Girls swimsuits care: how to protect them from chlorine, salt and sunscreen
A great girls swimsuit is an investment — and like any investment, it lasts as long as you take care of it. The problem is that swimwear lives in one of the harshest environments any garment ever faces: chlorinated pools, salt water, intense sun exposure, and sunscreen that, while essential for skin protection, is one of the most damaging substances a swimsuit can come into contact with. Most girls swimsuits don't wear out because of poor quality. They fade, stretch, and lose their shape because of a handful of preventable care mistakes that happen after every single use. At Malai Swimwear, we design our girls' pieces to be durable — but even the best fabric needs the right care to truly last. This guide covers everything you need to know to keep girls swimsuits looking and fitting as good as the day they arrived.
The three enemies of girls swimsuits
Before getting into care routines, it helps to understand what's actually damaging the fabric — because each enemy requires a slightly different response.
Enemy #1: Chlorine
Chlorine is the most aggressive substance a swimsuit regularly encounters. It breaks down elastic fibers over time, which is what causes swimsuits to stretch out, lose their shape, and eventually sag. It also affects dye stability — repeated chlorine exposure without proper rinsing is one of the main causes of color fading in girls swimsuits.
The key thing to know: chlorine damage is cumulative. One afternoon in the pool won't ruin a swimsuit. But repeated exposure without rinsing immediately afterward adds up fast — and the damage is largely irreversible once it sets.
Enemy #2: Salt water
Salt water is less immediately aggressive than chlorine, but it's persistent. Salt crystals left in the fabric after the water evaporates continue to break down fibers slowly — and salt also amplifies the effect of sun exposure on color. A girls swimsuit that's been in the ocean and left to dry in direct sunlight without rinsing is experiencing both salt and UV damage simultaneously.
Enemy #3: Sunscreen
This one surprises most people. Sunscreen — especially chemical sunscreens with ingredients like avobenzone — reacts with pool chemicals and with the dyes in swimwear fabric, causing discoloration that often appears as orange or rust-colored stains that are very difficult to remove. Mineral sunscreens (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide) are generally less damaging to fabric, though they still leave residue that should be rinsed out promptly.
The rule: sunscreen goes on before the swimsuit, and the swimsuit gets rinsed immediately after use — every single time.
The right care routine for girls swimsuits: step by step
Good care doesn't have to be complicated. This routine takes less than five minutes and makes a significant difference in how long a girls swimsuit lasts.
Step 1: Rinse immediately after use
Whether it's the pool, the ocean, or a water park — the first thing that should happen when a girl gets out of the water is a thorough rinse with clean, cool or lukewarm water. Not warm, not hot — heat accelerates fabric breakdown. The goal is to flush out chlorine, salt, and sunscreen residue before they set into the fibers.
Don't wait until you get home if you're at a public pool or beach. A quick rinse at the facility's showers is enough to stop the most immediate damage.
Step 2: Wash gently — by hand when possible
For regular maintenance washing, hand washing with a small amount of mild detergent in cool water is ideal. Gently agitate the fabric, paying extra attention to areas that accumulate the most sunscreen — typically the front of the top and the seat of the bottom.
If machine washing is necessary, use a delicate or gentle cycle with cold water and place the swimsuit in a mesh laundry bag to protect it from friction and snagging. Never use hot water — it breaks down elastane fibers rapidly.
Avoid fabric softeners entirely. They coat elastic fibers and reduce their stretch-and-recovery performance over time.
Step 3: Never wring — always press
After washing, never wring a girls swimsuit to remove water. Wringing twists and stresses the elastic fibers in ways they're not designed to handle, and over time it permanently deforms the fabric. Instead, gently press the swimsuit between a clean towel to absorb excess water.
Step 4: Dry flat, in the shade
Lay the swimsuit flat to dry — not on a hanger, which can stretch the fabric under the weight of the water, and not in direct sunlight, which fades color and degrades elastic fibers. A shaded, ventilated surface works perfectly. Most girls swimsuits dry within one to two hours in normal conditions.
Never put a swimsuit in the dryer. Even on a low heat setting, the heat and tumbling cause significant damage to elastic fibers.
Extra care tips for girls swimsuits that see heavy use
For girls who swim regularly — on a swim team, at summer camp, or simply throughout a long beach vacation — a few extra habits extend swimsuit life significantly.
Rotate between two swimsuits. Elastic fibers need time to recover between uses. Wearing the same swimsuit every day without a break compresses the fibers continuously and shortens the garment's lifespan. Having two suits and alternating between them doubles the life of both.
Avoid sitting on rough surfaces. Pool edges, concrete, and rough rocks are extremely abrasive to swimwear fabric. Even a single rough surface can pill or thin the fabric in ways that become visible after a few washes. A towel between the swimsuit and the surface makes a real difference.
Rinse before entering the pool. Most pools recommend this for hygiene reasons — but it also helps the swimsuit. A fabric that's already saturated with clean water absorbs less chlorinated water during the swim, reducing overall chlorine contact.
How Malai Swimwear's fabrics are built to last
At Malai Swimwear, our girls' pieces are made with high-performance fabrics that are engineered for exactly these conditions — repeated water exposure, sun, movement, and the active use that real girls put their swimwear through. Our fabrics offer strong resistance to chlorine and salt water degradation, with color stability that holds up over full seasons of use.
But even the best fabric performs better with the right care. The routine above isn't just for less durable pieces — it applies to every quality swimsuit, including ours, because care is what makes the difference between a swimsuit that lasts one summer and one that lasts three.
Conclusion: A little care goes a long way
Girls swimsuits take on a lot — chlorine, salt, sun, sunscreen, and the energy of a full day at the beach or pool. The right care routine after every use takes less than five minutes and makes every piece last significantly longer. Rinse immediately, wash gently, dry flat in the shade — and the girls swimsuit that arrives looking perfect will still look perfect at the end of the summer.
At Malai Swimwear, we make pieces that are built to last. How you care for them determines how long they actually do.
→ Shop Malai Swimwear's girls' collection — pieces designed for real use, built to go the distance.
FAQs: Girls swimsuits care
Does chlorine really damage girls swimsuits that much? Yes — chlorine is one of the most aggressive substances swimwear faces regularly. It breaks down elastic fibers and affects color over time. The good news is that the damage is largely preventable: rinsing immediately after pool use flushes out most of the chlorine before it sets into the fabric.
Can I put a girls swimsuit in the washing machine? Yes, but with precautions. Use a delicate or gentle cycle with cold water, place the swimsuit in a mesh laundry bag, and skip the fabric softener. Hand washing is gentler and preferred for pieces you want to last as long as possible.
Why is my girls swimsuit turning orange or rust-colored? This discoloration is almost always caused by a reaction between chemical sunscreen ingredients (particularly avobenzone) and pool chemicals or fabric dyes. It's one of the most common and frustrating forms of swimsuit damage — and the best prevention is rinsing the swimsuit thoroughly immediately after every use.
How often should I replace my daughter's swimsuit? With good care, a quality girls swimsuit should last multiple full seasons. Signs it's time to replace: the fabric has become thin or see-through, the elastic has lost its recovery and the suit sags, or the color has faded significantly. Proper care delays all of these significantly.
