How you wash your dancewear depends greatly on what kind of items you need to wash. The material and shape of the garment need to be considered before you start washing it. In this post, I will give some basic guidelines of how to wash different dancewear items so they maintain their color, shape, and size.
--Dancewear that is similar to streetwear or exercise wear (such as jazz pants, men's tights, t-shirts, and shorts made of nylon/spandex and cotton blends) can be washed and dried in the washing machine and dryer like regular workout clothes. Wash the garments on a regular cycle (high or heavy cycles are usually ok, especially if the clothes are very sweaty/dirty) in cold water (prevents color bleed) with your normal detergent. Do not use fabric softener, as it can make the material less breathable. Dry the dancewear on a light or gentle cycle. The materials they are made of usually do not take long to dry. It is possible for the heat of the dryer to shrink the garments slightly, but they stretch back to their original sizes when worn again. If the shrinkage bothers you a lot, simply wash the items in the washing machine and lay them flat to dry.
--Leotards should be cared for in a similar manner to swimwear. If they are made of nylon/spandex or cotton blends, wash the leotards in the washing machine in cold water (prevents color bleed) on a medium to gentle cycle, then lay flat to dry. Most leos have a line of elastic sewn into the leg and arm holes. This elastic can melt or become brittle in the dryer, especially industrial laundromat type dryers (so if you are at a summer intensive doing laundry in a laundromat setting, DO NOT put your leos in the dryer). If your leotard has delicate lace or mesh details or beading, hand wash it or wash in the washing machine on the gentlest cycle and dry flat.
--Women's dance tights can be washed in the washing machine in cold water on a gentle cycle. Try to wash only tights by themselves if you can, as light colors tend to turn gray if they are washed with other items such as jeans. If you do wash tights with other items, make sure none of those garments have zippers or other metal details that could catch on the tights. Lay tights flat or hang them to dry. If you put tights in the dryer, they tend to pill and then get runs where the pills are. If your tights have runs in them, seal the ends of the run with nail polish and let it dry before you wash them; runs can get worse while the tights are in the washing machine. If you have specialty tights made of lace or very cheap/not well made fishnet tights, hand wash them to avoid tearing the material.
--Chiffon, nylon/spandex, or soft jersey dance skirts can be washed on a regular cycle in the washing machine. If the skirt has a tie, be careful of the tie getting caught on things or being "eaten" by the mechanisms in the machine. Chiffon and nylon/spandex skirts can be dried on a gentle cycle in the dryer. Lay soft jersey skirts flat to dry; putting them in the dryer will shrink them.
--Knit warm-ups such as legwarmers and shrugs made of acrylic can be washed and dried in machines on gentle cycles. If these items are made of wool, rayon, cashmere, or angora (or if they contain a small percentage of any of these materials), wash them in the washer on a gently cycle and dry them flat. Shrugs made of mesh or lace should be hand washed and dried flat. Trash bag shorts and pants can be washed and dried on regular cycles, but they tend to get static in the dyer.
--Specialty dancewear like tutus, costumes, and ballroom dresses with fringe or beaded detail should be dry cleaned. Tutus can be sprayed with antibacterial febreeze to make them fresher between uses.
If you need advice on how to clean a particular item, comment below and I will do my best to advise you.
--Dancewear that is similar to streetwear or exercise wear (such as jazz pants, men's tights, t-shirts, and shorts made of nylon/spandex and cotton blends) can be washed and dried in the washing machine and dryer like regular workout clothes. Wash the garments on a regular cycle (high or heavy cycles are usually ok, especially if the clothes are very sweaty/dirty) in cold water (prevents color bleed) with your normal detergent. Do not use fabric softener, as it can make the material less breathable. Dry the dancewear on a light or gentle cycle. The materials they are made of usually do not take long to dry. It is possible for the heat of the dryer to shrink the garments slightly, but they stretch back to their original sizes when worn again. If the shrinkage bothers you a lot, simply wash the items in the washing machine and lay them flat to dry.
--Leotards should be cared for in a similar manner to swimwear. If they are made of nylon/spandex or cotton blends, wash the leotards in the washing machine in cold water (prevents color bleed) on a medium to gentle cycle, then lay flat to dry. Most leos have a line of elastic sewn into the leg and arm holes. This elastic can melt or become brittle in the dryer, especially industrial laundromat type dryers (so if you are at a summer intensive doing laundry in a laundromat setting, DO NOT put your leos in the dryer). If your leotard has delicate lace or mesh details or beading, hand wash it or wash in the washing machine on the gentlest cycle and dry flat.
--Women's dance tights can be washed in the washing machine in cold water on a gentle cycle. Try to wash only tights by themselves if you can, as light colors tend to turn gray if they are washed with other items such as jeans. If you do wash tights with other items, make sure none of those garments have zippers or other metal details that could catch on the tights. Lay tights flat or hang them to dry. If you put tights in the dryer, they tend to pill and then get runs where the pills are. If your tights have runs in them, seal the ends of the run with nail polish and let it dry before you wash them; runs can get worse while the tights are in the washing machine. If you have specialty tights made of lace or very cheap/not well made fishnet tights, hand wash them to avoid tearing the material.
--Chiffon, nylon/spandex, or soft jersey dance skirts can be washed on a regular cycle in the washing machine. If the skirt has a tie, be careful of the tie getting caught on things or being "eaten" by the mechanisms in the machine. Chiffon and nylon/spandex skirts can be dried on a gentle cycle in the dryer. Lay soft jersey skirts flat to dry; putting them in the dryer will shrink them.
--Knit warm-ups such as legwarmers and shrugs made of acrylic can be washed and dried in machines on gentle cycles. If these items are made of wool, rayon, cashmere, or angora (or if they contain a small percentage of any of these materials), wash them in the washer on a gently cycle and dry them flat. Shrugs made of mesh or lace should be hand washed and dried flat. Trash bag shorts and pants can be washed and dried on regular cycles, but they tend to get static in the dyer.
--Specialty dancewear like tutus, costumes, and ballroom dresses with fringe or beaded detail should be dry cleaned. Tutus can be sprayed with antibacterial febreeze to make them fresher between uses.
If you need advice on how to clean a particular item, comment below and I will do my best to advise you.
Hello there. I have a question regarding pink dance tights. The tights which I bought and wore a handful of times have ended up with grey stains near the crotch area. I noticed this only after having washed and dried them, but I suspect that the colour of my leotard bled onto the tights while I was still wearing them, because I get very hot and sweaty. Also, I washed them on a cold (gentle) wash cycle with other very light (mostly white) garments, so colour could not have bled off any of those. Would you know of anything I could do to remedy this? It seems a pity to already stop wearing them since I haven't got much use out of them, but I can't wear them as they are. They look very grubby! I'm also reluctant to buy more, only to have the same thing happen. In the meantime I've been wearing black tights to class, but I would like to have the option of wearing pink ones too. Any tips on avoiding this happening? Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like there may be a problem with the way your leotard was dyed when it was getting made. Sometimes items are over saturated in dye, and it isn't rinsed out enough when the garment is finished. When you sweat, you dampen the garment and this can cause color bleed. It seems like this happened, and it ended up staining your tights. To keep it from happening again, try washing that Leo in hot water by itself to rinse out as much dye as possible. To salvage the tights, spray the stain with a laundry stain remover and wash (this has a decent success rate, but may not fully remove the stain). Hopefully taking care of the leo will keep this from happening again, but you might try wearing your pink tights over that leo in the future just to be safe.
DeleteI need to wash my daughter's dance costumes. I think they re a mix of nylon, spandex and a little bit of mesh/ net. Can I use the steam sanitizer or steam fresh cycle of my LG dryer only. It uses steam for about 30 minutes of the cycle.
ReplyDeleteAs long as there are no sewn on details like beads, you can wash them in the washer with no problems. Use a cold, gentle cycle to prevent color bleed. To dry, I'd recommend letting them air dry to be sure they do not shrink. If you really want to dry them in the dryer, choose the gentlest cycle ("delicate" or "air only" on most machines) and consider taking them out early to be safe. Some pieces have rubber elastic in the arm, leg, waist, and neck areas, and this material can warp, crumble, or melt in a hot dryer. I am not familiar with LG dryers, but I'd only use the steam cycles if you need them dry in a hurry.
Deletei have a dance shirt that has sequence on it with a zipper as well. I also have dance tights that are high waisted with a sequenced band .how can i wash these ?
ReplyDeletemy pink tights show through my white leotard, how do i fix this
ReplyDelete