Lengthen the Life of your tri clothing!

If you want to know how to get the most out of your triathlon, cycling and swim clothing, you should read on. The information below applies to just about all brands of triathlon apparel aka all products that have lycra (brandname for spandex) in them like swimwear, tri gear and bike gear.By default there is a life span for spandex and lycra fibers, even the new extra life lycra only lasts a few weeks longer. Any swimsuit that contains these fibers and that is being worn 3-4 times a week will be "shot" after 2-3 months. Any tri or bike shorts will last 6 months when taken care of properly, or even longer.
To lengthen the life of your tri clothing:
1. Do not wear them in hot showers, hot jacuzzis, steam rooms, saunas and do not wash them in hot water. Hot water and hot surfaces burn the Lycra or spandex fibers, leaving the material see-through after a short time - and saggy.
2. Do not put them in the dryer, do not expose them to any heat. Suit spinners are ok, but nothing that emits heat.
3. Use the product! Do not store and save to use in 5 years. Have you ever pulled something out you haven't worn in a long time (like a swimsuit or underwear), and stretched the elastic on it to find that it stays stretched out and it no longer has "elasticity"? It has dried up and deteriorated on you from sitting in that drawer.
4. Chlorine and salt water will shorten the life of a garment. Swimming pools will regularly be "super-chlorinated" (a process done to burn up the pollutants with strong oxidizing chemicals) and there will be spots of excessively concentrated chlorine that will ruin garments.
And the worst, and least known destroyer of tri clothing:
5. Do not wrap your garments in a towel or plastic bag, and do not stuff them in your gear bag. Bacteria starts to form within 2 hours on any moist surface that is restricted to fresh air. The best thing to do after using a tri short or a tri suit is to rinse it immediately in cold water and let it breathe, let it get lots of.fresh air.There are special detergents, mild ones and ones that remove chlorine (or even shampoo that removes chlorine) - those are best to use.