Part of the reason we live in a disposable apparel culture is that we don’t take the time or make the effort to take care of the clothes we own. I remember as a kid my mother hand washing her favorite items. This was long before people sent everything to the dry cleaner, which by the way can ruin a wardrobe if you are not careful. My mother’s special “delicate” silks and jerseys would hang on the shower rod in our bathroom or on the floor laid flat to dry. I can’t remember the last time I hand washed something. My mother, by the way is a fashion icon at 72 years old. Her wardrobe can go up against anyone’s wardrobe anyday. Most of what’s especially beautiful in her closet are those things she has hung onto for years. So that brings me to this…how do we modern girls learn from the generation before us about taking care of what we already own? Here are some basic principles. Please add on your own and I will post them too.
Tips for taking care of the clothes you already own:
- Avoid dry cleaning as much as possible. The chemical process strips down fibers in clothes over time.
- No wire hangers!
- Wash rougher pieces together like jeans, and softer ones like cotton dress shirts on their own.
- Use the gentle cycle as frequently as possible with a gentle detergent like Woolite.
- Wear your clothes more than once before washing them. If a stain is small, spot clean with seltzer water or a reputable spot remover.
- Remove clothes from the dryer and hang them up immediately.
- Don’t use the dryer if you don’t have to. A clothes line or a shower rod make for good “air drying.”
- Pay attention to what you are ironing and look at the instructions for recommended iron settings.
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Great post! A couple more ideas: next time you buy a washer, get a front loader–far more gentle on clothes–works like handwashing! My clothes last so much longer since I got mine. I can even wash blazers, on gentle, in it!
Spray your clothes with cheap vodka to get odors out without leaving any residue. This works on silk, even and does not leave spots! I got this tip from a Green website. I have used it for years with excellent results!
Hang up your clothes as soon as you take them off.
Brush woven woolens with a wire tailor’s brush (I got mine at Vermont Country Store) or sponge them with a slightly damp sponge, to freshen the fibers and remove surface dirt.
These tips are all so helpful! I would add three from personal experience.
1) If your sense of style permits, avoid buying clothes made out of synthetic fabrics, or with admixtures of synthetic fibers such as elastan. These polymer-based fibers have a very short lifespan (which is why they are often used to make trendy-styled clothes that were never meant to endure). As they stretch out of shape, they tend to break at the seams, which rarely stretch to the same degree as the fabric. As they age, they also lose their smoothness and sheen. Unfortunately, the clothing industry has a morbid obsession with elastan the way the processed food industry has one for sodium. By putting a little elastic stretch into all their cheap cotton fabrics, they increase the chances that the item will be perceived as fitting each customer’s peculiar shape in the store’s dressing room. But as the fabric wears out, this fit will change.
2) Any time I buy shoes, particularly those with leather soles, I have a cobbler put new rubber soles and rubber heels on them before using them for the first time. This dramatically extends the life of the shoe, allows you to walk on hard floors without making a racket, and gives you a better grip on the ground. I cultivate a close confidence with my cobbler.
3) My husband and dog have a way of permeating fabrics with odors that my washing machine and detergents just can’t conquer. Instead of resorting immediately to agressive chemicals that damage the fabric and pollute the environment, I take the damp items straight from the washing machine and place them on the hot rooftop terrace in full sun as long as the weather permits, arranging them so that the stinky spots are exposed. The sunlight works wonders. However, in mid- summer, it can also affect fugitive fabric dyes over a few days’ time, so I am careful not to exaggerate.
I think I might try to combine this last technique with the vodka spray that Kathryn recommends above.
I absolutely agree that care is essential! My friends and family are always amazed that much of that clothing cluttering up my closet is from back in high school (over 10 years ago). It’s because if I love a piece, I wash it on delicate as infrequently as possible and I hang it to dry. I am also a lingerie fiend, having worked at Victoria’s Secret while in school, so I highly encourage everyone to ALWAYS wash bras on delicate, and never ever ever put them through the dryer. Those wires will poke out in no time if you do.
Sally, your post resonates so much with I’ve been preoccupied with since starting this project. Thank you for your tips! I’ve also started thinking about salvaging/reclaiming pieces and turning them into something new.
These are great suggestions. I was raised by my grandmother, who taught me that the only things that should go in the dryer are men’s jeans and Ts, sheets and towels. I hang up all other garments to dry and use a drying rack. I would go one further and not ever put my bras in the wash. I use a (rather expensive) product called “Soak” that you put, with the bra and water in the sink for 5 minutes. No need to rinse and it really does clean. I do this with cashmere and tights, too.
I like the vodka idea–I’ve never heard of that.
I have learned a lot from generations WAY before our mothers or grandmothers–the 1850s in fact. I do historically accurate sewing for 2 museums as a volunteer and of course they did not have dry cleaning for their silks and wools. Clothes were hung outdoor in the fresh air after every cleaning (in fact, many wool dresses were hung outside in the rain–it did not shrink them, and so long as you were not in the industrial north there was no air pollution.) Anyway, fresh air and a good shake and or brushing helped tremendously to keep clothes fresh and neat. Also, white cotton or linen undgergarments WERE washable and were worn under dresses to keep them clean. A “chemise” was a kind of slip with little short sleeves and helped keep perspiration off of clothes. Women also made dress shields to baste into the underarms of their dresses made of soft leather chamois, often covered with a bit of the dress fabric if they might otherwise show under short sleeves or sleeveless ball gowns.
I could go on and on. But now I try not to wear anything 2 days in a row but hang it to air out instead of washing right away. And I hang dry cleanables outside on my screened porch for a really good airing (have not tried the rain trick).
p.s they actually did have a sort of dry cleaning for silk dresses that involved completely unstitching the entire garment and laying each piece out flat and covering with a special powder which would then be brushed in and shaken off. Then reassemble the entire dress. No thanks.
.Edit above: they were hung outdoors after every *wearing* not after every “cleaning”