Do Your Underwires Poke Your Underarms? Here’s a Possible Solution
October 08, 2009
The industry answer to women complaining about underwires poking into their underarm is usually to say their cup size is too small. The theory here is that the underwire is not wide enough to totally wrap around your breast and the cup is not deep enough. Thus the wire is resting on breast tissue too far forward on your torso – the result being the underwire tip is getting in the way and hitting your underarm. A larger cup size comes with a wider underwire and deeper cup that will rest further back under your arm and not rest on your breast tissue. Thus you will no longer be poked. In many situations, I would agree with this recommendation. However, I own bras where this symptom has occurred, and I have been able to solve the problem without having to size up. Want to know how?
First, you need to put your geometry cap on. Think of your torso as a cylinder. As a cylinder, your torso has no flat horizontal surfaces – only curved surfaces. If you held a ruler horizontally to your torso, the center of the ruler would touch you, but the ends would not. They would be extending away from your torso.
A bra’s underwire is cut from a flat sheet of metal. It’s basically a smiley face shape, but flat. So, the ends of an underwire can have the same effect as the ends of a ruler. However, if you bend your underwire a little in the center of its smile, the underwire takes on a shape better suited to your cylindrical torso. (See image above.)
Personally, I give all my underwires this subtle bend. It’s not very much, but I’ve found that the fit is better and my underwires are more comfortable. And, when I try on a bra in my size and notice the underwire ends under my arm are protruding or resting on breast tissue instead of where they need to be, I’ll give them a little bend in the middle. This always seems to solve the problem. Again, it’s not much of a bend, but it can make a big difference.
Let me also share with you that there is sort of a moral to this story: don’t be afraid to manipulate your underwires. Underwires can get bent out of shape in a number of ways – during washing, mishandling in your lingerie drawer etc. So, don’t be afraid to work with them until they fit you. You have to put a lot of stress on an underwire before it will break. And, it’s been my experience that if I don’t like the bend, underwires are easy to manipulate back to the beginning position.
Learn more about underwires and bra fitting.
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Posted by Tomima at 11:09am
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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
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Posted by Tomima at 7:37am
1 Comment »
Invention to Fix a Bra’s Underwire When it Pops Out
December 04, 2008
I find it kind of odd that a man would find a solution to the problem of an underwire popping out of a bra. But, Scott Dutton from England has. Called the Bra Angel, this devise has won the inventor two gold metals for Invention of the Year.
Here’s how the Bra Angel works. It’s a piece of plastic with barbs built into it. You slip this piece of plastic over the end of your underwire that is poking out. You then slide the underwire back in to its casing. The barbs catch into the casing’s fabric and the opening is now no longer an issue. Your underwire stays in place.
The idea for Dutton’s invention came from his wife. Apparently she had numerous bras that were ruined because of the underrwires poking out. After looking on the internet and finding nothing on the market, he went about designing prototypes until finally coming up with the design for the Bra Angel.
It’s an interesting invention. However, underwires poking out are mainly caused by laundering your bras incorrectly. Manufacturers sew a bra’s underwire into a casing with additional space for the underwire to move. When the wire pokes out, it is usually because the casing has shrunk due to hot water and a washing machine. The underwire can also poke out if the sewing at the end of the casing is not strong enough. But, this is rarely an issue with well-made bras.
Though it’s an interesting solution, I’m not totally crazy about it. With the barbs holding one end of the underwire in place, the underwire is now not allowed to float within the casing. Underwires are supposed to do this so that they will fit better and feel more comfortable. The Bra Angel also adds bulk to the underwire. I’m concerned that this could be uncomfortable. And finally, I worry that the barbs could also pierce the outside fabric. Now you have a bra with pointed barbs sticking out between your breasts our under your arms.
I say the jury is out. But for a quick solution to an underwire popping out, this is certainly a clever invention.
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Posted by Tomima at 7:10am
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