Launder Smart
You should launder your clothing in a way that is efficient and effective. When you wash your clothes, you want to be sure that you are treating them with care. Good clothing is not cheap and you will want to launder your clothes so that they last as long as possible. How can you give your clothes the longest life possible? Here are four pieces of advice to do just that.
Use All-Natural Detergents
As often as possible and as the budget allows, you should utilize all-natural detergents to wash your clothes. You can use organic soaps in order to wash your fine garments under the laundry faucet. There are many reasons why this helps your clothes to last longer.
First of all, all-natural soaps contain less harsh chemicals. These harsh chemicals can quickly degrade the fibers of your clothing. When you use all-natural detergents, you will be less likely to break down the fabric fibers of your clothes with harsh chemicals. Once the fibers of the fabric are broken, there’s no repairing them. It isn’t like sewing up a hole in a shirt. It happens on a very microscopic level and it can’t be repaired, you simply have to replace the clothing.
This is why it’s much better to use natural soap. Unlike harsh chemical detergents, the organic soap will cut through the grease and dirt that causes stains, but it will not break down the actual fabric fibers.
Dry on Medium
You should dry your clothing on a medium setting. When you dry your clothing on the hottest level, it breaks down your clothes. Should you have any clothing that has a composite of polyester or spandex, drying on high heat can actually crack those fibers. Have you ever taken clothing out of the dryer and noticed it feels stiff? That’s the feeling of damage that can’t be undone. It happens when the fibers in your clothing melt and they’re stuck in a rigid form.
You should make sure that you always dry on medium heat so that the clothing is kept intact. This may take a little bit longer for you to achieve your drying, but you will find that in the long term it is well worth it. What is more valuable, a few extra minutes of spare time or the integrity of garments that you have spent your hard-earned money on? You may even have sentimental attachments to your clothing and, in this case, you want to be very careful not to dry them at high heat.
Smaller Loads
You should wash your clothing in smaller loads. When you do this, it makes your items less likely to become entangled with one another. When clothes become entangled with one another in the wash, they can often tie into knots and stretch out. The water coming out of the laundry faucet should also not be too hot.
The end result is a slow process of breaking the fibers of the fabrics. Not all of your clothing is made of elastic material. Therefore when you stretch out cotton fabrics or linen fabrics, you can break the fibers of the fabrics if you stretch them too far. Add in the persistent agitation of a wash cycle, and you have a quick road to degraded clothes.
Hang Your Clothes Up to Dry
When possible, simply hang your clothes to dry instead of putting them in a dryer. This is a much gentler practice of allowing your clothing to go from wet to dry. It ensures that there will be no unnecessary agitation and that there will be no melting of fibers.
It’s pretty simple to understand how heat and agitation can degrade the fibers of the fabric. It’s much better to wash your clothes on the gentle cycle with an organic detergent and then dry them by hanging them up to dry. The rough process of being heated and tossed around in the dryer is easily avoidable if you’re simply willing to plan ahead.
In order to allow your clothing to dry instead of putting it in the dryer, you will have to wash your clothes ahead of time. This requires planning in advance so that you have at least 24 hours between finishing, washing, and wearing your clothes.
