Washing Dancewear

I washed my leotard and tights for the first time today!  Exciting, I know ;)  I heard that washing dancewear by hand helps it last longer.  I couldn't find a bucket, so I used a pretty big bowl.  Which probably looked weird...a girl walking around with a wet leotard in a bowl...haha.  So first I put a squirt of laundry detergent in the bottom of the bowl, and filled it with warm water.  I put my tights in and squished them around for like 5 minutes, then rinsed them.  I did the same with my leotard, except with cold water.  Read the tags, they will say whether to use cold or warm.  To dry them, I squeezed the excess water in the sink.  Only squeeze, don't wring or twist.  Then I laid them on a clean towel, folded the towel in half, and squeezed them some more.  After I couldn't dry them anymore with the towel, I hung them to dry.  But don't hang your leotard by its straps, or they will stretch.  Lay it flat, or hang it by the middle.  Same with your tights.  And that's it!  Any other dancewear care requests?  I'm working on ways to deodorize shoes next.