Susan's Place Transgender Resources

As we know over time a binder's elasticity and compression abilities weaken. I remember Zombie saying that he puts his in the freezer to retain elasticity. I tried that but it didn't seem to do much good (except make my binder smell like food :D). But I think that binder may just be beyond the helping point.

Are there any tricks you guys do to help rejuvenate your binder's compressing abilities? I also know that a binder reaches a point where it's past the point of compressing properly so it has to be retired. I've been binding for over a year and even though my first binder isn't the best it still does a decent job. At about what age was your binder when it had to be retired?

Yeah, I do put mine in the freezer. It finally reached a point where it didn't do anything at all for it. It reached the point of no return at about....um...3 months ish. But I wear mine to death, 24/7.

The only other thing I can think of is cutting it apart in the back and sewing it back together so it's smaller. I would do this with mine, but I don't trust my sewing abilities to create a strong enough seam for it not to rip. I don't have to worry about it much longer....I just ordered a new tri top. But I'm gonna save my old one so when the new one wears out, I can wear two if I have no other choice.

Quote from: zombiesarepeaceful on June 14, 2010, 04:31:56 PMThe only other thing I can think of is cutting it apart in the back and sewing it back together so it's smaller. I would do this with mine, but I don't trust my sewing abilities to create a strong enough seam for it not to rip.

That's a good idea, but my sewing skills are basic at best too.

i actually dont recommend cutting it apart and sewing it back together yourself. the seams of any good binder are "flat" as opposed to seams you find e.g. on jeans to provide better comfort, since the material is not as soft as regular underwear and thus layered seams would most likely lead to chaffing.

When i wanted to have mine shortened at a tailor's they didnt even have a sewing machine to do the job.

I am currently owning 3 different binders which were all around 35 Euros...which is about the price of one or two proper bras i suppose...and I can say that now that i wear them in circles, wearing one for a week then retiring it for two weeks, my newer binders haven't worn out at all, as opposed to my first binder, which i was wearing whenever i was out of bed really.
So my guess would be that they last longer when they're left alone for a while after washing them.

Not washing them regularly makes them bind worse. I (try to) wash mine once a week at the least, but once every 3 days would be best. I don't know why, but washing them makes them shrink. On cold, line dry, etc. etc.

Probs cause the cold, with the binder being made out of the material that is is, causes the material to contract. If you washed it on hot or warm, it would probably stretch out some.