How often should you wash swimwear?

Rinse in fresh water after every single wear. A full wash with mild detergent every few wears is usually enough, or sooner if it has been in a chlorinated pool, the sea or a hot tub. Over-washing with strong detergent does more harm than good.

How to Care for mens Swimwear

Q: How do you get the chlorine smell out of swimwear?

Rinse thoroughly in cool water as soon as you are out of the pool, then soak the garment for 20 to 30 minutes in cool water with a splash of white vinegar before a gentle hand wash. Air dry in the shade. Avoid hot water, which sets the smell in rather than lifting it.

BANG&STRIKE — The Guide

How to Care
for Men's Swimwear

A good pair of swim briefs or trunks should last summer after summer. Most don't — and it's rarely down to wear. Here's how to keep the fit, the colour and the stretch exactly as they were on day one.

Start Here

Why Swimwear Dies Early

It's almost never the swimming that wears swimwear out — it's everything around it. Chlorine, salt, sun cream, body oils, heat and UV all attack the fabric, fading colour, slackening waistbands and breaking down the four-way stretch that gives a pair its fit.

The fix is mostly habit, not effort. The single most important rule: rinse your swimwear in cool water the moment you're out. Do that one thing and you're already most of the way there. The other nine rules below cover the rest.

The Rules

Ten Rules to Make It Last

Rinse the moment you're out

Rinse in cool, fresh water as soon as you leave the pool or sea, before chlorine and salt set into the fibres. A thirty-second rinse under a cold tap does more for longevity than anything else on this list.

Read the care label first

Every fabric behaves differently. Before the first wash, check the label on your pair — those instructions are specific to that garment and override any general advice, including ours.

Hand wash in cool water

Hand washing is always kindest. Use cool water and a mild, pH-neutral detergent — gentle on the fabric and your skin. Avoid harsh or heavily perfumed formulas, which degrade stretch fibres over time.

No bleach, no fabric softener

Bleach strips colour, especially from darker and brighter swimwear. Fabric softener is just as bad — it coats the fibres and kills the elasticity that holds the shape. Leave both out entirely.

Machine wash cold and bagged

If it has to go in the machine, turn it inside out, put it in a mesh laundry bag, and run a delicates cycle at no more than 30°C. Cold and slow — never a normal hot wash.

Never tumble dry

Heat is the fastest way to wreck elastane. The dryer warps the shape, loosens the waistband and dulls the colour. Always air dry — no exceptions.

Dry flat, in the shade

Lay swimwear flat to dry out of direct sunlight. If it must dry in the sun, turn it inside out to protect the colour. Press gently to remove water rather than wringing, which damages the fibres.

Don't leave it wet or balled up

Never let swimwear sit damp in a beach bag or scrunched in the wash basket. Trapped moisture breeds mildew and odour, and creasing sets into technical fabric. Rinse, then dry promptly.

Mind hot tubs and rough surfaces

Hot tub chemicals are far more concentrated than pool water, and rough concrete or wooden loungers pill and snag fine fabric. Sit on a towel, and always rinse afterwards.

Never iron the waistband or elastic

Heat permanently slackens elastane waistbands and ribbed hems. Most swimwear doesn't need ironing at all; if a pair creases, a quick steam from a distance is more than enough.

"Look after it, and it'll look after you — season after season."

The Science

What Actually Breaks Swimwear Down

Chlorine is an oxidiser — it bleaches dye and gradually eats away at elastane, which is why pool swimmers see fading and bagging first.

Salt dries into crystals inside the fabric that abrade the fibres from within every time you move.

Sun cream and body oils leave residues that stain and trap chlorine against the fabric.

Heat and UV are the silent killers — tumble dryers and direct sun both destroy stretch and colour faster than the water ever will. Rinse, wash cool, dry in the shade, and you've neutralised all four.

Swimwear Care FAQs

You can, but hand washing is far kinder and will make it last longer. If you do use the machine, turn the garment inside out, put it in a mesh laundry bag, and run a delicates cycle at 30°C or below with a mild detergent. Never use a hot wash, bleach or fabric softener.

Rinse thoroughly in cool water as soon as you're out of the pool, then soak the garment for 20–30 minutes in cool water with a splash of white vinegar before a gentle hand wash. Air dry in the shade. Avoid hot water, which sets the smell in rather than lifting it.

Always air dry. Lay the garment flat, out of direct sunlight, and gently press out excess water rather than wringing it. Never tumble dry and never dry on a hot radiator — heat is what destroys the stretch and shape.

It comes down to the elastane breaking down. Chlorine, heat from tumble dryers, harsh detergents and fabric softener all attack those stretch fibres. Rinsing after every swim, washing cool and air drying keeps the elastane intact and the fit like new for far longer.

Rinse in fresh water after every single wear — that's non-negotiable. A full wash with mild detergent every few wears is usually enough, or sooner if it's been in a chlorinated pool, the sea or a hot tub. Over-washing with strong detergent does more harm than good.

No. The heat permanently damages the elastane, warps the fit, loosens the waistband and fades the colour. Swimwear dries quickly on its own — always lay it flat in the shade instead.

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Swimwear Built to Last

Premium men's swim briefs from the labels that take swimwear seriously — chosen to fit close, dry fast and hold their colour. Look after them properly and they'll go the distance.