Germ-free Underwear
August 16, 2011
A research team at the University of Georgia has come up with a new technology that can make clothing and lingerie permanently germ free. It’s simple to implement, works on synthetic and natural fabrics, does not come out in the wash and can be applied either at home or during manufacturing. Who’d have thought?
With the discovery of super viruses and pathogens showing up in our environment and hospitals, this new fabric treatment may become as ubiquitous as airport scanning. This technology is already available for licensing. It kills a huge spectrum of yeasts, bacteria and moulds that can cause disease. But this technology also goes after stains that can break down fabrics and produce odors. It can destroy the cause without damaging the fabric.
Clearly this is the wave of the future for underwear and lingerie. Stay tuned…
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Posted by Tomima at 11:30am
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Public Service Message Posted in Your Underwear?
May 22, 2011
I always enjoy seeing a quirky solution to a public problem. So, this is my new favorite. The Brazilian Government just passed a bill requiring underwear manufacturers to add a warning label to all bras, panties, and men’s underwear about the importance of getting screenings for breast, uterine and prostate cancer respectively – yes a specific warning for each type of underwear! Oh, and for good measure the bill also threw in that all adult women’s underwear should have the suggestion that they make sure their partner use condoms. That’s right, not the men’s underwear, but the women’s. So, Brazil feels it’s the women who need to be the gatekeepers of condom use.
No, this hasn’t become law just yet – the president of Brazil has not yet signed it. But, it’s telling that this bill has been floating around in their congress since 1999. And a lot of thought has clearly gone into it. For example, realizing that this is a lot of information to put on a lingerie tag (after all, Brazilians are known for their skimpy underwear), an amendment was written to only require these warnings be printed on underwear packaging. But, thinking about this in a practical sense, doesn’t this defeat the purpose? The packaging is quickly discarded–the wearer never sees the warnings again.
Underwear and lingerie is big business in Brazil. They have over 6,000 manufacturers who make more than 2.8 billion pieces of underwear. And HerRoom and HisRoom have several brands coming from Brazil. LZ at HerRoom, for example. So, don’t be surprised to see this warning coming to a piece of underwear near you!
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Posted by Tomima at 2:52pm
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Laundering Lingerie
September 30, 2010
There was a scene in an old "Sex and the City" episode where Carrie was cradling a phone between her shoulder and ear while she was pulling lovely lacy bras out of her bathroom sink, then hanging them over her shower rod to let drip dry. Guess what? She had it right. This is really the best way to wash your lingerie – by hand in warm water with gentle detergent and then left to dry.
Why is this the best choice? It’s because of all the elastic and stretch fabrics used to make lingerie. Spandex has been revolutionary to lingerie because it gives a custom fit, reduces wrinkles and prevents bagging. But, spandex breaks down in heat. Keeping your lingerie away from hot water, chlorine and the dryer is the greatest gift you can give your lingerie – including hosiery and shapewear – and will exponentially increase its lifetime.
I hear women say they wash their lingerie in Woolite. Back when Woolite came in a jar, it was designed to wash wool sweaters quickly. Their advertising gave women the impression it was a mild detergent when in fact it was not. But today, Woolite products have changed. All are designed to go in to the washing machine, and they even have something now called Woolite Extra Delicates Care. I haven’t tried it, but it sounds like it is a mild version of traditional Woolite.
With our busy lives, it is less and less likely that we will hand wash our lingerie. Washing machines today have also become more sophisticated–they have delicate cycles and better control over water temperature and load sizes. So, washing your lingerie in a washing machine has become safer. That said, there are a few things you should do before dropping your lingerie into a washer. First, hook your bras shut. Those little hooks can catch on to other clothing. When this happens, you can cause damage to your bras as well as other clothes in the wash. You should then put your bras in a lingerie bag or one of these new washer bags specially designed for contour bras (bras with pre-formed cups).
Not containing your bras in some kind of washing bag can create havoc in your washer. The straps can get caught in the agitators or wrap around something and become stretched. This happens, and your bra can be stretched out and no longer wearable. Your lingerie investment is lost.
The water temperature should be warm but not hot. Cold water simply does not wash clothing as well as warm, but hot can deteriorate fibers in your clothing and loosen dyes which can then bleed on to other clothing.
Don’t wash your bras with items such as towels, blankets, jeans or other items that create a lot of lint. That lint could end up in your bras and could create pilling on your lingerie.
I wash my panties, shapewear and hosiery in individual laundry bags – and not in with my bras. Again, these items are delicate and you don’t want them catching on other clothes and being ruined.
Finally, let me close with another point about bras. Unless you are a profuse perspirer, you don’t need to wash your bra after every use. You can wear it up to 3 times before needing to launder it. However, it should not be worn 3 days in a row. You should alternate it with another bra, because a bra needs a good 24 hours to breath and relax back into shape before it is worn again. This alternating also helps to extend the life of your bras.
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Posted by Tomima at 10:50am
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