How to keep tights and stockings looking great

Posted by SOCKSHOP

  
Like any item of high-quality clothing, tights and stockings need to be cared for. With their delicate nature, a lack of care could results in embarrassing ladders when you’re hoping to look at your most glamourous.
   
Caring for tights and stockings
  
Here are a few tips on looking after, wearing and storing your fine hosiery…

Slipping them on and off

You might have done it a hundred times, but if you’re not doing it right every time you risk damaging your precious new stocking or tights.

Like all good things in life, this is not a job you can rush – if you do, you risk tearing or stretching them.

It all starts with a little makeover, beginning with your hands. Give them a thorough moisturising and be sure your nails are trimmed and filed. Then do the same with your legs and toenails. Removing any rough edges like dry skin or nails that could catch the tights, is key to helping keep your hosiery snag, hole and ladder-free!

Once you’ve done this, ruffle up the tights so that you can put your toe directly into the end of them. Then simply – and slowly – slide them up over your leg, inch by inch. To get them off, simply reverse the process – roll them down (don’t drag them off - unless you’re in a hurry!)

Once they’re on, a good tip is to stick on a pair of hosiery glove, so you can always be certain you're handling your hosiery with care.
     
Caring for tights and stockings
  

Washing them

We’d all like to have the time to hand wash our delicates, but the reality is life gets in the way. However, if you happen to have a spare half an hour, it’s worth giving them a hand wash as putting them into a machine can stretch the material. They could also end up getting caught on other items, or on the machine itself.

If, like most people, you do want to machine wash them, make sure to use a gentle washing powder and put them into a hosiery bag. This should protect them a bit from the rough and tumble of the wash cycle.

Don’t be tempted to wring them dry or put them through the tumble dryer. Put them flat on a towel and roll them up. Then gently squeeze the towel so it absorbs the moisture.

But if somehow they do get damaged and a hole or small ladder appears, (life hack alert!) use a little clear nail polish to prevent it from spreading and to seal up smaller holes. It will be the difference between an embarrassingly big hole, and a tiny one that will probably go completely unnoticed. 

If you're short on clear nail varnish, hairspray can work just as well. Just be sure to look out for any visible residue once it has dried - this can easily be batted off with the palm of your hand.
   

Caring for tights and stockings
  

Storing them

While it’s tempting to throw them in with your underwear after a long hard day (or a glamourous night out), you should try to resist and store them separately. It's so easy for bra hooks and other adornments to your underwear to catch on the tights, causing holes.

Try using a similar technique to washing them and store your tights and stockings with other underwear but in a separate bag. That tote bag you bought but have never used would work.

Make sure you fold them as well. If you just throw them in, they could end up getting tied around each other and become stretched and misshapen as you try and pull them out of the drawer.
     

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