Here at the office we have been talking all about the different ways that we take care of our clothes and what kinds of things we do when we happen to get stains on them or they seem to be losing the look they once had when they’d been originally bought. Though you might sometimes ignore the care labels on your clothes, they might be the key to making sure your clothes last longer and you don’t accidentally ruin one of your favourite pieces!

Pictured below is a guide of the different symbols that you might find on a care label. A lot of the symbols I wouldn’t have understood what they meant unless I had looked them up on a guide like this one.

I have been researching about the different ways that we should be looking after our clothes and finding out about some tips that can make all the difference in the lifespan of your clothes.

General Tips:

• Avoid putting items like bras and sportswear or anything that has elastic properties in a tumble dryer because the heat will effectively destroy the elastic meaning that it will be susceptible to holes and tearing and losing the original shape the item was once in.
• Even though the tumble dryer helps to dry clothes quicker, it might be best to avoid them completely because not only would it be better for the environment, it is better to air dry your clothes anyway so that your clothes can last longer.
• Put your clothes away straight away when they’re done drying to prevent them from wrinkling.
• When you are going to wash pieces such as bras or underwear, place them in a separate bag so that they don’t get mixed up with your other garments or caught inside the washing machine.
• Always make sure that trousers are turned inside out before washing so that colour loss can be prevented as well as making sure that zips are zipped so that they won’t snag on any other clothes in the wash or dryer.
• If a garment shrinks in the wash, you can slightly stretch it back into place by keeping it damp and when it’s drying you can also put it on to mold the shape to fit you again.
• Some of the things that shouldn’t be put in a tumble dryer are: spandex, suede, silk, tights or pantyhose, lace, embellished items (pearls, sequins, stones, gems, etc.)
• Ideally, you should hand wash silk instead of putting it into a washing machine.
• Before washing, separate your clothes like: dark with dark, white with white and colour with colour.
• If you want to check if a garment will bled before you put it into a washing machine, you can dampen a spot on the garment and place a white cloth over it and ironing over the spot to see if any of the colour goes onto the white cloth.

When clothes that have colour blocking with strong colours together (like white and black) need to be dry cleaned, they should be dry cleaned separately so that other garments dyes don’t run into the garment. Sometimes they will also need to be put into a recovery cycle so if the colours in the dress have become dull, they can be brought back to the original state and to get rid of any dye that could of possibly bled.

When I was researching about different ways to get rid of stains from clothes, I found that the one of the best things to initially use is salt. It was mentioned quite a few times and seems to be the most effective as using a lot of it will absorb the stain. It is also better to try to get rid of a stain when it’s still damp so that it doesn’t set into the fabric.