How to make your knickers last longer - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life An underwear expert on how to keep your knickers nice for longer By Sophie Hines - May 4, 2022 Sorry for the impertinent question, but are you washing your pants properly? For most of us the answer is probably ‘Yeah, I chuck them in the washing machine and tumble dryer with everything else’, but according to an underwear expert, this is not really the best way to look after them. In fact, it could explain why many of us own knickers that are greying, misshapen and trailing broken elastic or lace (or indeed, a lovely combination of all of the above). Getty Katie Lopes, founder of excellent underwear brand Stripe & Stare (famed for selling the comfiest knickers around) has filled us in on how we should be looking after our undies. In an ideal world, says Katie, we’d actually hand wash knickers in warm water. However, she acknowledges that ‘we lead very busy lives so the likelihood is that they will have to go in the washing machine’ but recommends putting knickers in a lingerie wash bag (her favourite brand is Guppy Friend but you can also buy them from John Lewis) These wash bags will prevent your underwear from getting stretched, and help stop fibres shedding from the fabric, which in turn helps to stop microplastics from entering the ocean. Another golden rule of Katie’s? ‘Never tumble dry your knickers’. She points out that underwear doesn’t take long to dry on a washing line or airer, and that tumble dryers are ‘a killer’ for lacy lingerie in particular. Biodegradable knickers, £60 for a box, Stripe & Stare Of course, keeping your knickers nicer for longer by using laundry bags and line drying is good for the environment, since you can’t pass your knickers on secondhand. With this in mind, Stripe & Stare have recently launched a B-Edit collection, with knickers that completely biodegradable – you can literally bury them in the garden once they’re no longer wearable and they will have decomposed in 180 days. Another option for old knickers is to put them in textile recycling banks. It’s also better if you can choose pants made from more eco-friendly fabrics such as Lyocell, Tencel and sustainably-sourced cotton in the first place. READ MORE: Get your house in order with this decluttering plan RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Everything we know about The Crown season 5 Aldi s exercise equipment is on sale with up to 50% off The best Halloween events for 2022 across the UK Popular in Life The You magazine team reveal their New Year s resolutions December 31, 2021 Susannah Taylor The TLC tools your body will love January 23, 2022 How to stop living in fear February 6, 2022 Susannah Taylor My pick of the fittest leggings February 27, 2022 Women’ s Prize for Fiction 2022 winner announced June 17, 2022 These BBC dramas are returning for a second series June 30, 2022 Susannah Taylor gives the lowdown on nature s little helper – CBD April 17, 2022 The baby names that are banned across the world April 27, 2022 The Queen has released her own emojis May 26, 2022 Sally Brompton horoscopes 27th June-3rd July 2022 June 26, 2022 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved