Quality surgical bras deserve quality treatment, and we want your AnaOno bralettes with support to look beautiful for years to come. Properly caring for your comfortable bras is essential so that your collection of double mastectomy and unilateral mastectomy bras, flat bras, lumpectomy bras, implant reconstruction bras, pocketed bras and bras for breast cancer live a long, gorgeous life so you can wear years beyond mastectomy or breast surgery. From tossing your bras in the washing machine to washing them by hand, we'll walk you through all the options on how to wash bras for mastectomy bra care.

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How Often Do I Wash My Bra?

It goes without saying that you want to feel as fresh as possible at all times. It is important to not wear your bra too many days in a row, but you also don't want to wash them too frequently since this can be hard on the materials.

We recommend washing your surgical bras after approximately two to three wears. Curating a healthy selection of post-breast surgery bras in your wardrobe will keep your wire-free bras or camisole bras nicer for longer because you can rotate between your favorite soft lounge and supportive bras. Rotating your post-mastectomy support styles more often will enable you to wash them less and cause less strain on the material. That way, they'll keep their shape and continue supporting you and feeling super-soft against your skin for years to come. After all, our bras are designed to be worn well after your recovery is complete!

The  Molly Bra can be machine washed with cold water. Make sure to lay it flat to dry, and then you can wear this super soft wirefree pocketed plunging t-shirt bra as often as you’d like.

Shop Molly Pocketed Plunge Bra

Hand Washing Your Post-Surgical Bra

While you can machine wash most of the styles in our post-mastectomy bra collections, you can preserve the life of your favorite wire-free bras even more by washing them by hand. You can wash any of our  bras with pockets, shelf bras or surgical soft bras by hand by following a few easy steps.

How to hand wash your post-mastectomy bras:

1. Fill up your kitchen or bathroom sink with cold water. Add your preferred alcohol-free hand washing detergent. (Recommended for your sensitive post-surgical skin!)  Try our favorite SOAK Laundry Soap!
2. Soak your mastectomy bras for up to an hour. Gently rub the fabric to remove dirt or any smudges. SOAK Laundry Soap's gentle, no rinse formulation is perfect for hand or machine washing your AnaOno mastectomy bras!
3. Rinse in fresh water until the water runs clear.
4. Lay flat on a towel with a second towel on top. Press to remove extra water.
5. Remove wet towels, and lay flat on a counter to dry.

We recommend hand-washing with cold water for the following AnaOno Post-Mastectomy Bras for the best wear (and so you can keep the super soft modal and stretch lace material in-tact):

• The JamieLee Front Closure Lace Bra 
• The Delilah Soft Cup Bra
• The Gloria Pocketed Lace Bra
• The Leslie Soft Leisure Bra

While these are some of the more delicate bras in our collection that benefit the most from hand-washing, the same steps listed above can be used for any of the breast cancer bras available at AnaOno. By handing these items with care, you can make them last even longer, which is especially important when these become your go-to everyday bras!

Machine Washing Your Bras

Machine washing saves time and energy, the two most precious things we have. In addition, machine washing is a major convenience when you're dealing with post-surgery recovery or breast cancer treatments that limit your energy and your mobility. However, a few simple steps should be followed in order to preserve the high quality of each of your AnaOno bras.

When machine washing your pocketed post-mastectomy bras, make sure you are using a mesh bag. A mesh lingerie bag or bra washing bag is best when laundering lingerie because it separates your bras from the rest of your clothing and the machine mechanisms. This reduces that possibility that your bras could get twisted up in or snagged by any other items in the same load.

Almost all AnaOno Bras are made with modal fabric, a super-smooth, ultra-soft material that and is extremely durable and suited to machine wash easily. Modal not only allows your body to breathe and heal flawlessly, but also maintains its shape beautifully during the washing process.

Use the following steps when washing your post-surgery bras or breast cancer treatment bras in the washing machine:

1. If your bra has our smoothing  modesty pads inside the pockets of the bra, please remove them. You can pop them in after the bra has dried (or insert your favorite prosthetic, or  F(oo)B™ breast form insert.)
2. Hook the back or front hooks of your wirefree bras if they have them, keeping similar colors together.
3. Select the delicate wash cycle, and cool water setting.
4. Avoid putting your bras in the dryer, and always lay flat or hang dry.

  

The AnaOno Soft Supportive Surgical Bras we recommend machine washing include

• The Rora Pocketed Front Closure Bra
• The Molly Pocketed Plunge Bra
• The Monica Full Coverage Bra
• The Niya Pullover Lounge Bra
• The Melissa Racerback Front Closure Bra

These ultra-comfy bras will keep their shape and feel for years and are beautiful beyond surgery. Just be sure to always use a delicate cycle!

Following these simple steps will keep your mastectomy bras looking great for a long time. Just remember: your bras are gentle on you, so be gentle with them.

Caring for your bras properly will keep them looking good and you feeling great for years to come.