How To Make Your Clothes Last Longer
Treat your clothing with a little extra care and you will find it lasts much longer.
The purchase and care of clothing can take up a sizable portion of your household budget. Often our clothes don’t last long enough to wear out and we keep replacing them instead of learning how to take proper care of them. A few simple measures can extend the life of your clothes and leave more money in your wallet.
Stains are one of the most common ways our clothing gets ruined. When you get a stain on your clothes it needs to be treated immediately. If you leave a stain until the day you do your laundry it has time to dry and set in and will be even harder to remove. If you wash a stained item improperly this can also set the stain in and putting a stained item in the clothes dryer is almost certain to ensure a permanent mark. Rinse out a stained item with water immediately after the stain occurs or as soon as possible. If the stain is a grease or protein stain you can treat it with a bit of dish soap. Put some laundry detergent directly onto the stain and wash it immediately in cold water. Hot and warm water can cause stains to set in so only use cold water until you are sure the stain is gone. You may need to wash the item more than once but do not dry it until you have gotten rid of the stain. If your item is a dry clean only item be sure to point out the stain to the dry cleaner when you drop it off so that it can receive proper attention. Use dress shields to protect your clothing from underarm perspiration stains.
Shrinkage is another common killer of clothes. Clothing that is made out of natural materials like cotton and wool can shrink in the clothes dryer quite quickly. Items like denim blue jeans will shrink a bit each time you dry them. Clothes dryers can also give clothes quite a beating if you dry them too long and too often. Air-drying your clothes is the best way to make them last longer. Using a fabric softener in the rinse cycle will help keep your clothes from getting stiff. You can dry your clothes outside or on an indoor folding rack that stores easily when you are through.
Always read the washing instructions on the labels of your clothes. You never know when an item might need to be washed in cold water or dried on low heat. It will take a few extra minutes to separate your clothes into different loads but it only takes a second to ruin an expensive sweater by tossing it into the wrong water temperature.
Sew loose seams or small tears as soon as they occur. If you have a small opening it can easily tear into a larger one that is either harder or impossible to fix. Replace lost buttons immediately or the item may end up in the bottom of the mending pile never to be seen again. It only takes a few minutes to sew up a loose seam or button and thread costs next to nothing.
When it’s time to put your clothes away for the season be sure to clean, iron, and fold them first. Always store your clothing in plastic tote boxes along with some cedar blocks to protect them from moisture and insects. Label the tote so you can easily locate your clothes when you need them. When the season comes back around your clothes will be clean and ready to wear.
If your clothes have lasted so long that you are just plain tired of them you can recoup some of your expenses by selling them to a consignment shop. There are many consignment shops that specialize in children’s clothing and women’s professional clothing. Some shops might even work out trade deals where you can simply exchange your old clothes for someone else’s. The better shape your clothes are in the more likely you will be to make a nice profit from them.
Written by Christine Sostarich – 2002 Pagewise
