Care of Stuff

Read the care label – before you buy the item

The best time to read care labels is before you buy the item. If you are unwilling or unable to care for the item as the care labels suggest, give it a pass. By law, all garments are required to have a care label. Care labels will usually be inside the back neck or waist, or attached to the inside of the left seam near the bottom of the garment.

There are reasons that garments are given the label they have. You don’t want the item to shrink or fade or pucker into a mess, so follow the instructions.

Click here for a great resource at cleaninginstitute.org that explains and shows you what the labels mean

When do you need to be more careful than what the care label suggests?

Sometimes you will need to be MORE careful than the care labels instruct you to be. For example, you have a hoodie that you love, but you want to be sure it doesn’t shrink. In this case you may want to hang/air dry it or dry it flat. My son is tall and his hoodies always get too short if they go in the dryer, so we turn them inside out and hang dry them upside down by two clip-type pants hangers at the bottom.

Can you ever use a more aggressive cleaning method than suggested?

As a rule, unless you really know fabric care, follow guidelines on care labels. Other wise you may not be able to use the item or wear the garment. I worked in the fashion industry on fabric care. I did care tests for employer when we had a number of women’s dresses returned that their daughters couldn’t have worn because the care information given to us by the fabric mill was wrong. It was sad (or funny, depending on your point of reference).

I have hand washed sweaters rather than having them dry cleaned because of my sensitivity to chemicals, but it takes a lot of care not to stretch the fabric and there is the risk that washing dry cleanables will shrink them. Rayon for example is often “dimensionally unstable”, meaning it may shrink and/or stretch unevenly. So if you choose to ignore the care labels, remember its AT YOUR OWN RISK.

If you have any questions about laundry or cleaning, let me know and I will try to answer them.

Wash everything before you wear it.

I was in fashion for over 10 years, and between the fabric gnats (which bite), the dirt and the residual dyes and chemicals, I have learned you REALLY want to wash clothes and every other washable item before you use or wear it.

Wash some things separately

Some things need to be washed separately the first time (at least) because they can run (dyes bleed into the water causing stains on other items in the laundry), crock (while wearing, the dyes rub off onto furniture and other items of clothing) or lint.

Wash clothes or other items separately that are

• brights (bright or royal blue, emerald or Kelly green, royal purple)
• jeans
• black or very dark things about which you have any concern
• any garment that you can rub the dye off or
• items that you think might lint all over other items (some heavy fleeces/ sweatshirts  and towels do this).

How often?

Wash Sheets:

Wash sheets at least once every two weeks. Once a week is better. At the very least, wash the pillowcases every week. If you are sexually active or have been ill, wash the sheets weekly.

The best way to do this is to have two complete sets and remake the bed as you strip it. If you can get 2 sheet sets into the washer, then, if you have 3 sets, you can wash every 2 weeks, while changing every week.

Wash Blankets:

Launder blankets once a month is good; more often if you are allergic, or if they are exposed or dirty; less often if they are kept covered by sheets and coverlet, duvet or comforter.

Wash Towels:

Use towels for 3 baths or showers maximum. Wash them more often if they end up on the floor (which of course, they don’t, right?) Be sure towels are (and everything else is) totally dry before you put them in a hamper.

Wash Clothes:

Use good sense. If you wore it all day, put it in the wash. You may wash outer layers like sweaters and hoodies less frequently. If you are around smoke or other strong odors, you will need to wash after each wearing.

What you will need to wash your laundry:

• Laundry detergent
• Non-Chlorine bleach
• Fabric softener
• A bar of Dove soap this will get out most stains (Dove because the moisturizers lift oily stains)
  1. Moisten area with cold water
  2. Between your hands, lather up the Dove bar
  3. Apply the lather to the stain and lather the stain
  4. You may need to add more Dove
  5. Rinse out with cold water, then wash as normal
• Hairspray or stain remover (gets out the other stains, like pen, tar)

Optional:

• Chlorine bleach- be careful where and if you use this. Use it only on white cotton that does not have a ‘do not use chlorine bleach’ care label. Chlorine bleach is the best thing to use to get rid of mold and mildew and (diluted) to clean wooden cutting boards.
• Vinegar- I use a cupful with the fabric softener in the rinse cycle to remove soap or detergent residue.

Can I have my clothes laundered?

Really don’t want to wash clothes? Sending them out to be laundered at a laundry (or some dry cleaning shops also launder) is an option. If it saves you time and aggravation, it may be financially worth it to you – if you can afford it.

I will caution that if you have any allergies, this may not be a good choice because you have less control over the products that are being used. For line-dried and dry flat items, be sure to find out if they have the capacity to do these.

How often to dry clean

Dry clean items depending on usage, wear and your budget. If its dirty, wrinkled or smells, get it dry cleaned. Also dry clean all your dry-cleanables at the end of the season so they are stored clean and are ready to wear next year. After cleaning, be sure to take off the bag and let them air (preferably NOT in the bedroom) for a day or two before wearing.

You are worth clean clothes. It’s good to look your best, and this is a great place to start!

Laundry Sorting

Almost everyone has a story about laundry sorting disasters. However, with today’s labeling and laundry products, laundry if much easier to figure out and do without a catastrophe.

Download this handy laundry sorting guide. Keep in mind that if the label on a garment tells you something different, then do what it says or use a milder option (cooler water or heat, weaker cleaning agent).

Laundry sorting basically comes down to sorting by color (dark, light, red, brights), weight (towels vs. lingerie) and the amount of laundry you have.
At the most basic, you will have lights and darks (and reds- Don’t mix these with anything else!)

Wash all clothes before wearing them, to keep chemicals (like formaldehyde and other chemicals used to add and set dyes) and critters (fabric mites) off yourself. You probably want to wash dark clothes like jeans and intensely colored towels separately the first time or so becasue they may crock (color rub off on things when dry) or bleed (color runs when wet).

Laundry Products

Don’t use fabric softener on:

• Flame retardant clothing (kid’s jammies- makes them MORE flammable)
• Microfiber (especially if its used for cleaning- prevents absorption and dust attraction and can cause streaking)
• Bamboo (causes serious pilling)
• Athletic clothing with wicking ability (prevents wicking)
• Towels (don’t use or reduce as it makes them less absorbent)

How big is a load?

About the size you can fit into a normal square laundry basket. This depends on the size of washer and dryer you are using, and whether commercial (laundromat) or home.  Its best not to overload the washer or dryer or the clothes won’t get clean or dry.

What you will need:

• Laundry detergent
• Non-Chlorine bleach
• Fabric softener

Spots and stains

• A bar of Dove soap this will get out most stains (dove because the moisturizers lift oily stains)
  • Moisten area with cold water
  • Between your hands, lather up the dove bar
  • Apply the lather to the stain and lather the stain
  • May need to add more Dove
  • Rinse out then wash as normal
• Hairspray (preferably the old fashioned spray kind) or stain remover (gets out the other stains, like pen, tar)
  • Spray the hairspray directly on stain til saturated (test small area where it cant be seen first to be sure the dyes can handle it)
  • Gently rub the stain area
  • Rinse or follow with the Dove bar
  • Wash as normal

Optional:

• Chlorine bleach- be careful where and if you use this. Use it only on white cotton that does not have a ‘do not use chlorine bleach’ care label. It’s the best thing to use to get rid of mold and mildew and (diluted) to clean wooden cutting boards.
• Vinegar- I use a cupful with the fabric softener in the rinse cycle to remove soap or detergent residue.
• DeMite laundry Additive if you have allergies to dust mites. Use this on sheets, bed coverings and blankets, and pillows. This can make the sheets smell a bit funky, so I wash in the morning and let them air out during the day.

Other Drying Options

Dry flat
If a garment says to dry flat, the best way to do this is on a drying rack (I like this one from OXO because it folds up easily when not in use. Other less expensive ones I’ve tried fall apart or have to be unassembled and reassembled every time.  This one also stacks nicely if there is limited space.

Line Dry
If a garment needs to line dry, hang it on a hanger that will not leave bumps from the ends of the hanger. This hanger for instance, can also hang clothes or washables when traveling and can be folded to pack.

If it’s heavy (like a heavy hoodie), hang it upside down to dry. When I hang my son’s hoodies, I use 2 skirt/slack hangers for each hoodie and distribute the weight between 4 clips.

If you have the room in the kitchen or basement, you can hang from a clothes rack. If you don’t have a basement in which to dry your clothes, they can be hung over the shower curtain bar in the bathroom with a mat or towel on the floor beneath if necessary (not usually necessary if machine washed and spun dry, but will be necessary if hand washed or not spun dry).