Fabric & care
What our pieces are made of, why we chose each fabric, and the four rules that keep everything looking new.
Last updated August 1, 2026
The fabrics
Everything is knit in Brazil, in the region whose mills have supplied the technical apparel market for decades. We use four fabrics across the entire line, a deliberate limitation, because a small number of well-known knits perform more predictably than a whole catalog of them.
Sculpt knit
Leggings, bike shorts · 78% recycled polyamide, 22% elastane · 290 g/m²
Double-lined waistband and gusset. Heavy enough to hold its shape through repeated squats without feeling stiff, and opaque at full stretch under direct light.
Air knit
Sports bras, running shorts · 82% recycled polyamide, 18% elastane · 210 g/m²
Lighter and faster-drying, with a buttery-soft feel against the skin on the band and straps. Chosen where breathability matters more than compression.
Everyday jersey
Tees · 60% cotton, 40% modal · 160 g/m²
Modal keeps the drape fluid and stops the cotton from boxing out after washing. Relaxed fit, meant to layer over your sports bra, not replace it.
Ribbed cotton
Socks, headbands, scrunchies · 76% combed cotton, 20% polyamide, 4% elastane
Combed cotton for softness, with enough elastane to stay put. Cuffs are knit rather than elasticized, so they don't dig in.
Recycled content
The polyamide in our compression fabrics is recycled from post-industrial waste. We say recycled polyamideinstead of making a broader environmental claim, because that's the part we can actually verify with our mill. Dyeing, shipping, and packaging have an impact we haven't solved yet, and we'd rather state the limit than dress it up.
How to care
Four rules. The first three extend the life of the garment; the fourth decides if it survives.
- Machine wash cold, gentle cycle, inside out. Cold water is enough to get sweat out and protects the elastane. Turning it inside out puts the friction on the inside rather than the printed logo.
- Wash with like colors, separate from towels. Towel lint gets into technical knits and never fully comes out. Zippers and hooks in the same load will snag the yarn.
- No fabric softener, no bleach. Fabric softener works by coating the fiber, which destroys its sweat-wicking ability. A piece washed with softener stays damp against your skin and starts holding odor, the exact problem the fabric was built to prevent.
- Air dry on a hanger. Never in the dryer.
Heat is the only thing that permanently ruins activewear. A single hot dryer cycle breaks the elastane, and the compression doesn't come back. No iron, no dryer, no heater. This is the one rule we ask you never to break.
Sweat and odor
Rinse the piece in cold water if it's going to sit in your gym bag for more than a day. Bacteria multiplying in damp fabric lock in odor permanently, and no wash gets it out once it's locked. If a piece already smells, soak it for thirty minutes in cold water with a cup of white vinegar, then wash normally.
Pilling and snags
Compression knits pill where there's friction, usually on the inner thigh and against gym equipment upholstery. Washing inside out reduces this significantly. A snagged yarn isn't a defect and goes back into place by carefully stretching the area; don't cut the yarn.
If something goes wrong
A seam that pops, a waistband that loses tension under normal use, a knit that goes sheer where it shouldn't. That's a manufacturing defect, and we replace it regardless of how long you've had the piece. Send a photo to support@aerafitwear.com.
Damage from a hot dryer or fabric softener isn't covered, and we'll tell you that honestly if that's what the photo shows. Full terms are on the Shipping & returns page.