#binder care

[ash-den]

How to wash a binder

Follow the brand's care instructions, it should be on their website; this is just a general method, it's what has worked best for me for the past 6 years. Step 5 is especially important, it's my best tip when washing your binder!

I also like to add laundry disinfectant (which makes step 2 necessary for effective disinfection), and sometimes laundry perfume, but you take the risk of it damaging your binder faster - didn't notice that myself, though.

[walnut-tankerabogus]

BINDER PSA

Ok my dudes, here is your reminder to clean your binder, even if you haven’t worn it for a while, and even more so if you have been!

I haven’t worn either of my binders for about 6 months due to it being colder outside and being able to layer up, however its getting warmer and i decided it may be getting time to ware them again. (Context due to sensory issues I’m very weird about wearing clothes that have sat somewhere for a long time close to my skin, they feel like they get a film of dust or something on them and in the past i have gotten rashes from bedsheets that sat in a drawer for too long so i like to play it safe.) I cleaned them before i put them away for the winter but obviously not well enough as my garment clean freak ass washed them again before use and the water that came out was fucking beige! Im probably embarrassing myself by saying this but i feel like i can make this into a learning experience.

I know some people cant reliably clean their binders due to unsupportive family or maybe your mental health is just down the toilet and you haven’t been able to do upkeep on your binder. But please please wash them when you can. When i wear mine i wash them regularly and even then after sitting in a draw unused mine were still not clean despite looking clean.

These garments sit right on your skin and could lead to skin irritation and other issues if not taken care of properly, and they can still look and smell clean even if they are not. I know its hard for people within certain situations to clean them but please please find a way to do it at least semi regularly, weather that means setting calendar reminders every week, or taking the chance to clean them when your parents aren’t home for the day, or even taking it to a friends house where it would be possible to wash it and do it there.

If you are unsure of how to wash your binders there are plenty of explanations online and where ever you got your binder from will probably have a page on their site dedicated to it, but the way i do it (that is similar, though not the same, to how its described by spectrum outfitters, which is where i purchased both of my binders from) is as follows:

You will need:

A sink or washing up bowl (a washing up bowl is good because if your unexpectedly interrupted you can kinda temporarily whisk the thing away to a safe location)

Access to a faucet/tap and a drain (already taken care of if youre using a sink or are in a bathroom)

Laundry detergent, not much, maybe half a cap at most.

A clean towel

About 45 minutes (minus drying time, but you can probably put your binders somewhere safe to dry if thats a concern)

Steps:

Clean the washing up bowl/sink/whatever you’re going to be cleaning your binder in, this is an important step that can easily be forgotten about!

Fill your washing up bowl with lukewarm water, half way is probably fine, you dont want it too shallow but at the same time your binder will probably float slightly no mater how deep the water is, just make sure its submergible.

Put in your detergent and swill it around a bit so you know it’s incorporated into the water instead of just sitting at the bottom (a good way of doing this is actually pouring it into the water stream as you’re filling up the tub because it properly incorporates it but it can be a bit finicky to do.)

Next is to put your binder into the water and pretend to be a ye olde washer woman for at least 2 minutes. You want to agitate the fibres and make sure the fabric is fully saturated with the water and detergent, you can kinda go wild with this stage as long as it wont damage the binder. swish the binder about, un-submerge and re-submerge it, spin it around in the water, go hog wild! Make sure you get an arm work out from it!

After swishing it around let it sit for 30-35 minutes, this is where the magic happens and all the dirt actually loosens off and gets off the thing.

After letting it sit empty out the bowl and refill it with clean water, rinse off your binder, do this enough times until any residue from the detergent is gone.

Once you do that press it flat in a towel to get most of the water out, if you do it well enough it shouldn’t be dripping and you can hang it up to dry somewhere.

I hope this helps people with looking after their binders, i will now see myself out and keep on being cringe.

[reubenbread]

Binder tips! (part 2)

caring for your binder

Binders are most often hand-wash only, this is to ensure they don’t shrink or stretch

I normally wash it 1-2 times a week but you may need to wash it more or not as much based on how often you wear it

To hand was it I normally soak it in warm soapy water with either laundry or dish soap

Then you just kind scrub it with either a brush or your hands

rinse thoroughly and squeeze out as much water and soap as you can

Then you hang it or lay it out to dry, this may take awhile

if you need to hide it while it’s drying, I’d suggest putting it on a hanger then putting a shirt over tip of it

tip- if you get makeup or something else on it that stains it, use stain remover or makeup wipes. however, some stains are really difficult to remove.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Mun, kakashi, fellow mun and or kakashi lovers

How do I pick out my first binder :c

Mun: with great care. Make sure you can try it on first if possible to ensure that it fits well and doesn’t hurt. Also go for something that will fit your style best. I have a binder that covers my stomach as well, but some people may not like that and may prefer a binder that only covers the chest. Decide what you’re most comfortable with first and start looking through those.

Also, Don’t follow Kakashi’s advice. He’s bad at binder care.

Kakashi: I took my binder off yesterday

Mun: after Gai threatened you will sleeping on the couch

Kakashi:... anyways, don’t forget binder self care 101. Don’t wear your binder more than eight hours, never wear it if the chest tissue is sore, and take it off and get a new one if it ever starts to hurt.

Mun: hypocrite...

[abinderreview]

How to wash a binder

instructions under every picture

fill up some warm (but not too hot) water in your sink and put in some kind of detergent (or soap if you want), I like to use mild detergent to avoid irritating the skin.

Put your binder in and squeeze it in the water. Don’t wring or rubb or do anything harsh! That would just stretch the fibers, so just gently squeeze it. Turn it inside out and do the same thing (you don’t need to change the water)

Don’t worry if your water looks really gross and dirty, it’s not actual dirt, but dye that has rubbed of from other clothes. If you, like me, wear a lot of black clothes and don’t wash your binder a lot it looks like this.

Empty the sink and squeeze (don’t wring!) out the water.

Now it’s time to rinse out the excess detergent. Use colder water for this (i like going from warm to tepid to cold to make the fibers shrink up without trapping the detergent, but honestly idk if it makes any difference). You can use running water and squeeze it under that. Or you can tap up cold water and squeeze the binder in it, you would need to change the water at least three times.

Now your binder is nice and clean and you just want to wring it out to get rid of the excess water, BUT DON’T! Just squeeze it like before and leave it to dry (hanging) OR if you need it to dry faster try this:

Put down a towel (the bigger the better)

Lay your binder down, fairly close to the top.

Roll the towel up, pretty tight.

And now you can wring it inside the towel (excuse my feet, you can do this with your hands, I had to hold my phone to take the photo). This way you won’t stretch your binder too much and the towel will absorb the excess water.

Now leave you binder to dry (hanging or laying) and it should be dry in a couple of hours depending on how cold/warm and dry/humid it is where you live.

You don’t need to wash your binder often. It might get a bit gross if you shove it in a drawer or bag or something between uses, but just let it air on the days/hours you don’t wear it and it will be a bit fresher and you won’t have to wash it too often.

[advicefortranskids]

can you wash binders with shower gel? Washing detergent really irritates my skin whenever I have to wash it, and also shower gel makes my binder smell nice

Yep you sure can!

[eiriee]

It turns out that if you wash a nude GC2B binder at 60+C it completely fades! Original colour visible in the stitching; new faded beige/grey on the body