Caring for your Clothing
Before you put your clothing into the wash, a few minutes of prep will help increase your clothes lifespan and decrease the chance of potential damage.
Every garment has a care label with valuable information about the fabric content and recommended washing methods. Reading this is a great place to start.
Care tips from Dove:
- Sort clothing into whites, darks, and colours. It is less risky to mix colours and darks, however, keep your lights/whites separate to avoid dye transfer and to keep them vibrant. Make sure to wash new clothing separately a few times to prevent dye transfer.
- Close metal fixtures like zips and unbutton shirts. This helps to minimise abrasion and clothing getting caught on the metal. The unbuttoning takes tension off the button thread shank holding it in place.
- Wash less! Over washing can lead to issues like pilling, colour loss, and fabric weakening. Consider airing out and spot cleaning when possible.
- Wash Cold! Use cold water for washing whenever possible. Hot water can weaken fabrics, a temperature of around 30 degrees Celsius is sufficient.
- Wash Inside Out! Protect the outer surface of your garments by washing them inside out especially if they are printed or have embroidery. This helps minimize abrasion during the washing process. Place delicate items in a mesh washing bag.
- Remove stains as soon as possible. Wet the area first then gently blot the stain with a stain remover. Be careful to test the product before use on coloured clothing as it could cause fading. Leave the product on the stain for a couple of minutes or soak depending on the size or intensity of the stain. Rinse out and repeat if needed or put in your normal wash. For a compressive stain removal guide head to the Cleaning Institutes Guide.
- Delicate Fabrics require extra care such as silk, lace, chiffon, and satin. Hand washing is usually the safest option. If machine washing is necessary, use a gentle cold cycle and place the items in a mesh laundry bag to protect them. When drying, gently roll the garment in a towel to remove excess water, then lay it flat to dry in the shade. If these are super delicate items, visit a reputable local drycleaner.
- Cotton and linen fabrics are often machine washable. Use a regular or gentle cycle with cold or warm water. Avoid hot water, as it can shrink and fade these fabrics. It is best to air-dry or tumble-dry on low heat.
- For denim, use a cold or warm water setting and a mild detergent. Turn jeans inside out before washing. Avoid bleach and excessive agitation. Hang or lay flat to dry.
- Synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic are machine washable. Use a gentle cycle with cold or warm water. Use a guppy bag to decrease microplastics entering the waterway. It is usually safe to tumble dry on low heat but check the care label for any specific instructions.
- Wool and cashmere require special care. Hand wash them in cold water using a mild detergent or a dedicated wool/cashmere shampoo. Gently roll the garment in a towel to remove excess water, then lay it flat to dry in the shade. Again, if these items are delicate, visit your local drycleaner.
- When it comes to drying your clothing whenever possible, air drying is the gentlest option for clothes. It helps prevent shrinkage, fading, and wear. If using a dryer, choose a lower heat setting to minimize damage. For delicate items lay flat and dry in the shade or lay on a dry towel. Hang shirts and dresses on a hanger when drying to minimise crease lines.
For some more expert advice on this topic head over to Regal Dry Cleaners.
We talked to Kate Mitchell, CEO from Regal, seeking advice and tips on caring for clothing….
What are your top tips on caring for clothing?
Number one would be to always clean garments before putting them away in storage for a season. Often garments that have been worn but don’t ‘look’ dirty, have colourless stains (perspiration, perfume etc) that will turn yellow by the time you next pull out the garment, and at that stage it is often too late to remove the staining. Also, you should never store your clothes in packaging of any kind unless its specifically preservation packaging, even suit bags that stores provide when you purchase garments, are for travel purposes only not for storage!
How should we treat a stain?
Of course, I’m bias, but I really advise against treating stains at home if you are unsure, as different stain removal products can make it materially more difficult for us to later remove the stain if they don’t work and can end up reacting with professional stain removal solutions and strip colour or damage the garment. Similarly, rubbing at a stain can later cause the colour or texture in that area to become damaged, even with a napkin. There are lots of great tricks at home that can work wonders so by all means go for it if you know something that works, but for anything special or for anything you are unsure of, ‘just trying it at home first’ and then planning to bring it in if that doesn’t work, may do more harm than good. A good drycleaner has a wide variety of professional products specifically catered to certain types of stains and use focused steam and air pressure to hand work on the stains without any aggressive rubbing or leaving solutions to soak into the fabric.
How often should we dry clean our suits, blazer, and coats?
Traditionally you should avoid drycleaning these sorts of items too often, because some drycleaning solutions are quite harsh, however if you choose a drycleaner that uses more delicate solutions such as hydrocarbon instead of perchloroethylene, this will be much gentler on the garments (not to mention the environment) and you don’t have to ‘avoid’ drycleaning as much. Good quality suits drycleaned in hydrocarbon can be cleaned regularly for a long period of time, and whilst your coats and blazers don’t need to be cleaned after every wear, be wary of what I mentioned earlier around invisible staining yellowing over time, especially perspiration in the underarms.
What has been the most obscure item bought in to be dry cleaned?
Mascot costumes are our favourite, with big heads and feet floating around the plant. Dog beds also come through every now and then… got to keep our special friend’s bedding as nice and fresh as ours!
Thanks Kate
Where is your local Regal Drycleaners ? Find out here.