Does your favourite Lulu item have an Owie? In this post I’m going to try to give you some tips & trick for repairing damaged Lululemon items. I offer you these tips for whether you’re trying to maintain a piece in your own collection, or preparing to sell a piece that you’d like to improve before you sell it in order for it fetch the highest price.
Stains
Stains are by far the most common issue I encounter in my personal collection. My Aquamarine Pace Setter skirt get stained every time I wear it. It drives me nuts! But, it has no stains on it right now.
Aquamarine Pace Setter SkirtBefore you begin, you may want to check for color-fastness. Lululemon has had some issues with fabric bleeding in the past, which is why I ALWAYS wash my bright Lulu separately regardless of the number of wears it has received.
First thing I would try is a baby wipe, it removes deodorant stains fairly well, but you can try this approach for any light stain.
Plain old dirt is pretty easy to remove. I’ve has great results with plain old hand soap in my bathroom sink. If that doesn’t work try rubbing alcohol. This works especially well for non-washable items like gym bags. Soak a cotton pad in rubbing alcohol, and apply it to the stain.
TRY HAIRSPRAY. This actually works well for ink stains.
If it’s food, you might want to try club soda.
For the tough stains, or just to make sure something comes out the first time I wash it, I use OxyClean.
Of course, if none of these suggestions work, there’s always the dry cleaners. Mine loves me.
Rips & Tears
If your item has a rip in it, and you intend to keep it, by all means, try to sew it yourself if you are so inclined. However, if you intend to sell it, I would recommend that you have it professionally repaired.
In Lululemon’s Quality Stand, they specifically refer to the fact that you should be able to expect 5 years out of their clothes. I’ve heard of all sorts of legitimate and not-so-legitimate issues being solved in-store, or online by the GEC (Not familiar with the GEC? Read this post about the The Vernacular of Lululemon Addicts). For example, I know of a few cases where Scuba Hoodies that have been worn a lot, and loved, then “damaged out” (the term & process by which Lululemon essentially writes off an item and issues a gift card, often for retail value) after customers have gone into the store saying that their item has not lasted 5 years. Other times, they will address your specific complaint and offer you a repair. For example, I recently purchased a Free To Be tank top and the built-in bra had ripped seams. It was repaired and a week later, I brought it home. I have heard of other people bringing in their older Scuba hoodies, the zippers having broken and Lululemon offering to repair their zipper. If you item has ripped along a seam, I suggest that you bring it in and ask that it be repaired. If they refuse, refer to their Quality Stand and suggest that they damage it out instead. I am sure that they will repair it for you then 🙂
If you are not inclined to sew it yourself and it has ripped along a seam, regardless of whether you intend to sell or not, I will also encourage you to have it repaired by Lululemon. Lululemon uses a specific type of stitch, which is seldom available at traditional dry cleaners. In order to uniformly sew your Lululemon clothes, your drycleaner would need a sewing machine capable of a three-thread cover-stitch, or a serger with the same capability. (Check out the 600s class of stitch here for a better idea. These types of stitches are most often used for dance and swimwear.) These machines are quite expensive and are therefore generally not available at the dry cleaners.
Holes
Holes are difficult to fix, but it can be done. Twice, I have had a hole in a pair of pants. Both times I was able to repair it. The way that I do this, without it being offensively obvious, is by using as much of the thread, and as little of the fabric as possible while sewing the hole shut. It also helps tremendously if the hole is close to a seam. I’ve fixed one such hole and another time the hole was in the knee. I’m mostly referring to very small holes, but you can apply this technique to larger holes as well, it’s just much less likely to work. ALWAYS use a color of thread that matches the color of your garment. If you don’t, what I’m suggesting will not work. I have repaired my own items so well, using this method that I defy you to find where the holes used to be.
Pilling
Pilling is annoying. It is easily one of the most under-reported flaws in the Lululemon after-market and one of the most indicative on condition and the amount of use the item has received. I have returned a few items that were reportedly in “excellent” condition, only to have them arrive with an excessive (embarrassing) amount of pilling. It’s tough to capture pilling in pictures, but I do try to be as honest as possible. So, when I list my item, I always include a few close-ups of the fabric, whether it is damaged/ pilled or not. This increases buyer confidence, increasing my chances of a sale and a positive transaction. That said, there are ways to reduce pilling on fabrics, after the fact. You can purchase a Fabric Defuzzer
I had a chance to de-pill and got decent photos of it, so I wanted to share them with you. Using a fabric depiller, I de-pilled a Cool Racerback I purchased recently, from a Facebook group member.
Before 1
After 1
Before 2
After 2These “Before & After” photos are of both of the armpits of this Cool Racerback tank I purchased recently. It had overall pilling, but was especially pilled in both armpits. Thankfully, I had my trusty depiller, and was able to remove most of the pilling.
I would try investing in a lint roller too, they’re cheap and effective at removing dog hair as well as little fibres that are often attracted to Lululemon clothing.
Fading
Fading is a difficult issue to deal with. I hate that some of the Lululemon items has problems with color-fastness. I have had my own Paris Pink experience with bleeding. After the dye washes out, it looks faded and old 🙁 I have since started with Prevention, rather than trying to fix faded garments afterwards, but that doesn’t mean YOU can’t! I know plenty of people who have re-dyed their old Lululemon jackets, shirts, pants, you name it. There are plenty of dyes to work with, but I’ve heard/ seen success stories with Rit All-Purpose Liquid Dye, Black
Wax
Believe it or not this has happened. People spill wax on their items. Maybe you have. That’s why you’re going to take a paper bag and place it on top of the wax on the article of clothing and use an iron on it so that the wax sticks to the paper bag. This should work.
Missing Drawstring
You can call GEC and ask for a new drawstring. (Although, I’ve heard mixed results. Some people say that the GEC offers you a white or black one and other people say that the GEC refuses to help them, saying that it’s a use issue and not a quality issue.) I’ve also seen people take an old drawstring from something they no longer wear and thread it through their newer item.
Missing or Broken Aglets
Aglets are the small metal pieces on the ends of the drawstring. Lululemon’s usually say”Lululemon Athletica” on them. I have encountered items with missing aglets in the past and take the aglets from a drawstring I wear on the inside of my Still shorts using craft/ jewelry pliers and reattached them where they were needed on a garment where the only option is to wear the drawstring on the outside, like a hoodie. Some of Lululemon’s bottoms have holes on the inside of the waistband so you can choose to wear the drawstring on the inside or the outside of the garment simply by threading the drawstring one way or the other.
Peeling Logo: Has the logo on your pants begun to peel? Or on your favorite shirt? It happens. You can ask Lululemon to mail you a new Logo, or you can try re-ironing the current one you have to fix it. But it’s just a simple iron-on logo, so if it’s peeling, email Lulu’s customer service & ask them to mail you a new one 🙂
Broken Zipper: Personally, I think emailing the GEC is the best course of action to take for a broken zipper. If it’s a newer item, they might offer a replacement or to fix it, and if it’s a much older item, they might still offer to repair it, but they also might say that it’s a wear issue and not a ‘quality’ issue, so they could choose not to help you. A dry cleaner might be able to help you, or a seamstress. I had two zippers break on my Stride jackets because I was not careful when zipping them up, so my seamstress had to remove, then replace the zippers. It was a $20 repair, both times, but my Lulu is worth it.
Pulling/ Pulls
Depending on the fabric & the severity of the pull, you may just be able to turn the garment inside out & pull the string back through. Try that. If that doesn’t work, try emailing the GEC. They might give you a new one, they might not. Honestly, the material that the Swiftlies are made out of & of course anything knit, is bound to get a pull in it at one point. I seriously consider a swiftly purchase every time I make one because of the pulling issue. I know it’s 100% my fault if my Swiftlies get a pull because my nail got caught on them or if my cat decides to be extra “playful” that day, so I don’t bother trying to get a refund, but if you think it’s a quality issue, you might want to try the GEC.
I hope this article has helped you care for or improve the condition of your item. Happy selling!
for christmas i recieved lululemon wunder under pants. it hasnt even been a month when they should last ” about five years” and now on BOTH knees they have holes because i fell. i didnt fall outside, i fell inside!!! i brought them to the store and they were so rude to me. they said they could try to fix them, but u could easily tell they 1 didnt care and 2 there was no hope. GREAT WAY TO RUIN MY BIRTHDAY ! GOOD JOB LULULEMON. such a waste of money.
I would definitely email the GEC, (lululemon’s customer service), gec@lululemon.com. Say this: I practice yoga in my Wunder Under crops 3x a week and they’re ripped at the knees from all the Chaturangas. You can’t tell them that you fell & they ripped. It’s your fault you fell, not the product’s fault. The product is not designed to withstand that kind of activity. It’s designed to be worn to yoga for 5 years. I have wunder unders and groove pants that are over 3 years old that do not have holes in them.I am pretty sure that if you tell them that they were damaged during yoga (the purpose they were designed for) in an email they’ll send you a new pair OR recommend that you try a new product that “meets your needs.” How old are you? Are you a minor? I’m sure that when you went into the store they noticed your young age. If you want something to get done, ask an adult to email Lululemon’s customer service and say what I said above. MAYBE they’ll do something & maybe they won’t but it’s worth a try. Good Luck! And if you DO decide to do something please post back, whether they choose to help you or not. PS: It really helps if you can find your receipt, so you can prove that they were purchased less than a month ago.
Try Gleener Fuzz Remover for removing pills: http://gleener.com/
There are different types of edges for different fabrics. No batteries so no chance of making holes. Works best when pulled taut on an ironing board.
I’ve never tried this product, but thanks for your recommendation! I’ll leave this comment up just in case anyone wants to try it! It has excellent reviews on Amazon! 🙂 Gleener Ultimate Fuzz Remover Fabric Shaver and Lint Brush (Burnt Orange)
I got a pair of tights 3 months ago and both of the neens ripped if I brought them in do you think they would fix them for me?
Do you mean “seams” or “knees?” And it depends on whether it was use-related or quality related as to whether or not they will authorize a repair. Although I do find that they’re more amenable to repairing rather than replacing items. I would bring them in, it doesn’t hurt to try! I hope this helps!
My lulu wunder unders ripped at the seam in the crotch area when running in them. I bought them 3 years ago and wear them pretty frequently…will they need a receipt if I email them/bring them into a store about this?
Nope, they wont need a receipt. But they probably will tell you to get a different style of pant. Wunder unders are not designed for running, but they should still honor their 5-year guarantee. Good luck!
They may also decide to repair them for you rather than give you a brand new pair, – sorry- I forgot to mention that!
I got a pair of All You Need leggings and they were my favorite! I’ve only had them for maybe 5 months tops and one day I take them out of the wash machine and there is a small tear right in the middle of butt (I wash them on gentle and hang them to dry so I am always careful). Of course they were a limited time item so they don’t have them for purchase anymore. Any suggestions on what to tell them? I had these for such a short period of time, I’m so upset!
You can take them to your local store and ask them to replace them, and if they don’t want to, you can contact customer service and say that they don’t hold up to their quality standards. They will give you a new product. However, I’m sure you like the style of that product, which unfortunately may no longer be available. So you can sell your NWT new item on eBay for retail or slightly less and use that money to re-purchase the item you want on eBay (or in one of the Facebook groups) if you can find it. I know that’s probably not super helpful, but it’s my best advice for what to do if your Lulu doesn’t hold up to performance standards.
Thanks for your advice! Hopefully they will be replace them if I bring them in!
I bought a scuba hoodie off ebay and when I received it I noticed that the wasteband is stretched out abit. How do i shrink it back to normal size?!?!
Scubas are 100% cotton, so heat should shrink them, but I don’t know if you could selectively only shrink the waistband. I suppose you could try an iron so that you can apply heat only to the place you want to be smaller, but I’ve never tried that before. Alternatively, you can just return the scuba to the seller.
Can you help me find the size dot on my Pace Setter Skirt? I did buy it from a thrift store and it looks like new but I can’t find the size. Thanks
Hello Natalie,
Have you tried checking inside the back zippered pocket?
For holes in leggings, I use an iron on patch – ironed onto the INSIDE of the legging, so it’s invisible. (Just turn the leggings inside out and iron on a patch over the hole.). It stops the hole from getting bigger, and is nearly invisible, as long as I use a match that matches my leggings – black on black, grey on grey, etc. I found the iron on patches on easy for just a few bucks (I searched for legging patches). They actually came as heart shapes, but I just cut it down to the size I needed, ironed it on, and it saved my leggings!
That’s awesome! Glad you saved your leggings!
I bought a used scuba hoodie but it’s super stiff. Do you think I should try fabric softener?
I’m familiar with the “stiff scuba” phenomenon. Since fabric softeners can damage fabric, I’d perhaps try something mild, but I don’t advise against it on Scubas. If this were a Luon item, I’d say for sure no, but since it’s cotton, I would try something mild to loosen it up. Thanks for reaching out!
Hi. I recently purchased a pair of fast and free tights off the FB marketplace. It has a fair amount of peeling, but what’s worse is the little fuzz balls stuck to the seams on the legs. The person I purchased them from wore them with socks and boots. So the fuzz balls are all stuck to the seams on the leg that are below the knee. The fuzz balls are kind of almost interwoven into the seam stitches, making them hard to pull off. Any suggestions? And thanks!
Hello 👋 I would try a sweater shaver, but you’d have to be ultra gentle so you don’t tear any of the seams… if you did accidentally tear the seams though, you can bring it to Lululemon and they will send your pants for a repair of the seam. I hope this helps!
Thank you. I will try that.
After 2 wears of my lululemon align joggers there is a snag right on the butt of them! Do you know if they include snagging in their quality promise?
I haven’t tried to return items but I know others who have. Sometimes, they’ll offer a repair, sometimes they won’t let you return it (because they consider snags to be user error) and sometimes they will give a replacement. My advice is to try all avenues (go into the store, then if they say no, try customer service), because until they are consistent with whether they’ll give a replacement for a snag or not, there’s no reason not to try everything you can! I hope that helps!