One of the (many) things I love about our product is that we have lots of options for washing our gear. Almost all of our product is pre-shrunk, so there are no surprises when you take it home and wash it – the exceptions being the obvious like our outerwear and accessories.

Now, I personally choose to wash my gear in cold water. Most of our fabrics have a high Lycra content and the heat from repetitive hot washes and hot dryers can break down that Lycra over time. I happen to have enough lululemon product to make full loads (yes – one white, one black, and one ‘grey’ with all my brights) so keeping them away from very ‘cotton-y’ clothing and anything abrasive (think denim, towels, hoodies – anything with a zipper or anything that produces ‘fluff’ in the dryer) is pretty easy for me. Our fabrics are pretty special (I know we’ve perfected it but it really does take something special to make all of our bums look that good) and anything abrasive such as denim or something with a zipper can be harmful, especially in a repetitive motion like in a washer and dryer.

On the flip side, washing your lululemon with really soft fluffy items like towels and hoodies can leave your lululemon with the little bits of fluff attaching to it and creating those little ‘balls’ which tends to look like pilling and makes your clothing look older faster.

Now, that said, I love love love knowing that if I’m in a rush or in a bind or travelling and I need something washed and dried asap – I’m totally safe if I wash it in warm and throw it in the dryer.

My other – and favourite reason for washing my clothing in cold and hanging to dry is our lovely environment. It takes a lot less energy to wash clothing in cold water and hang it to dry than it does to wash and dry in hot. Can you imagine the environmental impact if every single load of laundry that contained a pair of Groove Pants, for one year straight was washed in cold and hung to dry?

how to wash your lululemon outerwear

Our blog artist Elissa on how to wash your jackets:

Now for the outerwear.  If you’re like me, and you jumped on the Apres Sport jacket when it came out, you’ve probably had it sitting pretty, waiting for the temperature to drop.  It’s finally happening and soon it will be time for it to hit the laundry bin.

I machine wash my older Apres Yoga Jacket in cold water and hang it to dry.  You can do the same with your jacket – tweed or softshell, Bomber, Apres Sport, or Embark.    (Plan ahead with this one, because it is not good for it to go in the dryer. The bonding that holds the layers of the softshell together can come undone.)

The down-filled pieces, like the (Not-So) Stuffy Puffy and the men’s Altitude Vest, are much simpler to care for than I thought.  Just throw them into a front loading machine and repeat after me: gentle cycle, cold water, low dryer.  That’s it!

Want the full lululemon encyclopedia on fabrics and care? Voila: http://www.lululemon.com/education/info/care

read more related posts:

• how to spot a fake
• enhancing your workouts with luxtreme
• why we love this: game day jacket
• why we love this: remix hoodie lux