Bathing suits wearing out

My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
elastic etc.
She rinses them, but it is no help.

You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them to,
so you keep purchasing more!

Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?

How can she make these suits last more than a few months?
Is there a better brand?
Thanks in advance.

z1r1200cc wrote:
> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
> elastic etc.
> She rinses them, but it is no help.
>
> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them to,
> so you keep purchasing more!
>
> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?
>
> How can she make these suits last more than a few months?
> Is there a better brand?
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
I buy my suits from Agonswim,( I have no afilliation with them at all)
mainly their grab bag suits. (jammers for $18 or $22 if you don't care
what the pattern/color is)

here is a link that describes the different fabrics

[url]http://www.agonswim.com/fabricsnew.cfm[/url]

polyester is nylon, absolutely chlorine resistant and very long lasting

PBT is excellent for chlorine too but like nylon, not very stretchy.I
use a size bigger if I buy these

I prefer the speedline fabric. I have one suit that is well over two
years old adn still going strong...fyi, I swim year-round 5 days a week,
2500-3000yds/day plus open water swims and meets so the suit is holding
well I think..its so old I think I only paid $16.00 for it.

z1r1200cc wrote:
> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
> elastic etc.
> She rinses them, but it is no help.
>
> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them to,
> so you keep purchasing more!
>
> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?
>
> How can she make these suits last more than a few months?
> Is there a better brand?
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
Switch to polyester suits instead of lycra. Speedo has the 'Endurance'
line and the other brands make similar suits.

For my money Dolphin has the best deal. I get about 9 months at a 4-5
swims per week out of my polyester suit. I save the lycra for Masters Meets.

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:50:16 -0400, LouF wrote:

> z1r1200cc wrote:
>> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
>> elastic etc.
>> She rinses them, but it is no help.
>>
>> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them to,
>> so you keep purchasing more!
>>
>> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?
>>
>> How can she make these suits last more than a few months?
>> Is there a better brand?
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
> I buy my suits from Agonswim,( I have no afilliation with them at all)
> mainly their grab bag suits. (jammers for $18 or $22 if you don't care
> what the pattern/color is)
>
> here is a link that describes the different fabrics
>
> [url]http://www.agonswim.com/fabricsnew.cfm[/url]
>
> polyester is nylon,

No.

"Nylon" is a polyamide, which as a class have different structure and
properties from polyesters. Both terms are generic, and include both
naturally ocurring and man-made forms.

> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
> elastic etc.
> She rinses them, but it is no help.

She dunks the fabric in a chlorine solution, which is a diluted bleach, and
expects a short rinse after an hour's swim will be sufficient to "reverse"
the action of the chlorine?


> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them
> to, so you keep purchasing more!

They do what they can with the materials they have. Think of it this way: if
they could make a breakthrough with a fabric that wouldn't be affected by
chlorine, they'd have everyone buying only their suits!

>
> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?

No. Now, if she didn't immerse the suit for an hour or so, and only did it
for, say 5 minutes, then the suit would last longer.


> How can she make these suits last more than a few months?

She can't. However, Speedo sells a cheaper version at both Costco's and
Sam's Club for $19.99. Maybe she should try one of those and see how long it
lasts.


> Is there a better brand?

If there were, they would have a path beaten to their door by consumers and
would be advertising it like crazy.

Now, having said all of this, there are strategies: don't buy retail!
1. Buy "grab bag" suits from online retailers.
2. Go to [url]www.sierratradingpost.com[/url] and see if they have any marked down
suits.
3. Try a polyester suit which will last longer but will not stretch and fit
in the same way as the nylon/lycra suits fit.
4. Buy from local sports stores such as The Sports Authority or Academy
Sports, but wait until the suits go on sale at the end of the season.

_ wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:50:16 -0400, LouF wrote:
>
>> z1r1200cc wrote:
>>> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits just wear out,
>>> elastic etc.
>>> She rinses them, but it is no help.
>>>
>>> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they don't want them to,
>>> so you keep purchasing more!
>>>
>>> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the chlorine?
>>>
>>> How can she make these suits last more than a few months?
>>> Is there a better brand?
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>>
>> I buy my suits from Agonswim,( I have no afilliation with them at all)
>> mainly their grab bag suits. (jammers for $18 or $22 if you don't care
>> what the pattern/color is)
>>
>> here is a link that describes the different fabrics
>>
>> [url]http://www.agonswim.com/fabricsnew.cfm[/url]
>>
>> polyester is nylon,
>
> No.
>
> "Nylon" is a polyamide, which as a class have different structure and
> properties from polyesters. Both terms are generic, and include both
> naturally ocurring and man-made forms.
You're right of course and I'm an idiot! However, both do have superior
wearing properties and chlorine resistance.

z1r1200cc says...

> My wife swims at the Y all the time and the Speedo suits
> just wear out, elastic etc. She rinses them, but it is
> no help.

> You would think that a Speedo would last but maybe they
> don't want them to, so you keep purchasing more!

> Is there any way to wash them to neutralize the
> chlorine?

> How can she make these suits last more than a few
> months? Is there a better brand? Thanks in advance.

If you want to try neutralizing the chlorine, what you need
is a chemical called sodium thiosulfate. You would need to
find a chemical supply house and see if you can buy a pound
or two. Or maybe on the internet somewhere. For a woman's
suit, I sould suggest 1/2 teaspoon dissolved in a couple
quarts of water, and soak the suit for 20 minutes or so,
then just rinse it out with tap water. The test for whether
that's enough is your nose - best chlorine detector around.
If that smell is gone afterward, then the 1/2 teaspoon is
enough. Then you can try using less. Of course the suit
should be rinsed in regular water first just to get rid of
the pool water.

This actually works quite well, provided she does the
treatment fairly soon after she swims. But even so, lycra
doesn't last forever, and one of the polyester suits might
let you avoid all this trouble.