How To Make Your Clothing Last Longer
It’s important to remember that proper care can make a big difference in your clothes maintaining their shape, color, and texture for the long haul. If you have invested in higher quality, staple pieces to round out those trendy less expensive picks, than you need to follow these tips to ensure your hard earned dollars aren’t wasted. Now let’s find out how to make your clothing last longer.
These are all simple tips, ones that you can add to your garment care routine. A few extra minutes can result in your clothing lasting longer and in the end saves you money. Now who wouldn’t want that?
Side note, the pictures I chose have nothing to do with the tips, just some awesome street style this Spring!
8 Tips on How to Make Your Clothing Last Longer
1. Refresh your clothes with a dye bath
If you wear a lot of black (ahem Clarissa!), you may start to notice the slow fade that happens with this fabric color. When blacks are starting to look a little less bold, a simple dye bath is the quickest and easiest way to refresh than replacing that piece.
2. Invest in good hangers
Soft, velvety thin hangers can make all the difference. They’re also way easier on clothing fabric than those horrible wire hangers.
3. Go easy on the dry cleaning
Not only is dry cleaning expensive, but the harsh chemicals from the dry cleaning process can damage fabrics. It’s unnecessary to dry clean after just one use. A good rule of thumb is to dry clean every three to four wears to keep clothes clean and in good shape.
Just need to de-wrinkle? Purchase a handheld steamer or hang it in your bathroom when you’re taking a shower for a natural steam. Stained garment? Before heading to the dry cleaner, check the tags and launder it then steamed without starch, if the fabric allows it.
TIP: Deodorant stains on one of your favorite white t-shirts? Try Raise, a specially formulated treatment that helps to remove yellow armpit stains.
4. Zip up all Zippers
Little snags and tiny tears usually start inside the washing machine. The culprit? Unzipped zippers. Zip everything up! Jeans, jackets and dress all need to be zipped up prior to adding them to the wash. This ensures they don’t snag everything else in the load. I can’t tell you how many times this used to happen to me, ruining sweaters or other t-shirts.
5. Waterproof special fabric
Protect special fabrics like suede and leather with fabric waterproof. I always spray my shoes, jackets and bags before wearing them.
6. Stuff your shoes, boots and bags
Maintain the shape of accessories by stuffing them with old newspaper or tissue paper when not in use. Not only will it keep the shape, but it will force you to clean out the purse before you switch bags. I stuff all of mine, Curtis thinks I’m crazy!, but it is so worth it when you spend money on nice pieces. You can also get boot and shoe shapers to keep the shape.
7. Separate clothes before washing into categories
Take care when washing your clothes. Make sure to read the labels and wash in the right temperature.
You can do this by washing in cold water with less detergent; separating your delicates from linens and turn shirts with graphics and other fabrics (like denim) inside out to avoid fading. The extra time will make a big difference in the lifecycle of your clothing.
Try washing your denim every four to six wears and letting them hang in a closet to air out between uses.
8. Freeze tights to keep them from running
Run a new pair of tights under water and squeeze out the excess. Then, place them in a plastic bag and let them freeze overnight. Let them come to room temperature naturally and voila! They should now be more resistant to snags and tears. You can put that clear nail polish back in the cupboard!
Great tips, the one that amazed me the most was number 8, I did not know you could do that to improve stockings.
Essential reminders and new ideas. Thanks!
I never thought to refresh black. That’s an awesome idea!
These are great tips! I’m familiar with the hangers and the zippers, but the dye bath is a new one!
I’ve never heard of the freezing technique for hose. I’ll have to try that! I’m terrible with my laundry habits, but I do have some items in my closet that I still wear from high school! Yes, some things in my closet are 15-20 years old! I’m definitely going to start zipping my zippers before wash, though,