Hooray! You've finally found a swimsuit that fits and makes you look - and feel - good! Now, the next question (besides checking out the pricetag) is: Will it last?
That's the question we ask ourselves here at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute when we evaluate swimwear. We conduct a seriers of tests to help you get the best bang for your buck. We conduct a special test to check stretch resistance because we want to make sure that the swimsuits we recommend won't get baggy over time.
We put swatches of the swimwear onto the Martindale Machine, a pilling and abrasion tester, and have the fabric rub against a high-grade sandpaper to simulate sitting at the edge of the pool or sitting in sand. No one wants to buy a bathing suit and have it pill after you've worn it a few times.
The fabrics are subjected to lightfastness tests in a UV machine to check if the swimwear will fade in the sun - and through a "perspiration test" to look for changes in color due to sweating. We also put the bathing suits in a Launderometer, a machine that allows us to add swatches from bathing suits in a bath of simulated seawater and simulated pool water, to make sure the swimwear won't change in appearance and color after swiming in the ocean or a pool.
And, of course, we also put the suits through multiple washing cycles - because let's face it most of us aren't going to hand wash their swimsuit.
This gives you just a bit of an idea of how rigorous our evaluations are. But how can you tell, when you're in the store, if a bathing suit is well made? Be sure to look at its construction. Does it have a lining? Are the lining and seams in the same color as the bathing suit itself? Does the fabric feel strong and durable?