My not-so-secret chub rub solution. Read on for details . . .
Here it is, nearly August, and I have yet to write a post about the all-important topic of chub rub and how to avoid it.
As silly as it may seem, I think being chub-rub-free has a big impact on your clothing choices. When you’re not worried about your thighs rubbing together, you can pick out clothes that you really feel like wearing. Plus, you can move more comfortably throughout your day!
I’ve spent much of the summer testing different chub rub related products here at Body Love Wellness HQ, located in one of the grossest cities to be in in the summer, i.e., NYC. I’ve spent time on 100° subway platforms and rubbed sweaty shoulders with my fellow denizens of this fair city in order to properly advise you on how to prevent your delicate thunder thighs from feeling like they’ve been hit by lightning.
Okay, enough talk. Here we go! In the interest of brevity, I’ve lumped a few together.
Glide? More like Reapplide. Amiright?
LEAST FAVORITE: Glide, Vagisil Powder
Both glide and powder are really excellent if you don’t need them to last that long and/or don’t mind reapplying. They’re also perfectly fine, at least for me, if the high temperature is going to max out at 70°F with relatively low humidity. But if you plan on doing serious walking and/or getting on a hot subway and/or just don’t want to worry about reapplying, I wouldn’t recommend these two.
High-waisted spanx a/k/a bodily sausage casing. Image via zappos.
MIDDLING: Spanx, Spanx-like thing from the Avenue
I have a mild-distaste/hate relationship with spanx. I hate that they’re tight. I hate that they’re never on sale. I hate the whole idea that women should wear sausage-casing to smooth out their fat rolls. I own one pair of spanx that I got talked into buying for someone’s wedding or something. I also have a bunch of spanx knock-offs from the Avenue that I’ve probably had for about 10 years. I always bought them a little big because I was only using them for chub rub prevention and not for their sausage-casing qualities.
Here are my issues with these products — they do the job of preventing chub rub, but they also require you to wear a bunch of extra, synthetic material over your underwear (and for me, over my belly, since tucking them under my bra is the only way to keep them from rolling down).
If you don’t mind synthetic sausage-casing, you can probably just stop right here. But otherwise, keep forging ahead as we get into my absolute favorite chub rub products.
Cotton pettipants — meh or honorable meh-ntion?
ALMOST THERE: Cotton Pettipants, Luvees Thigh Coverall
Some very smart ladies of the internetz suggested that I try cotton pettipants as a way to avoid chub rub. At first, I loved them! They felt so soft and comfortable! But as the day wore on, they stretched out A LOT. Like, the crotch stretched out by a few inches, and then the legs stretched out and kept bunching up when I walked. They were still more comfortable than other solutions, and I liked that I didn’t have to wear underwear over my underwear (a la spanx) but I felt that for a long day they were not the best choice.
Luvees. They’re not bad!
Then, there’s luvees. Luvees are almost like my favorite (see below), but not quite. They have a lot of things going for them, like the fact that they just cover your thighs and nothing else, thus sparing you from an extra layer of material that can only add to your hotness on hot days. They have elastic on the top, and a satiny, slightly padded side and a lacy side. I find them pretty comfortable, but I noticed a few weird things, like the fact that they sometimes made me feel extra sweaty, and that they caused static cling with certain fabrics, so as I walked my skirts sometimes felt like they were riding up.
THE BEST: Bandelettes
I freaking love bandelettes.
The best chub rub solution on the planet — bandelettes.
Here are the many things I love about them:
- Comfortable — These are the most comfortable chub rub solution I found. They stay put and I barely even think about the fact that I’m wearing them. Because they’re light and small they don’t make me feel hotter than I already am!
- Unobtrusive — For me, these are just the right length. Even if my skirt rides up for blows around in the wind, the bandelettes are high up enough on my legs that no on sees them.
- Easy to Wash — I just wash them in the sink with woolite, though, sometimes, I just put some foaming hand soap in my hands and wash them in my hands with cold water. If I wash them at night, they’re dry by the morning.
- Great Price — They’re only $14.99. I have two pairs and just alternate them. Easy peasy.
One note — if you’re between sizes or unsure, I’d recommend going up a size. I thought I was a size C, but I was having an issue with them rolling a little. Size D fit perfectly even though it was supposed to be big.
So what’s your favorite chub-rub solution? Let me know in the comments below!