How to Wash Activewear So It Keeps Its Stretch

Most leggings do not wear out at the seams. They go baggy at the knee, thin at the seat, and lose the snap that made them worth buying — and almost always the cause is the wash, not the wear.

The good news is that the fixes are free and take no extra time.

What actually damages activewear

The stretch in your leggings comes from elastane (spandex, Lycra), usually 5–20% of the blend. Elastane has three enemies:

• Heat. The big one. Hot water and tumble dryers permanently relax elastane fibres. Once relaxed, they do not recover.
• Fabric softener. Softener works by coating fibres in a waxy film. On cotton that feels nice. On performance knits it clogs the fabric, blocks the moisture-wicking finish, traps odour and reduces stretch recovery.
• Chlorine and bleach. Degrade elastane on contact. This includes pool water.

Note what is not on the list: washing frequency. Washing activewear after every wear is fine, and is better than the alternative — sweat left in fabric breaks down elastic over time too, and it is how leggings develop a smell that never fully leaves.

The routine

Before the wash

Turn everything inside out. The inside is the side that touched skin, so it is the side that needs cleaning, and it protects the printed or textured outer face from abrasion in the drum.

Do not leave damp gear balled up in a gym bag overnight. If you cannot wash it straight away, hang it to dry first.

The wash

• Cold water — 30°C or below. This is the highest-value change on the list.
• Gentle or delicate cycle, or a normal cycle if your machine has no gentle setting.
• Liquid detergent, used sparingly. Powder does not always dissolve fully in cold water and leaves residue in the knit.
• No fabric softener. Ever.
• Wash with like fabrics. Avoid washing leggings with towels or anything with zips or Velcro — lint transfers, and hardware snags.

A mesh laundry bag is worth the few dollars if you own textured, scrunch or seamless knits, which snag more easily.

Drying

Hang to dry, out of direct sun. Australian UV fades dyes fast and also degrades elastane over repeated exposure. Shade or indoors, on a rack, is ideal.

Never tumble dry activewear. If you take one thing from this article, take that one.

Getting the smell out

Persistent odour in activewear is bacteria living in the fibres, and normal detergent does not always reach it. The fix is a pre-soak: half a cup of white vinegar in a basin of cold water, twenty to thirty minutes, then wash as normal. Vinegar breaks down the residue the bacteria feed on.

Do not use vinegar and detergent at the same time, and do not use bleach.

After the pool or the beach

Rinse in cold fresh water as soon as you can. Chlorine and salt both attack elastane, and the damage is cumulative rather than immediate — which is why swimwear and pool-worn leggings go slack seemingly all at once after a season.

How long should it last?

Treated this way, a good pair of leggings should hold its shape for two to three years of regular use. Treated badly — hot wash, softener, tumble dry — the same pair can be visibly baggy inside six months.

Every pair in our leggings and tights range carries these instructions on the product page, and the short version is on the care label: cold wash, hang dry, skip the softener.