swimsuit longevity

I have found that the 100% polyester suits (Nike makes a nice one) will last about 1 year, won't fade much and will not disintegrate as lycra does after "30 workouts". And it costs less than lycra. Go figure. Disadvantages: The polyester does not stretch as much as lycra so it can cause suit burns, usually under the armpit or on the neck (women, obviously). The trick is to wear and old, worn out lycra suit under the polyester suit to protect yourself. :cool:

Several thoughts/suggestions: 1) I use UltraSwim shampoo on my hair and then rub my lycra suit through the lather. I get lots of looks in the YMCA shower for this. I know that everyone says not to use shampoo on a suit, but this seems to give me 50-100% added use. 2) I wear The Victor brand lycra suits and (I swear) the blue suits last longer. This is based on actually tracking the different colors. It seems to make about 50% difference. 3) Try the Tyr Durafast polyester suits. I recently got a pair of Durafast male Jammers and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! 7 weeks of many miles of swimming and very little wear yet. They also run as fast in the water as my lycra suits and probably a bit faster. Can't vouch (obviously) for the women's suits.

I had a suit and wore it for one year. I only washed it once outside of whatever it got from in the shower and shampoo. It was rolled in a towel in my bag, left in the car for G-d knows how long at times. Never smelled more than chlorine. One year later it was the same size and color as the day I bought. it. The company makes mostly fitness and instructor suits but they do have a competition line. Not as many fabric designs but some are servicable. They are a little pricey but they last alot longer. You can go to their web site at http://www.h2owear.com Look under tanks.

Hi Janis et al, I've heard the H2OWear suits last a long time . . . except the company stopped making suits for men. But, the key here as Leonard, Laura and you have mentioned, is polyester material. I've found, too, that suits made of lycra/nylon blends don't last. I seem to go through one a month, using it 4x a week. And . . . I carefully rinse them out in cold water, too. The lycra simply doesn't tolerate chlorine. This gets bit expensive, ya know. So, I went to a local aquatics store that sells only stuff for the pool and asked for advice as to what will last. They suggested either the Speedo Water Polo suit (100% nylon) or the Speedo Aquion suit (100% polyester for working out. (I have a nylon/lycra suit I use only for meets.) The poly will last longer, so I bought it. After two weeks or so of use, there is no evidence of fading or loss of stretch which lycra will show. By the way, I first went to the local Speedo Authentic Fitness Store and they DON'T even carry these suits. (That was a wasted trip!) So, the best bet is a specialty store like the one to which I went. (This store is great and is well-known by teams in my area.) Seems to me that many years ago, suits were made of 100% nylon. They lasted for a long time. Not now! Now you have my $.02's worth.

My daughter used to go through a suit a month, with 5 day/week usage. Drove me nuts. The pool she was swimming in was too heavily chlorinated and kept at about 86° (pool manager used the seniors' noon swim as his excuse for keeping it that high). I used a couple of different types of advertised "suit saver" products, which made no difference at all. Then about a year ago, I started swimming, and we changed pools. Suits started to last a bit longer. I have a Nike suit that I just love, and it has given me about 7 months of faithful service (3-4 practices/week) and still fits great. The only sign of wear is in the middle of the front liner. I attribute the wear difference to a product that someone on this board recommended. A de-chlorinator that you use for aquariums. I found one at Wal-Mart for less than $2, called Chlor Out. The 4 oz bottle lasts about a month. After we swim, we rinse our suits in cool water at the pool, and when we get home, I put them to soak in a sink of cold water with about half a teaspoon of Chlor out; swish them around a few times and squeeze them a couple of times - pull them out and hang them up to dry. I use far more than the few drops the bottle states is necessary to de-chlorinate regular tap water, but I'm a firm believer that it works. So, if you don't want to change fabric as others have suggested, give this kind of a product a try. We swim at least two meets per month and our year-old competition suits still look and feel like new. On a different, but slightly related topic, I have found the best deal on grab bag suits at 4 Seasons swimwear (www.4swimwear.com). If anyone has other recommendations for good quality, inexpensive practice suits, I'd love to have them! Cheers!

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I am going to trying a polyester blend suit from Arena (they call the fabric stretch 150). I'll see how it compares. Candace, the best deal I've seen is from 800allswim.com The suits come out to 16.95@ if you order 3. I've haven't ordered them so I can't vouch for the quality. The deal is at the end of their sales page (item #500306).

I purchased my last (except race suits) lycra, nylon, cotton, rayon, wool, wood, steel, cement or whatever type suit except the new polyester suits made by Speedo. Wow, it got rather costly wearing out Lycra suits. I am into my third month on a Speedo Model 825374 workout suit and it is still in great shape. I can't pull mine up under my arms yet, so I cannot comment on them causing suit burns...;)

I just got my H2Owear catalogue and they now have men's suits in ChloroGuard fabric. The trunks have 6 inch seams and there is a Jammer style and one piece body suit. This fabric has served me well in the past. Polyesther suits never wore as well for me.:p

Last year I got a pair of Tyr Durafast jammers, then when in Austin a pair of Speedo Endurance jammers in same size at Lane4Swim shop. Also use the Ultra Swim lather on the jammers after swimming and soak jammers, goggles, silicone cap in dilute thiosulfate solution (stuff for removing chlorine from aquarium water) when I get home, spin in washing machine, then hang out and repeat cycle next day. The Tyr Durafast seems to run almost uncomfortably tight in the elastic above the knee for me (I'm a runner, too) where the Speedo fits better all around. Have been using the Speedo Endurance now for almost a year of 3-5 times/week and it doesn't seem to fade. Only sign of wear is that the Endurance jammers are not quite as snug a fit on the legs as I recall they were when bought. Interesting that one brand is a wee bit tight (Tyr) and the other just a wee bit loose. Never had that problem with lycra/nylon; I still like the lycra (Dolfin) for meets as they just seem more comfortable than poly jammers, especially during a long day at a meet!

I just buy the "Grab Bag" briefs (or what ever's the equalvalent from another maker): www.speedousa.com/.../61c4c755-afec-4db7-b7c5-0a3c41aa2156 The Grab Bag is only $19.00 which are very economical since swim suits are really over priced to begin with. Plus the briefs are the most comfortable. Happy Swimming ! California Dolphin :D