Pay Attention
Always read the washing instructions on the labels of your clothes. You never know when an item might need to be washed in cold water or dried on low heat. It will take a few extra minutes to separate your clothes into different loads but it only takes a second to ruin an expensive item by tossing it into the wrong water temperature.

Stains
Stains are one of the most common ways clothing gets ruined. When you get a stain on your clothes it needs to be treated immediately - if you leave it until you do laundry it has time to dry and set in and become harder to remove; if you wash a stained item improperly or put it in the dryer, it is almost certain to ensure a permanent mark. Rinse out a stained item with water immediately after the stain occurs or as soon as possible. If the stain is a grease or protein, you can treat it with Sunlight soap, which should remove most stains as well as all the fancy sprays at a fraction of the cost. Then put some laundry detergent and water paste directly onto the stain and wash immediately in cold water - as hot and warm water can cause stains to set in. You may need to wash the item more than once but do not dry it until you have gotten rid of the stain. If your item is a dry clean only, be sure to point out the stain to the dry cleaner when you drop it off, to see if they can remove it.

Shrinkage is another common killer of clothes. Garments made out of natural materials like cotton and wool can shrink quite quickly without proper care. Dryers can also give clothes quite a beating if you dry them too long and too often. Air-drying your clothes is the best way to make them last longer, either outside or on an indoor folding rack that stores easily when you are through. Using a fabric softener in the rinse cycle or a product like Cold Power with a touch of Cuddly, to help keep your clothes from getting stiff.

 
Colour Fade
Colour is imparted to clothes by impregnating dyes into the fabric structure. But no matter what the dye structure, any clothing can be prone to fading. Separating your darks and lights goes a long way to maintaining their colour, as does drying clothes inside - because while the sun is an excellent and efficient drying tool, it zaps the colour right out of your clothes. Another tool to maintaining colour is using a colour wash, like Reflect, a laundry liquid specially formulated to care for your black and dark garments. Reflect Blackwash also removes the 'film' built up on clothing that gives the appearance of fading and is suitable for all temperatures, on all fabrics and on all stains.

Maintain
Sew loose seams or small tears as soon as they occur, because a small opening can easily tear into a larger one that is either harder or impossible to fix. Replace lost buttons immediately or the item may end up in the bottom of the mending pile never to be seen again. It only takes a few minutes to sew up a loose seam or button and thread costs next to nothing.

Store
When it's time to put your clothes away for the season be sure to clean, iron, and fold them first. Always store your clothing in plastic boxes or vacuum sealed bags, along with something to protect them from moisture (the little sachets that come with new shoes are perfect). Label everything clearly so you can easily locate your clothes when you need them. When the season comes back around your clothes will be clean and ready to wear.

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.

Please login or register.