# Washing Wearable Electronics ## Overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkvHjZhROEg The most common question we get regarding wearable electronics is "how do you wash that?" This guide covers the most common ways to launder your DIY wearable electronics projects. First, and always: remove the batteries! The fiberglass, plastic, and metal comprising most circuits can handle getting wet and a bit of agitation, but your batteries should never be bent, shorted, or be subject to water or heat. Second, read the label on your garment. Machine wash? Dry clean only? Consider what it's made from primarily, then consider what components are in your circuit. Components that can fill with water, like the microphone in the Ampli-Tie, should never be submerged in water. FLORA, conductive thread, and even EL wire can get wet, so long as it completely dries before you plug the battery back in. If you hand or machine wash your wearables, we strongly recommend hanging them up or laying flat to dry. These methods are vastly preferred over using the dryer, which adds even more agitation to your delicate circuit. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/691/medium800/flora_washing-wearable-electronics-03.jpg?1390340117) # Washing Wearable Electronics ## Hand Wash ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/681/medium800/flora_washing-wearable-electronics-01.jpg?1390337341) Fill your sink with lukewarm water and a little bit of detergent (woolite or hand-wash specific detergent is nice, but not absolutely necessary), make sure your batteries are removed, and suds up your project. Keep sensitive components like microphones out of the water, but circuit boards like FLORA, NeoPixels, conductive thread, etc. can be safely dunked. Rinse thoroughly and hang up or lay flat to dry. If your garment holds a lot of water like the Chameleon Scarf, for example, roll it up in a towel and squeeze out any excess water before reshaping and laying flat to dry. The faster your garment dries, the lower your risk of any oxidation on circuit contact pads. Since our wearable PCBs have gold-plated pads and our conductive thread is stainless steel, oxidation risk is minimized. Beware: silver conductive thread oxides over time and washing speeds up this process! # Washing Wearable Electronics ## Dry Clean ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/688/medium800/flora_Screen_Shot_2014-01-21_at_4.02.38_PM.png?1390338192) If your garment's tag says "dry clean only," you don't necessarily have to oblige. Typically I only take things to the dry cleaner if I absolutely know getting the thing wet will ruin it, like my wool coat and silk blouses. Sometimes fancy things say "dry clean only" because the buttons might tear off in the washer-- hand washing would be fine, then! Dry cleaning is not a more delicate process than hand-washing! It still agitates the garment and can use some pretty harsh chemicals. Only use this option if you have no other choice. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/689/medium800/flora_Screen_Shot_2014-01-21_at_4.08.46_PM.png?1390338726) ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/692/medium800/flora_washing-wearable-electronics-05.jpg?1390340134) The TV-B-Gone jacket came back from the dry cleaner squeaky clean! The agitation can cause wire junctions to break, as seen in the above picture. Actually, the jacket's wires broke before I got it cleaned! If something on your project needs repair, it's a perfect time to clean it. That way if something else breaks, you can make all the repairs at once. # Washing Wearable Electronics ## Machine Wash ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/682/medium800/flora_Screen_Shot_2014-01-21_at_3.49.56_PM.png?1390337430) If your garment is free of components that can fill with water (microphones, hollow-cased switches, etc.) and can usually go in the washer when it's not adorned with electronics, it still probably can! Agitation will increase the natural wear on any garment and circuit, so be sure to inspect the wearable for frayed threads, loosened stitches, or damaged components. Line or lay flat to dry, and only then should you plug the batteries back in!![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/013/684/medium800/flora_Screen_Shot_2014-01-21_at_3.50.10_PM.png?1390337481) ## Featured Products ### FLORA - Wearable electronic platform: Arduino-compatible [FLORA - Wearable electronic platform: Arduino-compatible](https://www.adafruit.com/product/659) FLORA is Adafruit's fully-featured wearable electronics platform. It's a round, sewable, Arduino-compatible microcontroller designed to empower amazing wearables projects.FLORA comes with Adafruit's support, [tutorials and...](http://learn.adafruit.com/category/flora) In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/659) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/659/guides) ### Flora Wearable Ultimate GPS Module [Flora Wearable Ultimate GPS Module](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1059) This module is the best way to add a GPS to your wearable project. It's part of the Adafruit Flora series of wearable electronics, designed specifically for use with the Flora motherboard. Installed on the PCB is the latest of our Ultimate GPS modules, a small, super-thin, low-power GPS... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1059) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1059/guides) ### EL wire starter pack - Orange 2.5 meter (8.2 ft) [EL wire starter pack - Orange 2.5 meter (8.2 ft)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/586) A little bundle to get you started! This project pack contains: - [2.5 meters (over 8 ft) of high-brightness, long-life EL wire in Orange](http://www.adafruit.com/products/405). 2.5 meters is the maximum amount for the pocket driver - it is cut and soldered so it's... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/586) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/586/guides) ### Flora RGB Smart NeoPixel version 3 - Pack of 4 [Flora RGB Smart NeoPixel version 3 - Pack of 4](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1260) What's a wearable project without LEDs? Our favorite part of the Flora platform is these tiny smart pixels. Designed specifically for wearables, these updated Flora NeoPixels have ultra-cool technology: these ultra-bright LEDs have a constant-current driver cooked right into the LED... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1260) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1260/guides) ### TV-B-Gone Kit [TV-B-Gone Kit](https://www.adafruit.com/product/73) When we were putting together the TV-B-Gone kit, we started imagining a dystopian future, filled with televisions, where this kit would be super useful and we'd be a hero for having one.  And while maybe that's dramatic, the TV-B-Gone is perfect for playing pranks... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/73) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/73/guides) ### Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA [Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1839) **Making Wearables with an Arduino-Compatible Electronics Platform** This book introduces readers to building wearable electronics projects using Adafruit's tiny FLORA board: at 4.4 grams, and only 1.75 inches in diameter, and featuring Arduino compatibility, it's the... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1839) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1839/guides) ### Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA Book Pack [Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA Book Pack](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2404) Pickup a copy of [Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA](https://www.adafruit.com/products/1839) and then hit the ground running with everything that you need to become an [Adafruit FLORA](https://www.adafruit.com/products/659) supreme being! This pack is... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2404) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2404/guides) ### FLORA Sensor Pack [FLORA Sensor Pack](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1458) Sense the world around you! The FLORA Sensor Pack includes many types of sensors for your wearable enjoyment. Sense motion, direction, color, light levels, touch, and connections with FLORA sensor breakouts and conductive materials, and a few NeoPixels for experimenting with displaying your... 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