasten the hooks and place your bras in a lingerie bag in the washing machine. Never put your bras in a dryer. It simply ruins them.
Next, make sure you are in the proper size bra. There are more wire breaks because the cup size is too small than because the band size is too small. A bigger cup size will capture more breast tissue and have a larger underwire to catch the sides of your breast more comfortably. The wire will then anchor more smoothly in the breast crease without stretching to its eventual breaking point. And, you get the added benefit of eliminating that pesky pinching feeling because your underwire won’t be as narrow and resting on top of your breast tissue.
Finally, get a good feel on your underwires. Are they flat? Also, If you can feel a sharp edge to them, they probably aren’t coated and will eventually saw through your bra and/or break.
Treat your bras with proper care, make sure you’re wearing the correct bra size, and buy quality bras. This will reduce if not eliminate the chances of your underwires breaking.
The fitting guide on HerRoom has solutions to many more common bra fitting problems.
Find underwire bras at HerRoom in this department:
Bras
Posted by Tomima at 10:33am
No Comments »
Entries RSS