If there are any bra inserts, go ahead and remove them at this time.
Avoid putting your suit in the washing machine, as the rough tumbling could stretch out the fibers in the suit. You can give your swimsuit for dry cleaning. A dry cleaner uses different products to wash them, like fabric softeners and brighteners, and the detergent quality is much better. This type of washing is not as abrasive as washing in your home washer.
The heat from the boiling water should start to shrink the fibers in the suit and prepare it for further shrinkage once it goes into the dryer.
Most dryers can run for 60 to 70 minutes before they shut off.
It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes for the suit to cool off.
If the suit doesn’t shrink enough after 3 washes, it may be time to consider getting it tailored or perhaps just investing in a new suit.
If you iron a dirty suit, you are essentially baking in any residual salt, sand, sweat, sunscreen, or lotions you may have come into contact with the last time it was worn.
You don’t need to fill the steamer basket in the iron for this process. Because the suit is already wet, you won’t need to add moisture to it.
Even though the iron isn’t exuding a ton of heat, still be careful to not catch your fingers or grab the bottom of the iron with your bare hands. It’ll still be hot enough to burn you!
You may also want to wipe off the ironing board with a clean, dry towel when you flip the suit over. If there is excess moisture on the board, you don’t want it getting absorbed back up into the side you were just working on.
If you dread the idea of ironing for that long, watch a show or listen to some music while you work—it’ll help the time pass more quickly.
You could pop the suit into the dryer on high heat for about 20 minutes to finish drying it. This could help the material to shrink even more, but letting it air dry will be gentler on the material.
Build-up of grime can cause the elastic fibers to deteriorate more quickly over time.
A dryer is a great way to shrink a suit, but at the same time, it can also weaken the fibers because of the tumbling and the high heat. It’s something that shouldn’t be used very often so that your suit stays in the best condition possible.
If on occasion you can’t avoid using the sun to dry your suit, that is okay. Just make it a point to not do it every time.
If you don’t have a towel available, pull on a coverup or something similar before you sit down so that your suit doesn’t come into contact with any rough materials.
