The brassiere is the most intimate and probably the most abused of all intimate wear a woman dons. We take for granted the very purpose of the bra which is to support the breast and keep them in shape. Almost like a second skin, the bra comes off at the fag end of the day just before hitting the sack, or sometimes it doesn’t.
How many of us forget to change the bra regularly because we get so comfortable in them? Washing them at times can be out of the question, and worse still, wearing a wrong size unknowingly for the longest possible time. Are we aware what harm it does to our breast?
Time we learnt some facts about the bra and its appropriate usage. Things we should have long known!
1. Honestly, how often do you wash your bra?
A maximum of three wears, then you must peel that bra off and wash it. Period. It keeps the hygiene levels of the body in place and most importantly, by wearing it over a long period of time you end up stretching the fabric, making the cups weak. The way you rotate your clothes, you must your bra as well.
2. Do you really know how to wash your bra?
We sincerely hope you don’t dump them in the washing machine, and prefer to hand wash them instead. Machine wash of bras can play havoc with the cushion of the cups and dismember the hooks or leave them with jagged edges. Always hand wash your bra just like any other lingerie item.
3. When was the last time you measured your breasts?
Your body undergoes constant change by way of hormonal changes, weight loss, weight gain or even pregnancy. In all this the size of your breasts tend to change, sometimes significantly, but at other times marginally. But we continue wearing the bra we have been for the last three years oblivious to the fact that they may not be the right size. Make sure you have your breasts measured every six to eight months without an exception.
4. You tighten the bra straps every time they feel loose
The answer doesn’t lie in tightening the straps when they feel loose, but in the cups that does most of the supporting job. You ruin the shape of your breasts by merely tightening the straps without bothering much with the cup. When the bra feels loose and worn out, its time to get a new one.
5. Does your bra straps leave their mark on your shoulders?
Remember it is not about how fitted your bra is, rather how comfortable it actually is. It should allow you to breathe, facilitate movement, and most importantly, allow your breast tissues to expand and contract. Whatever the size you wear, wear a comfortable one.
Would you?
6. You forget to take off your bra before going to bed
If you wear a bra to sleep especially an underwire bra chances that you are restricting the circulation of nerves to your arms and preventing your pectoral muscles from relaxing. The hooks of the bra can also hurt you in sleep, and owing to the tightness of the cup you might even develop skin irritation and cysts if worn for too long. Breathe free, sleep free, simple take off that bra.
7. When one cup feels more loose than the other
You needn’t worry about such a thing because in reality the size of one breast is actually bigger than the other, very marginally though. That’s just the way it is. It doesn’t reflect on the clothes you wear, of course.
8. Do you wear all the bras you own?
Bras too like clothing are to be changed and worn. Just because you get comfortable in a pair of them, you don’t end up bothering with the rest of the lot. You need to change your bras, rotate them. An ideal number would be between seven to ten in a woman’s wardrobe.
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