How Often Should You Wash Your Bra? What Experts Say

How Often to Wash Other Bras

The type of bra impacts how often you should wash it. Beyond everyday bras, here’s how to handle washing sports and nursing bras.

Sports Bras

You know what happens in sports bras. They’re there to control the bounce while you sweat — and depending on the activity, you may be sweating buckets.

“Sports bras should be washed after every wear,” says Mokaya. One exception is if you did a light, gentle activity, such as stretching or a restorative (and not heated) yoga class and consequently did not sweat much. If that was the case, you may be able to wear them one more time.

Repeated washing, though necessary, does have an effect on the lifespan of your sports bras. One study found breast support decreased after 25 washes and 60-minute wears. It also decreases with simple repeated washing, the researchers found out.

Although you’re not going to simply wash a sports bra without wearing them, the results speak to the fact that washing them breaks down their support structures. People said the sports bras maintained their comfort even after all those washes, however, and they may not consider replacing them.

For best results, follow the care instructions on the label, and keep in mind that your sports bras don’t last forever—get new ones when you find that they’re not holding you up as well as needed.

Nursing Bras

If you’re breastfeeding, you know how your breasts leak, especially in the beginning. And even though you might be exhausted, try to change this bra every one or two days, advises Greves.

If you’re leaking breast milk on the bra, you’ll want to change it. On the other hand, you can stretch it out to washing every two days if you use nursing pads to absorb some of this excess milk.

In addition, you can use what’s called a “milk saver” or “milk collector,” which is an insert that catches milk from the opposite breast that you’re actively nursing on as your milk lets down. Not only will that save your bra from being soaked, you can then empty this milk into a bottle to save it.