Quick answer: Hand wash it in cold water with a small amount of mild detergent, rinse it properly, press the water out with a towel, and air dry it flat away from heat and direct sun. Do not put a brace in the washing machine, do not tumble dry it, and never use bleach or fabric softener. Softener in particular coats the fibres and is what kills the stretch and the grip. A thin knit brace like the Solehush MotionLock ankle brace dries overnight, which is what makes a wash-it-weekly habit realistic. It is $34.95 with Buy 1 Get 1 Free, rated 4.9 by 3,000+ verified buyers.
Why can you not just machine wash it?
You physically can, and plenty of people do it without immediate disaster. The problem is cumulative, and two things do the damage.
Heat is the main one. The elastic in a knit brace is spandex or a similar elastane fibre, and hot water plus a tumble dryer relaxes it permanently. That is the failure people describe as the brace "going loose" after a few months. It did not stretch out from wearing it. It got cooked.
Agitation is the second. Hook-and-loop straps grab everything in the drum, come out matted with lint and stop closing firmly. Anything with a silicone or rubberised grip panel, like the hexagon grip zone on the MotionLock, can also get peeled at the edges by tumbling against a zip.
Cleveland Clinic makes the same point about braces generally in their guidance on cleaning braces: skipping cleaning risks skin irritation and infection, while cleaning it wrong destroys the brace. Hand washing sits between the two.
What to use and what to avoid
| Step | Do this | Avoid this |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Cold or lukewarm, under about 30C | Hot water, which relaxes the elastic |
| Cleaner | A small drop of mild liquid detergent or gentle hand soap | Bleach, stain remover, anything enzymatic |
| Softener | None at all | Fabric softener, which coats fibres and kills grip and stretch |
| Method | Hands, in a sink or bowl, gently squeezing | Machine wash, scrubbing brushes, wringing it out |
| Straps | Close the hook-and-loop before washing so it does not snag | Washing it open, which collects lint |
| Drying | Towel press, then flat air dry indoors | Tumble dryer, radiator, hairdryer, direct sun |
The actual method, start to finish
About four minutes of hands-on time. Fasten the strap closed against itself first. Fill a sink with cold water and add roughly half a teaspoon of mild detergent, agitating the water before the brace goes in so you are not putting neat detergent onto one spot of fabric. Submerge the brace and squeeze it gently, the way you would wash a wool jumper, paying attention to the inside of the heel opening. Do not twist or wring it. Leave it five to ten minutes if it is genuinely grubby.
Rinse under cold running water until it runs clear and the fabric no longer feels slippery. Leftover detergent is a real cause of itch, so rinse longer than feels necessary.
Lay the brace on a dry towel, roll the towel up and press firmly to drive the water out. Unroll it, reshape the ankle opening by hand, and leave it flat on a rack indoors. Overnight is normally enough for a thin knit brace. Thick neoprene can take a full day, which is one reason thin knit designs are easier to live with.
How do you get the smell out of an ankle brace?
Odour is not dirt, it is bacteria feeding on sweat residue. Washing more often fixes most of it. When the smell has already set in, two things work and neither of them is perfume.
A white vinegar soak is the standard fix: one part white vinegar to three parts cold water, thirty minutes, then a thorough plain-water rinse. The vinegar smell disappears completely once it dries. Baking soda is the alternative for a brace that is dry and clean but still faintly musty: lay it flat, dust the inside surface, leave it overnight, then brush the powder out.
What genuinely does not work is spraying deodoriser or body spray into it. That adds oils on top of the bacteria and makes the problem worse within a couple of wears.
Prevention beats both. Never put a damp brace back in a gym bag, and if you wear one most days, own two so one can dry while the other is on. That is a large part of why we ship the MotionLock as Buy 1 Get 1 Free rather than as a single.
How often should you wash it?
There is no clinical standard here, so treat this as a practical rule rather than a medical one. If you sweat in it, wash it after every two or three wears. For light indoor wear it can go a week. If you are wearing it for long stretches, and our guidance on how long you should wear an ankle brace each day covers that, weekly is the floor rather than the target.
One thing quietly halves the problem: wear a sock under the brace. The sock absorbs the sweat and is far easier to wash. It also changes the fit, so read how tight should an ankle brace be before you assume the brace has shrunk. It is usually the added sock layer, not the wash.
Does washing change how it fits?
A correctly washed knit brace should feel the same. One that feels tighter for a wear or two afterwards has usually just lost the body oils and skin residue that were making it slide. It settles.
A brace that feels looser after washing is telling you something different, and it is normally heat damage rather than wear. Once elastane has been relaxed by hot water or a dryer it does not come back. At that point the honest answer is to replace it, not to wash it again.
If you are still deciding between a structured brace and something softer, ankle brace vs compression sleeve covers the trade-off, and sleeves are genuinely easier to launder because they have no straps or grip panels to protect.
What about the rest of your kit?
The sock under the brace does at least as much work on odour, and it is the cheaper thing to replace. Cushioned liners are machine washable in a way braces are not, which makes rotating them straightforward. Our Solehush CloudLiner is $29.99 with Buy 1 Get 1 Free, rated 4.9 by 1,300+ verified buyers, and if you are weighing it against other under-foot options, sockliner vs insole is the honest comparison. A liner is not ankle support and is not a substitute for a brace. They solve different problems.
And if the ankle itself is the issue rather than the smell, cleaning is not the intervention. The AAOS guidance on sprained ankles is a better starting point, and repeated giving way is a reason to get assessed, not to buy a firmer brace.
Frequently asked questions
Can you put an ankle brace in the washing machine?
It is not recommended. Heat and agitation relax the elastic and mat the hook-and-loop strap, so the brace loses tension over time. If you have no alternative, use a mesh laundry bag on a cold delicate cycle with the strap fastened closed, then air dry it. Never tumble dry it.
How do you get the smell out of an ankle brace?
Soak it for thirty minutes in one part white vinegar to three parts cold water, then rinse thoroughly in plain water and air dry. For a dry brace that is only faintly musty, dust baking soda inside, leave it overnight and brush it out. Do not spray deodoriser or perfume into it, which makes odour worse.
How often should you wash an ankle brace?
After every two or three wears if you sweat in it, and about weekly for light indoor use. Wearing a thin sock underneath absorbs most of the sweat and lets you stretch the interval, because the sock is much easier to wash than the brace.
How long does an ankle brace take to dry?
A thin knit brace like the MotionLock is normally dry overnight when laid flat indoors. Thicker neoprene braces can take a full day or longer. Do not speed it up with a radiator, hairdryer or direct sun, all of which damage the elastic.
General information, not medical advice. If your ankle is painful, swollen or giving way repeatedly, or the skin under your brace is broken or irritated, see a doctor or physiotherapist. Results vary.