How to Care for a Bodysuit: Mesh, Lace & Fishnet Care Guide
Knowing how to care for a bodysuit properly is the difference between a piece that still sculpts after fifty wears and one that gives up at the seams within a season. Mesh, lace and fishnet are engineered knits — elastic fibres held in an open structure — and they react to heat, friction and storage very differently from a cotton tee. This is the complete routine: hand washing, machine rules, drying, storage, travel packing, and how to fix the three problems everyone eventually meets.
Why Bodysuit Fabrics Need Their Own Rules
Almost every fitted bodysuit is built on elastane — the stretch fibre that lets the garment hug and recover. Elastane has two enemies: heat and harsh chemistry. Hot water, tumble dryers, radiators, bleach and fabric softener all break the fibre down a little at a time, and once it loses recovery, no wash will bring it back. It is the same mechanism behind why swimwear loses its shape — and the reason every rule below comes back to cold water and no heat.
The open knits add a second consideration. Mesh, lace and fishnet have exposed yarns that catch on zips, hooks, velcro and jewellery. Quality warp-knit mesh resists running far better than cheaper weft knits — a snag stays a snag instead of becoming a ladder — but prevention is still cheaper than repair.
How to Wash a Lace Bodysuit by Hand (the Default Method)
Hand washing is the gold standard for anything lace, crochet-trimmed or embellished. Ten minutes, one basin:
- Fill a basin with cold water — 20°C to 30°C maximum. If the water feels warm on your wrist, it is too hot.
- Add a teaspoon of mild detergent — a delicates wash or gentle liquid. No bleach, no softener, and never powder detergent, which can lodge in open knits.
- Submerge and swish gently, then leave it to soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Thirty is the ceiling — longer soaks loosen dyes.
- Press the suds through the fabric with open palms. No rubbing, no twisting, no wringing — wringing is how lace edges and seams deform.
- Rinse in fresh cold water until it runs completely clear; leftover detergent stiffens elastic fibres.
- Roll the bodysuit in a clean dry towel and press firmly to lift out the water. Then move straight to flat drying, below.
How to Wash Mesh Clothing in the Machine (When You Must)
A plain stretch-mesh piece like the Diamond Mesh Bodysuit can survive the machine if you follow the rules exactly. Consider this the permitted shortcut, not the everyday habit:
- Mesh laundry bag, always. Turn the bodysuit inside out, fasten any clasps, and zip it into a fine-mesh delicates bag. The bag is what stands between your knit and every zip in the drum.
- Cold delicate cycle, 30°C maximum, with a low spin — 600 to 800 rpm. High spin creases elastic and torques seams.
- Wash with delicates only. No jeans, no hoodies, nothing with hooks, rivets or velcro in the same load.
- Mild liquid detergent, half dose. Skip fabric softener entirely — it coats elastane and gradually kills the snap-back you bought the piece for.
Anything with lace trim, fishnet panels, or hardware goes back to the basin. When in doubt, hand wash.
Drying: Air Dry, Always
There is no safe tumble-dry setting for an elastane garment — even "low" dryer heat runs hot enough to fatigue the fibre, and the tumbling action snags open knits. Instead:
- Lay the bodysuit flat on a dry towel, reshaped to its original silhouette — cups smoothed, straps straightened, hem squared.
- Keep it out of direct sun and away from radiators. UV fades dye and sunlight is just slow heat; a shaded, ventilated spot dries a mesh piece overnight.
- Never hang a wet bodysuit by its straps. Water weight plus gravity stretches shoulder seams permanently. If you must hang, fold it over a padded hanger at the waist so the weight splits evenly.
Most mesh and warp-knit pieces are dry within 12 to 24 hours flat; lace-trimmed styles take a little longer where the trim is doubled.
The Fabric Care Cheat Sheet
| Fabric | Wash method | Water temp | Dryer | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warp-knit stretch mesh | Hand wash preferred; bagged delicate cycle acceptable | Cold, max 30°C | Never — flat air dry | Fabric softener coats the elastane |
| Lace / lace-trimmed | Hand wash only | Cold, max 30°C | Never — flat air dry | Wringing deforms edges and seams |
| Fishnet | Hand wash only, short soak | Cold | Never — flat air dry | Snags on everything; store rolled in tissue |
| Sculpting jersey (high elastane) | Hand wash or bagged delicate cycle | Cold, max 30°C | Never — flat air dry | Heat and high spin fatigue compression |
| Printed / patterned mesh | Hand wash, inside out | Cold, short soak | Never — shade dry only | Sun and long soaks fade the print |
Storage: Keeping Mesh and Lace Snag-Free
More bodysuits die in drawers than in washing machines. The rules are simple:
- Fold, don't hang, for long-term storage. Months on a hanger stretches shoulder seams and necklines; a hanger is fine for the week, a folded stack is right for the season.
- Give open knits their own compartment. Mesh, lace and fishnet live away from belts, zips and anything with hardware. A simple drawer divider does the job.
- Tissue between layers. A sheet of acid-free tissue between a lace piece and its neighbours stops snags and keeps embellished sections from abrading.
- Roll fishnet loosely in tissue rather than folding — fold lines in fishnet become weak points.
How to Pack a Bodysuit for Travel
Suitcases are hostile environments: zips, hardware, shoes and three days of compression. The system that works:
- Roll, don't fold. Lay the bodysuit flat, fold the straps inward, and roll loosely from the hem. Rolling avoids hard creases in elastic and takes up less space.
- Use the laundry bag twice. The same mesh delicates bag you wash in becomes the travel pouch — the bodysuit arrives protected and the worn one goes home quarantined in it.
- Pack knits in the soft zone — the middle of the case, cushioned by tees and knitwear, never against shoes, belts or the zip lining.
- Unpack on arrival and hang the piece in the bathroom while you shower; ten minutes of steam releases any travel creasing without an iron. Never iron mesh or lace directly — if creases persist, use a steamer at 20 cm distance.
Fixing the Three Common Problems
Pilling. Those small fuzz balls appear where fabric rubs — under arms, where a bag strap sits, along the inner thigh. Lay the piece flat and taut, and skim the surface with a fabric shaver or a clean disposable razor at a shallow angle, using short light strokes. One pass is usually enough; pressing harder shaves the knit itself. After de-pilling, wash inside out to slow the next round.
Stretching out. If a bodysuit has gone loose, wash it in cold water, press it dry in a towel, and lay it flat pinned gently back to its intended silhouette while it dries — elastane recovers some memory as it relaxes in the cold. Prevention matters more than the cure: cold washes, flat drying, and folded storage are what keep recovery in the fibre. A piece stretched by heat or a hot dryer, though, is stretched for good.
Fading. Dye loss comes from three sources: long soaks, hot water and sun-drying. For a new dark or brightly printed piece, add a splash of white vinegar to the first cold rinse to help set the dye, wash inside out thereafter, keep soaks under 20 minutes and dry in shade. Black mesh that has already greyed cannot be re-dyed at home without risking the elastane, so treat the first five washes as the ones that decide its colour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you put a bodysuit in the washing machine?
Yes, if it is plain stretch mesh or jersey with no lace, fishnet or embellishment — and only inside a zipped mesh laundry bag, on a cold delicate cycle at 30°C or below with a low spin. Lace-trimmed, fishnet and printed pieces should be hand washed. Skip fabric softener in every case, because it coats elastane and gradually destroys the stretch recovery.
How often should you wash a bodysuit?
After every wear. A bodysuit sits against skin all day, and body oils and perspiration degrade elastane faster than detergent does — which is exactly why swimwear loses shape when chlorine and sunscreen are left in the fabric. If you wore it for only an hour or two over a clean base layer, a quick cold rinse and flat dry is enough between full washes.
How do you dry a lace bodysuit without stretching it?
Roll it in a clean dry towel and press firmly to remove water, then lay it flat on a second dry towel, reshaped to its original silhouette, in a shaded ventilated spot. Never wring it, never tumble dry it, and never hang a wet lace bodysuit by its straps — the water weight stretches shoulder seams and lace edges permanently. Most pieces dry flat within 12 to 24 hours.
Why is my mesh bodysuit pilling, and can I fix it?
Pilling is friction damage — the knit rubbing against itself, your bag strap, or coarser fabrics in the wash. It is cosmetic and fixable: lay the bodysuit flat and taut and skim the pills off with a fabric shaver or clean razor using light, shallow strokes. To slow recurrence, wash the piece inside out in a laundry bag, keep it away from zips and velcro, and store it folded rather than rubbing against other garments.
Care Is the Second Half of the Fit
A well-made bodysuit is engineered to hold its line; the care routine is what keeps that engineering alive past the first season. Cold water, no heat, flat drying, snag-free storage — four habits, ten minutes each. Treat the fabric well and the Raschelle bodysuit collection stays exactly as sculpting as the day it arrived.
