I have kind of an anxiety about my binder breaking in public; so how long have you used one Underworks binder before it broke? Also, has your binder ever broken in public, and what did you do? Thanks
Pretty durable considering I've been using my current one for over a year. You'll know when it's starting to wear out and have time to get a new one.
I don't think you should worry about that happening :) I've got four binders from Underworks that I swap between every week and I bought all of them 3 years ago!!
They're not going to just break in public, they wear out slightly over time, and you'll know because they're not going to get you as flat as before.
Maybe with something with closures, like velcro or clasps, it's possible for it to happen, but I've never heard of it, and Underworks don't make that sort anyway.
I've never had one 'break' at all. I don't know how you even manage to DO that. They're pretty tough. Mine stretch out and become useless WAY before I can imagine they would ever be at the "breaking" stage.
Mine is still strong after two years of almost every day use. Don't need it any more though. :D
Oh, it could never break. As others have said, it would just wear out, feel looser, not fit as well...but it would never be an issue in public. Just have to go home and plan to buy a new binder.
Hrm, mine (after 1-2 years of heavy use) tend to get thinner spots and stretch a lot, so I usually notice when it's time to replace it. Since there's a lot of fabric I couldn't imagine it could break all of sudden. One of mine even got some holes and it's still wearable.
as the others have said, i dont think its possible to break them, i mean ive put a thumb through the bit where the strong stuff joins the soft stuff (but the hole was only in the soft fabric) got my mum to pull out the singer, never had a problem since, and that was my own fault, i put it on while i was wet and wasnt paying attention to my thumb and well yeh :3
I actually did get one that the shoulder seam partially ripped after several months of non-daily wear. It was probably because of me pulling it up by the shoulders all of the time and having it get stuck down at my hips/stomach where it wasn't supposed to fit. I just asked a friend to sew it up for me and now it may not be a pretty seam but it's definitely never going to break.
I've had all of mine for like a year each. They've never ripped I've just realized they were really stretched/worn out. also mine have ripped and frayed at the edges but never ripped open. I wear modified tri tops fyi I cut 3-4 inches off the bottom for the sake of my rips.
It's a simple matter of treating them properly. Particularly, do not ever wash them in hot water and also do not ever put them through the dryer on hot either. Heat is what ultimately destroys elastic (differ to your underwear bands) so actually, avoid warm too... and hang it up to air dry instead. A couple times won't do damage, but washing and drying them in hot ALL of the time absolutely will. Also keep it hung up, not tossed on the floor. Simple things like that will go a long way. Oh right, if you like to swim... designate ONE for that because the chlorine/salt will ultimately make it useless (especially if you don't promptly wash it out after the fact).
Otherwise, you should not have any problems. Then again, note that because of their design, the 983 and 997 will both wear out quicker than the others (<998 etc). Their extra layers are only on the front, but in the back they have an even thinner and therefore weaker mesh kind of panel. That is the one taking all of the strain from the front layers... "an object is only as strong as it's weakest point". Basically, you're better off avoiding those if you really want longevity. IMHO, the initial extra binding power is not worth it when ultimately they will wear out worse.
The goal is not to get "totally flat", but to get the pectoral look. It doesn't often take "extreme" to get there, really. Case in point my 974 still does the job after five years (although I am presently planning on two new 998's soon. I just hope I can get over the new 'improved' changes they made though... the new seams IMO are hellish. They should have left well and good enough alone, not trying to 'fix' what wasn't broken. Oh well).
Like others have said, underworks are pretty durable. I've never had one break. They will wear out and stop working right long before that!
Everyone pretty much already said this already but for extra reassurance none of my binders have ever broken before, and I've had the same ones for almost 2 years. Assuming you buy the right size and not one that's way too small, all they really do is stretch out. The material that they're made up is pretty impossible to rip. I have 2 different kinds of the Underworks ones right now, the one that binds your entire front like a tank top and the one that binds only your chest area. I personally recommend you get the one that binds all around (the chest one is so tight that it cuts into me, and it feels too much like a sports bra to wear and that may be bad for dysphoria). So anyway, believe us, you have nothing to be worrying about :) good luck!
Honestly, I've been binding since maybe 2006 or so, and I've never had a binder actually break. They have had small tears at the seams on the hips, but never had something unwearable. There was one that I wore into a pool then never wore or cleaned after. It kind of sat around in my trunk and that one fell apart, but that's from the bleach wearing down the material.
I machine washed and dried mine every other day for about a year. I am sure it could have lasted a lot longer if I handwashed and hang dried. Now it is rendered pretty useless.
My underwork binder lasted me a good year+ and I too was washing and drying it in a machine regular.
Quote from: lxndr on January 17, 2014, 06:04:26 PM
They're not going to just break in public, they wear out slightly over time, and you'll know because they're not going to get you as flat as before.
Maybe with something with closures, like velcro or clasps, it's possible for it to happen, but I've never heard of it, and Underworks don't make that sort anyway.
I stopped wearing underworks because I wasn't happy with any of them. I won't go into the reasons why but that said, I switched to a kind that has clasps down one side under the arm. I've never had those break either. While it would be possible for you to have a hook go out suddenly in that style, there are so many of them together that it wouldn't be noticeable to you or anyone else until you took the binder off. Not saying it would ever happen but theoretically even if you suddenly lost half of them, it wouldn't be noticeable at least on the brand that I wear.