Do you have that muscle memory to leave your used clothes in the laundry hamper? Whether it’s one relaxing day or a hectic one, it’s in us. We have the muscle memory to leave them as is. What more, when we put them all together in the wash bin. You might not even notice that your delicate fur coat is in the laundry batch.
This muscle memory is pretty much a bad habit we should change. It is not right to put all clothes together regardless of their type. You have to be careful what type of clothes are washed together. Whether you are washing your delicate clothes or the regular ones, they have to be adequately treated.
Let’s dive in on how you can wash your delicate clothes economically.
1. Read and Follow the Garment Labels
You may tend to ignore Internet ads just like your garment label, but that’s not right. Skipping ads or these garment labels will keep you from important details. Just like some ads, it spoon-feeds its consumers the crucial keys. That’s how garment labels work– it gives us every detail on how to take care of our delicate clothes.
You must be read and follow the garment labels religiously. It is easy to find, yet launderers skip it sometimes, which is a bad habit. Ignoring the garment labels can inflict permanent damage, especially to your delicate and expensive clothes. Clothing with that type of caliber usually requires a unique laundry treatment.
The most delicate garment has a label such as “dry clean only,” “never wash in a washing machine,” “hand wash only,” “do not iron,” “air dry only,” and so on. Always follow the instruction— especially for the ones that you read not to do. Simply follow that, and you will already have made delicate and expensive garment care multiple times easier.
2. Let the Professionals Handle its Laundering and Repair
This may sound expensive, which is contrary to this article’s title. But trust me, it is not. In fact, it is the most economical tip in washing delicate clothes. Seeking professional help is way too convenient and effective. The thing with delicate garments is that they are really costly and sensitive. Thus, they must receive the utmost care, and a laundry expert can offer that.
Delicate and expensive clothes can last a decade due to their well-made quality. However, this will only work out if they are taken care of properly and receive proper repair techniques. Let’s say you noticed a tiny hole in your fur jacket. What will you do? Take action by reweaving your fur jacket and have a dry cleaning expert handle it. In that way, you have reconstructed the small hole and prevent the same problem from happening again.
Also, clothes that became snug in the fit can still be salvageable by taking them to a professional tailor to determine if they can still be let out. There’s this tendency that if you wear tight clothes causes stress on the seams, which will sooner result in ripping and tearing, especially in the underarm, crotch, and hip area. And we do not want that to happen in our delicates.
3. Clothing Maintenance
Delicate clothes are an investment. Your delicates will always look good if you just take care of them properly. To achieve that, you can invest in a stiff brush that is manufactured explicitly to clean clothing.
It only takes a minute to brush your jacket, blazers, trousers, and suits after every wearing. Brush the garment against the nap or grain first. It prevents some specks of dirt from settling deeper in the fabric, which weakens its mesh, attracts insects, and causes discoloration. It is an excellent perk of daily maintenance that you don’t need to rely often on dry cleaning anymore.
Always hang your clothing up immediately after changing. If you hang your clothes, it prevents the garment from being soiled, wrinkled, and losing its shape.
4. Soaking Helps
The most excellent thing about handwashing undergarments and other delicate clothes is that it requires a few minutes of actual laundering. Sure, soaking your delicates may consume a lot of time, but the payoff is totally worth the time consumption.
Soaking delicates prevents the stain from setting in deeper. Also, it breaks down the stains and makes your clothes even cleaner. Soaking usually lasts from 20-40 minutes. If you practice soaking quite often, you will know the optimal time to remove the clothes. The more you soak, the more knowledge you get on the right soaking period according to the stain and type of fabric.
5. Immediate Response Against Stains
Treat stains immediately. For great results, treat the stain as soon as you spotted them. But to execute that with utmost perfection, you need to learn how to treat stain properly. There are levels to this. If the stains are still manageable, you can treat them your own. Use natural stain removal products such as white vinegar, gas, toothpaste, ice, baking soda, lemon, and many more! If the stains are really troublesome, then you need to hire your most trusted laundry expert.
6. Hand Wash for Lesser Friction
Remember—delicate clothes need delicate care. If you are not anxious when you put your delicates in the washing machine, then I have terrible news for you—your need to improve your laundering knowledge. Hand washing delicates causes significantly lesser rotational and frictional force compared to laundering via a washing machine.
Before you start with the handwashing, you need to sort all your delicates out. Sort them by color and fabric. Just remember this: never mix knitwear and polyester, cashmere and lace, and fur and delicates with metal. Also, it is important to hand wash them inside out so that the frontal part of the garment will be exposed with lesser friction. If you really hate hand washing, then you can actually put them in the washing machine for some delicates. Just make sure that every delicate laundry batch must be laundered in the lowest spin cycle to avoid permanent damage.
Delicates garments are called delicates for a reason. It is very costly. That’s why you must treat it as an expensive antique jar. All these economical tips are beneficial in prolonging the lifespan of your delicates. Now that you know it, it’s the perfect time to change your old and wrong laundry ways and take more serious care of your delicates. For sure, you will save time, money, and effort.