Key Takeaways:
- Cleaning your cheer uniform is simple when you use high-quality detergent, baking soda, and cold water.
- Wash your uniform as soon as you come home from wearing it to ensure stains, body odor, and dirt don’t become permanent.
- Avoid using bleach, fabric softener, stain removers, and heat on your uniform to prevent warping, pilling, and other damage.
How to Clean Your Cheer Uniform
Need to clean your cheer uniform for the first time? Have a stain that needs to be removed? Your uniform and shoes are almost as important as your cheers, dance moves, and stunts, so making sure they’re clean is a must.
A cheerleader’s uniform is undeniable and universally recognizable. It’s such an iconic piece of fashion that needs to be taken seriously, and you should care for it accordingly. If you’re wondering how to wash a cheer uniform, we’re here to be your guide. Follow along and take notes of our recommendations to make sure your uniforms look bright and cheerful for years to come!
Cheer Uniform Textiles
Modern cheerleading uniforms and apparel are made to be active wear, so you’ll find that they’re crafted with durable polyester knit fabric. What does that mean to you, besides comfort and moisture-wicking technology, when you’re performing? This means that your uniform is most likely easier to clean than your standard cotton garment.
Since you spent countless hours doing fundraising activities for your uniform, you don’t want to mess it up with improper cleaning methods. How you clean your cheer uniform is crucial! Here are a cheerleader’s biggest uniform cleaning dos and don’ts.
Cleaning a Cheer Uniform: DOs vs. DON’Ts!
Let’s go over how to wash a cheer uniform with all the stuff you actually want to make sure you do first. Then, we’ll move on to all the big don’ts you want to avoid.
1. DO: Use High Quality Cleaning Products
When you want to learn how to wash a cheer uniform, you must start with a great quality detergent for washing at home. Choose a detergent that’s made for colorfast clothing, such as Cheer or Tide Sport. Use during regular washings to keep the colors bright and remove dirt and odors. The first time you clean your cheer uniform, wash each garment separately in cold water. After that, you can wash normally in your machine.
2. DO: Use Baking Soda
Use baking soda to neutralize odor instead of a different detergent additive. If the detergent you have isn’t cutting odors, try presoaking your uniform in cold water with a capful of detergent and one cup of baking soda. You should always start by rinsing your uniform in cold water to remove any loose dirt. If you have hard water, add a water conditioner while presoaking to make your detergent more effective.
Soaking your uniform for at least an hour will increase the chances of getting every single stain out. Make sure your uniform always looks shiny and new when you pre-soak before a wash.
3. DO: Wash Your Uniform Alone
Your cheer uniform is the star of the show! Wondering how to wash a cheer uniform so you can treat it like one? We recommend separating each piece of your uniform the first time you wash it, but after that, it’s fine to wash all the pieces together as one load. Just be sure to wash it in cold water.
4. DO: Wash ASAP
How quickly you wash your cheer uniform is important. It’s best to attempt to remove any stains as quickly as possible. Fresh stains come out much easier, so wash your uniform as soon as you can after each wear.
You’ll also need to remove the uniform from the wash as soon as it’s done. You don’t want excess wrinkles to form because it’s been sitting in the washer for hours!
5. DO: Use the Right Temperature
If you want to keep your embellishments and customizations looking good, you need to use the right temperature water. How you clean your cheer uniform will affect any bedazzling, embroidery, and more! Warm or cold water is best, as embellishments are often negatively affected by heat.
6. DO: Hang to Dry
Because dryers are heat-based, you must hang your uniform to dry. Make sure that you allow plenty of time for your uniform to air dry when you hang it over the bathtub or in the laundry room.
When considering how to wash a cheer uniform, the best way to hang your uniform is on a molded or plastic hanger. You want this hanger to be thick enough to support the uniform as it hangs and prevent it from stretching or warping.
7. DO: Use Steam
Sometimes, wrinkles are inevitable, even if you know exactly how to wash a cheer uniform. In these cases, use a power steamer to get rid of those creases. Steamers are not as hot as irons, so they’re safe to use on sublimation, screenprinting, and bright colors.
Time to Talk Don’ts
Now that you know how to wash a cheer uniform, it’s time to talk about what NOT to do!
1. DON’T: Take it to the Dry Cleaners
Even if you have no idea how to clean a cheer uniform, the dry cleaners are never the answer! Dry cleaner techniques can cause the material to stiffen, fade, and bubble. They can also cause a yellowish hue that is impossible to remove!
2. DON’T: Use Bleach
Think you can just bleach that yellowish hue from the dry cleaning out of your uniform? Think again! Bleach strips the color, leaves ugly spots, and damages the fabric. White uniforms do not get whiter; they turn yellow. So, unless your school colors are yellowish and yellowish, you want to avoid the bleach.
If you have truly stubborn stains, we recommend that you use a color-safe bleach alternative or an oxygen-based all-fabric bleach to get out tough stains.
3. DON’T: Use Fabric Softener
When planning how to wash a cheer uniform, you may assume fabric softener is safe, but it’s not! You want to avoid fabric softener, which can set stains and dirt, making it difficult to get the uniform clean.
4. DON’T: Use Stain Remover
The name is misleading since stain remover can actually make it impossible to get a stain out of your uniform. Stain remover can really be a stain sealer. No matter how you wash your cheer uniform, avoid, avoid, avoid!
5. DON’T: Wash Your Uniform with Other Clothes
Have you seen those sad uniforms that have fuzzy letters and decals? That happened because it was washed with cotton or cotton-blend clothes. The lint from the clothes attaches to the letters and decals and instantly ages them. Don’t let this happen to you! Wash your uniform solo.
6. DON’T: Use Heat
From hot water in the washing machine to irons and the dryer, heat is a big no-no for your uniform. With heat, your uniform may suffer from shrinking, fading, and setting stains. High heat can even leave bubbles and round out skirt pleats. You should also avoid hanging it in direct sunlight, as this can cause fading.
7. DON’T: Spray Perfume, Hairspray, & Other Chemicals
While your uniform can handle any type of event or workout, it’s not made to withstand perfumes, hairspray, or other beauty products. Avoid getting these on your uniform, as even lotion can wreak havoc on the fabric.
FAQs
Do you have a few more questions about how to clean cheer uniforms? Our experts can answer your most common concerns here!
How do you clean cheer shoes?
You know how to wash a cheer uniform, but your cheer shoes need special treatment too! Whether your competition shoes are showing scuff marks or your sideline shoes have grass stains, follow these steps for the best cleaning technique:
- Mix mild soap and water in a tub or basin.
- Leave your shoes to soak in the mixture for 1-2 hours.
- Using a soft brush, scrub away debris, dirt, and other stains.
- Let your shoes fully dry before using them again.
Never allow your shoes to come in contact with high heat, like hot water or the dryer. Heat can warp your shoes and compromise their integrity, damaging their comfort and support.
What if cleaning once doesn’t remove body odor?
If you follow these steps for how to wash a cheer uniform and your clothing still smells a little suspicious, it’s time to bring out the laundry VIPs. If soaking in baking soda didn’t work, consider presoaking your uniform in one part vinegar and four parts cold water for at least 30 minutes. You can also spray any super-smelly areas with hydrogen peroxide to kill any bacteria that cause odor.
Can you wash a cheer uniform in the washing machine?
Yes, you can wash your cheer uniform using the washing machine. Just remember, no harsh detergents or additives, and make sure to put your settings on cold water and a delicate spin cycle. You may also want to turn your uniform inside out to protect any embellishments.
How do you get stains out of a cheer uniform?
The minute you notice a stain, you should spot treat it with mild detergent, baking soda, dish soap, or white vinegar. Regardless of how you wash your cheer uniform later, spots should be treated immediately. Different types of stains may respond better to different cleaning agents, so make sure you’re choosing the right tool for the job.
Ready to Perform
As long as you follow our guide for how to wash a cheer uniform, you can expect a bright, spotless look for every event. Looking for even more cheer tips and tricks? Visit our blog for more!