While skinny jeans and sweats once dominated as everyday essentials, more women are sporting yoga pants and athleisure tops when on the go. According to CBS News, sales for yoga wear have increased 45 percent.
Like any favorite piece of clothing, though, proper care is essential to giving these comfy casual favorites the longest life span.
Yoga pants often are made from materials that help take moisture from the body—like dry fit active wear. Other varieties of yoga pants are made from cotton or mixed blends. Each material may require a different care regimen.
Wash them wrong, and those perfect pants might shrink and lose their shape. Nothing is worse than pulling on a pair of pants to find them shrunken far above the ankle.
To keep yoga wear looking great, follow these five care tips:
1. Never dry clean!
One thing almost all yoga wear has in common is that it should never be dropped off at the dry cleaners. The chemicals in dry cleaning are meant for certain materials and are often too harsh for fabrics used in yoga wear. Dry cleaning will ruin athleisure wear; skip the extra cost, hassle and frustration and wash items at home.
2. Wash in cold water.
Yoga wear should be washed in cold water, never hot. To be extra cautious—and to decrease the fabric agitation caused from the spin cycle—wash items on the ‘delicates’ setting. Also, keep in mind that dark colors might bleed onto lighter colored-fabrics. Separate reds, blacks and darker shades from lighter-colored clothing to ensure that white items don’t turn pastel. Never, ever put other clothing items that contain zippers or rough fasteners (including bras!) in the same wash load as athleisure wear. Zippers and hooks can easily catch and snag the soft fabrics.
3. Tumble dry low, but air dry is best.
Most yoga pants, bras and tops can be tumble dried on a low setting. To be cautious—and for tall girls wanting to preserve length—lay pants flat to dry.
4. Skip the fabric softener.
Using fabric softening on towels lessens their absorbency. For yoga wear that is made from fabric designed to absorb moisture, fabric softener may have a negative effect. Want that fresh fabric softener smell? Spritz items with an organic linen spray…or mix-up some linen spray at home.
5. Remove wrinkles with steam, but never with the iron.
Yoga apparel is delicate; using an iron to smooth wrinkles can result in burning a hole straight through the fabric. If pants or tops sport too many wrinkles, popping them into the dryer on low for a few minutes with a moist towel should do the trick.
Remember to always follow any special care tips on the tags of apparel. Properly caring for yoga wear preserves the look, style and shape of the garments ensuring everyday favorites will look great even after many wears and washes.
