WAG How do you wash your competition Leo?

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We have had just about every brand out there. But this year our Leo (Alpha F) came with crazy washing instructions. Basically don't wash it, it could run, lose gemstones, etc. Anyone else have Leo's that are hard to manage or bleed? What is the best way to wash them? Do you really have to wash these type of Leo's in the sink? Will the washer on gentle really ruin it or is that overkill?
 
if the leo is likely to run, then I would hand wash in PLENTY of cold water. The trick is to have a large enough volume of water so that any dye runs are well diluted. That is why washing in the machine on a very delicate cycle can work well as there is lots of water.

Personally I have wash all my dd's leos in a tiny bit of gentle hand wash detergent and hand hot water.
 
What fabrics is it made of? What colors?

The washer could damage delicate fabrics or rhinestones.

I wash in the sink in lots of cold water with a small amount of Woolite. Then rinse in lots more cold water. Lay flat on a towel and roll the towel up to get most of the water out. Put on a rack to air dry.
 
What fabrics is it made of? What colors?

The washer could damage delicate fabrics or rhinestones.

I wash in the sink in lots of cold water with a small amount of Woolite. Then rinse in lots more cold water. Lay flat on a towel and roll the towel up to get most of the water out. Put on a rack to air dry.

This. Especially rolling up in the towel before lying out to dry to avoid bleeding.
 
This. Especially rolling up in the towel before lying out to dry to avoid bleeding.

And I usually place a towel in the middle, between the front/back of the leo.

I usually do a light hand wash with Dreft in lots of cold water after approximately every other meet.
 
This year's comp leo is all black with a lot of stones. I washed in the washing machine on delicate and it came out fine. Old leo was white mystique with a little blue. I washed in the sink and rolled in a towel before drying. I think some of the stones caught on the butt because it had a whole bunch of snags after.
 
OMG!!!! I toss DDs leos in the machine. Usually on delicate / wool cycle, cold water. Usually wash comp Leo by itself and I've never had a problem. Maybe it's the brand or type of washer? That's a big concern because I just got a new washer!
 
I have never machine washed a leotard, and never intend to. Some fabrics just aren't meant for machine washing. If other people choose to machine wash, good luck to them, but it is not something I would ever do.
 
I have never machine washed a leotard, and never intend to. Some fabrics just aren't meant for machine washing. If other people choose to machine wash, good luck to them, but it is not something I would ever do.
Agreed. I wash mine by hand, but another girl on my team puts hers in the washing machine. If we stand next to eachother, it is obvious who machines washes vs who hand washes, because hers is so faded. Our leo is a GK leo that has rhinestones with black and neon green with mesh.
 
I have never machine washed a leotard, and never intend to. Some fabrics just aren't meant for machine washing. If other people choose to machine wash, good luck to them, but it is not something I would ever do.
I machine wash her practice leos, as I just don't want to be doing that much hand washing. It seems to not have any effect so far. But I am careful to avoid all softeners and hang them to dry too.

Competition leo is always hand washed.
 
I had an AF white/grey/little bit of black leo a few years ago for comp. I usually just soaked it under cold water and used some Woolite (sp?) for about 30 min. Then I rolled it in the towel and then hung it over the bath tub to dry. Never had a problem. This year I do the same - GK black, lime green, mesh.

I machine wash all of my practice leos. Never had a problem, I put them in inside out in a little hole washing bag, and it has worked every time. None have faded so far.
 
I machine wash all of DD's practice leos, inside out, with a little Woolite and on a higher water setting than I would normally use for that few items (to give them lots of swishing room!) and NO fabric softener. Then I hang them all to dry. Her leos all look nice, still.

I have done the same with competition leos, up until this year. But her new leo has mesh on the sleeves/shoulders and that terrifies me.

I plan on maybe only washing the meet leo twice during the meet season. Three times if I think it needs it. She wears an under-leo and I will wash that each time, but really, how dirty can it get from a meet? Certainly not as dirty as practice. Right? My DD does not emerge from meets covered in chalk, but that is how she emerges from practice nearly every day. lol.
 
My DDs go through 10 practice leos a week between them and there is no way I would hand wash that many. I have always just turned them inside out (when I remember) and tossed them in the washer with everything else. Their competition leos so far have- all but one- just been practice leos, but the one that was different and fancier I hand washed out of fear. After we no longer needed it, however, I threw it in the wash before giving it away with zero negative effects at all. I think I would only be paranoid about mesh or white leos at this point. My ODDs new comp leo is pretty pricey though, so I guess I will see if I am able to throw caution to the wind this season.
 
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I only hand wash one of my practice leotards, the rest go in a delicates bag on a delicate cycle. The one I do hand wash is white with rhinestones so I don't want to take any chances with it! When I get my competition leotard I'll probably hand wash that too.
 
We have a hand wash cycle on our washer. For competition leotards... fill washer with water and a little All Free and Clear, then add Leo inside out.

Regular practice leos inside out, same cycle, but all together. Always detergent and water before leos... even gentle detergent should not go directly on Leos.
 
I use the hand wash cycle on the washer -- leo inside out and then in a bag.
Only for the competition leo (GK white with LOTS of sparkles), the other leos go in the wash inside out on delicate. This is a front load washer.
 
We just got wash instructions for my daughter and it has to be washed in salt ,( snowflake brand) I have never washed any of my girls comp Leos this way , I always did it gentle cycle , inside out on cold in large amount of water.
 
For regular leotards, I just wash them with all the other clothes and have never had any problem. For the competition leotard, I hand wash with a little Woolite in the sink and then lay out to dry on a towel. However, I accidentally washed her competition leotard last year in the middle of the season in the washer with her other clothes and it was fine. But it did scare me when I was putting clothes in the dryer and saw it there!
 

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