I have spent a lot of money over the years on some great pieces in my wardrobe. The last thing that I want to happen is to have those great (some one-of-a-kind) pieces ruined in the laundry process. It is like purchasing a perfect pair of jeans and being scared to wash them. Or, have a great sweater fall apart after the first washing. Frustrating.

Keeping your clothes looking great can be like decoding a cryptic message in a foreign language. Not only are the names of fabrics confusing, but the label symbols for care can look like hieroglyphics.  Here are some tips:

AVOID THE HEAT The less you expose your clothing to heat, the longer lasting your clothes will be. Washing on a cold cycle, line or flat drying, and steaming (rather than ironing) whenever possible are all good practices.

DON’T BLEACH ALL YOUR WHITES It’s a common misconception that bleach will always whiten fabric. Sometimes, if used improperly, bleach can yellow even the whitest of shirts. Only use bleach on synthetic fabrics. Never use on things like wool, silk, nylon or spandex.

READ CARE LABELS Always check the label of clothing before washing it the first time. Depending on the designer and the country of manufacture, the care instructions can be anything from too much information, to something leaving you saying “huh?”.

“DRY CLEAN” and “DRY CLEAN ONLY”  ARE NOT THE SAME THING ‘Dry Clean’ means dry cleaning the item will give you the best results. However, if you are a laundry diva, and the fabric content is something you are comfortable washing, you can achieve great results washing on the delicate cycle. Conversely, a label that says ‘dry clean only’ means just that. Generally, the fabric content is made up of something that won’t withstand either detergent, the washing process, or water.

TEST FOR COLORFASTNESS On some garments, you should test for color bleeding. You will see this, for example, on a shirt that is red and white. The goal would be for the red not to bleed into the white…if it does, then you have a red and pink shirt. Doing this is relatively simple; test on an inside hemmed area (somewhere that isn’t visible when you wear the item). Wet the fabric with regular tap water. Dab the wet spot with a white cloth. Allow the area to dry (on the cloth and on the clothing item). You will see if there was a color transfer, and if the clothing item dried without shrinking or puckering.  Testing for colorfastness is also essential when washing denim (especially dark denim, and premium denim) for the first time.

PULL OFF THE PILLING Yes, those little balls of fuzz that seem to appear out of nowhere can be the curse of a perfectly good outfit. But – rest assured, all is not lost on a little pilling. You should expect pilling on a new item that is made of a natural fabric like wool, angora, cashmere. This will happen until you have that item laundered. To manually remove pills, the best course of action is to manually pull them off. Do not use a sweater shaver – many sweaters have been ruined by an over-excited shaver.

If you are wondering what was the inspiration to write this article – it was a pair of beautiful velvet pants that now look like an old rag…please, a moment of silence for the beautiful velvet pants. Thank you.  Now, be more careful with your fashion treasures!

Source: Photo 1 Photo 2