I wear a sleeve & glove any ideas what to wash them in please as you cannot use soap powder. need to get them looking cleaner .

[monroe]

[lovesradio]

Hi monroe I wear a sleeve and glove too. I rinse mine through in plain warm water every night and about once a week I put in the washing machine in a lingerie bag with another washing. I figure this way they get cleaner and the effect of the low concentration of washing powder (I use non-bio) does not seem to harm them. Having a separate glove means that sometimes I just put the glove in the machine as it gets grubbier than the sleeve!

[paubow]

I have two sleeves but no one has said you can not wash them in soap powder. I use non-bio powder and just wash them with like colours in a normal wash. Hope this helps

[norberte]

hi monroe

i wear sleeves & gloves both sides & a corset, & at the beginning i'd wash them out by hand with 'delicates' washing liquid but my arthritis in my hands couldn't cope & now i bung them in the machine

i'm sure it does shorten their life a bit but does get rid of all the stains i tend to get on the gloves especially, & it's not that long ago that i had to concede that the ones i've had right from the beginning, 2 years ago, have become too droopy to be any use

so i'm keeping the very old ones for swimming or for being the 2nd pair on top if i need to do something heavy on the arms

they do end up different colours, but i make sure to wash pairs together & i find that the sleeves (jobst) keep their colour better than the gloves (haddenhams)

yes, it's better to wash them out by hand in something very mild, but you've got to fit all this stuff into your life as best you can & aim for good enough

i know if i put stained gloves on, especially, i feel much more noticeable & grubby - i tend to put them on and gently rub a bit of washing liquid into any stains before they go in the machine & they come out just fine

hope that helps

[Lynora in reply to norberte]

If you've been using the same garments for 2 years, it's time you had them replaced!!!!! Give your clinic a call - they may have forgotten!!

[Lruk]

I use Stergene for hand washing to wash my compression bits with the odd time chucked in the machine for an extra clean. My LE nurse says machine washing is fine but no fabric softener as that reduces the effectiveness of the compression over time.

[Lynora]

Non-bio washing liquid or powder is fine - on a cool (30 degrees) or 'colours' wash in a washing machine. Lruk is right - no fabric softener - and definitely no tumble drying (I've seen some interesting disasters over the years!!)

[kJ1982]

I have always put both my sleeve and stockings in with my normal washing, but I dry them on the airer not tumble or radiator. Never had any problems.

[clown]

I was told not to use fabric conditioner.

[morganite]

i wash my garments in non bio or even fairy liquid but the main thing i was told do not get them near fabric softener and dont dry near direct heat, ie on the radiator

[norberte]

lynora, don't fret! i use the old ones if i'm doing something dirty / sweaty / likely to snag the sleeve, to protect the newer ones or for swimming

sorry if that wasn't clear in my post

[alfie19]

Hand wash only so not to loose the elasticity and no fabric softener and new garments yearly

[cancer1]

I have been told by the lymphodema nurse to replace them every six months i wash them in non bio washing powder in normal wash

[alfie19 in reply to cancer1]

me too and I hand wash with no fabric softener and dry on the radiator or line with no problems

[norberte]

keep the old ones tho, cancer - there's always a time when you don't want to ruin a newish pair

i colour code them with a little bit of thread inside the knitted top - how sad is that????

[Fridlie]

Hi, I use soap flakes (bought from supermarket)-you only need a few, although they are a bugger to dissolve. Work ok for me.