Care guide

Look after them and they'll outlast the summer.

Boardshorts live a hard life — salt, chlorine, sunscreen and the boot of the car. Three simple habits help keep a pair looking and feeling good for longer.

1Rinse themFresh water after every swim. Thirty seconds under the tap does it.
2Cold washInside out, mild detergent, no softener.
3Air dryIn the shade. Never the dryer.

After every swim

This is the habit that makes the biggest difference. The longer salt and chlorine sit in the fabric, the harder they are on the fibres, colours and trims.

  • Rinse in fresh water as soon as you can — a beach shower, a garden hose or the tap at home all work.
  • Don't wring them out. Squeeze gently instead. Repeated twisting can strain the stretch fibres and distort the shape.
  • Hang them up, don't ball them up. A wet pair left in a bag overnight can develop odour and may encourage colour transfer between the shell and liner.
  • Give the pockets a shake. They're built to self-drain, but sand likes to settle in the corners.

Washing

Do

  • Cold machine wash, gentle cycle
  • Turn them inside out first — protects the print and the leg logo
  • Wash with like colours
  • Mild liquid detergent
  • Wash separately from towels, denim and anything with velcro

Don't

  • No fabric softener — it coats the fibres and kills the quick-dry
  • No bleach, including "colour-safe" bleach
  • No hot water
  • No tumble dryer, ever
  • No ironing, and no dry cleaning

Every pair carries a care label under the waistband label. If it ever disagrees with this page, follow the label.

Sunscreen, zinc and the stains nobody warns you about

Sunscreen and zinc are common causes of marks, particularly on lighter colours. Some sunscreens can leave a yellow cast, while zinc can leave a chalky smear that becomes harder to remove once dry.

  • Deal with it while it's wet. Rinse the spot in cool water before it dries and most of it lifts straight out.
  • For a set-in mark, work a little mild liquid detergent into the spot with your fingers, leave it ten minutes, then cold wash as normal.
  • Let sunscreen dry on your skin before you pull your shorts on. Two minutes there saves the scrubbing later.
  • Skip the stain sprays containing bleach or solvents — they'll lift the colour along with the mark.

The reason behind the rules

Why heat is the thing that kills boardshorts

Your shorts are a four-way stretch woven shell with a soft, built-in liner. Both get their stretch from elastane — the fibre that lets a pair move with you and spring back into shape.

Heat is particularly hard on elastane. Hot washing, tumble drying and ironing can gradually weaken the stretch fibres, leaving the waistband and leg openings looser and more tired-looking. Once that stretch is damaged, it can't be restored.

ChlorineChlorine can gradually weaken stretch fibres and fade colour. A fresh-water rinse stops concentrated pool water drying into the fabric.
SaltAs seawater dries, salt crystallises inside the weave. Those crystals are abrasive, so the fabric wears against itself every time you move. Fresh water dissolves them before that starts.

None of this needs effort. Rinse, cold wash, hang in the shade — that's the whole job.

A note on the metal trims

Our Classics colourways use plated metal eyelets and cord tips; the Endless Summer prints and stripes use stitched eyelets and plastic tips instead. If yours has metal, rinse it like the rest of the shorts — salt left to dry on hardware is what dulls the finish over time. Another reason the dryer is a bad idea: metal tips spend the cycle hammering against the drum and against the shorts.

Storage and travel

  • Dry completely before storing. Damp plus a dark cupboard is how mildew starts, and mildew marks can be difficult to remove.
  • Fold, don't cram. Long spells crushed at the bottom of a drawer set creases into the shell.
  • Keep them out of direct sun when you're not wearing them. A pair left on a hot dashboard or drying in full sun all afternoon will fade faster than one dried in the shade.
  • Packing wet? A ventilated wet bag beats a plastic one. If all you've got is plastic, get them out and hung the moment you arrive.

The four things that actually ruin a pair

The dryerOne hot cycle can cost you the stretch in the waistband. There is no way back from it.
The wet bagLeft overnight, damp sets odour and colour transfer that a normal wash won't fix.
Fabric softenerCoats the fibres, kills the quick-dry, and makes the liner feel slick instead of soft.
Dried-in sunscreenEasy to rinse out in the first minute. Genuinely difficult a week later.

Care at a glance

Step Do this
After swimming Rinse in fresh water, squeeze — don't wring — and hang to dry
Washing Cold machine wash, gentle, inside out, mild detergent, like colours
Never Fabric softener, bleach, hot water, tumble dryer, iron, dry cleaning
Drying Air dry in the shade, out of direct sun
Storing Completely dry, folded, out of direct sunlight

Something not right with your pair?

If a pair hasn't held up the way it should, we want to hear about it. Faulty, damaged or incorrectly supplied items are covered under Australian Consumer Law. If comfort is the issue, our 100-Day Comfort Guarantee covers one eligible pair per customer; Clearance and Final Sale items are excluded.

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