Tips for keeping clothes looking like new?

[MisterMajestic]

Keep your slacks,jeans, jackets & shirts on hangers wrapped in plastic. If you ever take youir clothes to the cleaners keep the plastic for your clothes..

 

[Lukeee]

Don't wear them.
Buy new ones.
Um... don't put holes in them?

How can clothes look old? When you wash clothes the colour doesn't get washed out well it doesn't happen to my clothes.

 

[hungrybrownbear]

not rolling around in the mud helps!

 

[G-Lexington]

Leave them at the store.

No, seriously, do you wash your clothes carefully? Separate the colors from the whites? Wash the polos on a gentle cycle, and dry them on medium (not high) heat, and hang them up as soon as they're done?

Lex

 

[MisterMajestic]

What does the plastic do for the clothes? I would take them to the dry cleaners, but that will be expensive.

I have no idea but I got the idea from my folks..This might be a southern-thing....I keep all my winter, summer, spring, fall clothes on hangers in Plastic and they don't fade..I have dress shirts that are years old and the plastic helps...

Dry-cleaning is expensive..You're gonna have to figure out where to get the plastic..If your parents live nearby maybe they keep their dry-cleaning plastic. Maybe friends? Whatever you do you need plastic long enough to cover the entire shirt, jacket or jeans...

I even keep my shorts in plastic and they still look like new every summer...

 

[SilverWolf]

Leave them at the store.

No, seriously, do you wash your clothes carefully? Separate the colors from the whites? Wash the polos on a gentle cycle, and dry them on medium (not high) heat, and hang them up as soon as they're done?

Lex

You mean people actually do all that?!

 

[G-Lexington]

Well, I think we found your problem, now, didn't we? There's another reason for clothes labels besides for homosexuals to sigh or sneer at. They actually do provide advice on how best to care for the articles in question.

From here on out, wash your polo shirts together - nothing else. Warm or cold wash (not hot), cold rinse, no bleach (or "bleach for colors"). Dry on medium, even though it might take longer. It's like baking a pie - you can crank up the heat and make it done faster, but it won't be as good.

And read the labels on the pants. You may be able to wash them with the polos (if they take the same wash and dry temps). If they don't, wash them separately.

Lex

 

[Adrock-JD]

Six months is not very long.

Wash in warm water and all cold rinses.

Use a good quality detergent.

A warning about liquid detergents...

The most important thing to realise about liquid detergent is that it doesn't contain bleaching agents. It's therefore kind to coloured laundry but not so effective for whites.
A nasty side effect is that these missing bleaching agents actually help keep the washing machine free from bacteria and black mould. Combined with using low temperature washing it can result in a nasty slime and grease build up and a smelly washing machine
(same goes for the dishwasher, btw)

I use powder. If liquid was really better than powder, there wouldn't be any powder sold.

Dry clean pants. That's really the only practical way to keep that crisp crease in them.

Lay shirts on a rack to air dry or use low heat setting on dryer.

 

[Scrub]

From here on out, wash your polo shirts together - nothing else. Warm or cold wash (not hot), cold rinse, no bleach (or "bleach for colors"). Dry on medium, even though it might take longer. It's like baking a pie - you can crank up the heat and make it done faster, but it won't be as good.

And read the labels on the pants. You may be able to wash them with the polos (if they take the same wash and dry temps). If they don't, wash them separately.

Lex

Piggy, Lex wins the clothes cleaning prize.

 

[G-Lexington]

>>>I use powder. If liquid was really better than powder, there wouldn't be any powder sold.

Not to threadjack, but that's some rather bizarre reasoning. Companies sell whatever sells, whether the product is superior (or even works) or not.

I'd heard about the "dangers of liquid detergent" as well, but I'd also heard that if you wash your whites with bleach, that takes care of any build-up problems.

Lex

 

[Joshua_me]

I have a closet full of Polo and other oxford shirts, many of which I've had for years, and none of them have ever seen the inside of a washing machine.

I wash them out by hand, in cool water with either liquid tide (no bleach or Downy) or Woolite, gently wring them out by hand and transfer them to hangers.

Ideally I'll hang them on my clothesline out in the sun, weather permitting. If not, then on a hanging rack on the lanai.

After that they are ironed with just a touch of 'Magic Sizing' (it's in an aerosol can, and it helps a lot with smoothing out wrinkles).

Is all that a royal pain in the ass ? Hell, yes. But, it keeps them looking new and the colors don't fade.

As for dress slacks and the like... Screw it, I take those to the cleaners.

 

[Alistair]

I don't allows wash my shirts or slacks after every time I wear them, depending on what I did in them. It cuts down on the wear. The better brand clothing last much longer also.

 

[Swellegant]

Why do you want your clothes to look new? I always have to bang the new out of my clothes before I can be comfortable in them. People shop at A&F and Hollister and pay those unspeakable prices just so their clothes won't look new.

But, if you insist, there is some really good advice above. It really is all about following the instructions on the tag to the letter, never dry on high heat, and always hang or fold immediately upon removal from said low-heat dryer. I also separate everything by color...not just colors from whites, but blues from greens from blacks from browns from reds from whites. Of course, I have so many clothes that I can get two or three loads of any one color, so you can't go by me.

And one other thing: buy store brands instead of name brands. My oldest best-looking clothes are Alfani and Charter Club and the like. I don't know why that is, but there it is.

 

[Yooper]

I did laundry on a Commercial level many years ago for a brief time.

Avoiding Fading:
1. Always wash in the coolest temperature possible.
2. Be careful when using 'bargain' brands of detergent; many of them contain filers that just get stuck in the weave of the fabric looking like fading.
3. Overuse of Fabric Softeners can cause buildup too. Avoid them if possible.
4. If the water in your city is highly chlorinated, try using a detergent made specifically for dark colors. It neutralizes the Chlorine (Chlorine is Bleach!).

I've been washing more and more in Cold.

 

[Joshua_me]

2. Be careful when using 'bargain' brands of detergent; many of them contain filers that just get stuck in the weave of the fabric looking like fading.

Mmm hmm.

I was surprised to learn that many bargain powdered detergents are mostly salt. Good ol' sodium chloride.

Why ? Salt is dirt cheap, heavy and takes up a lot of bulk.

It also eats through fabrics and fades colors like no body's business....

PAY the extra couple of bucks and buy the name brands. (Tide really IS the best) They'll pay for themselves in the long run.

 

[Yooper]

Some of the bargain powders use ground up corn cobs as a filler. Don't know if that is the same as Cellulose but I've seen that as an ingredient, too.

 

[MisterMajestic]

Oh, storing clothes in plastic will help keep the shoulders from being dusty. I don't think it will do more than that.

If you don't store your clothes in plastic then how would you know? I know because that is what I do..

If leaving your clothes & Winter Jackets on the hanger year round for moths & Bugs to eat works for you then fine, storing them in plastic year round works for me..

 

[NedNickerson]

What do you consider good quality detergent? Like Tide?

Tide was the detergent my mom always used. When I started washing clothes myself, I tried a few different detergents, but I eventually went back to Tide.

Sometimes I will still buy a cheaper detergent if I'm strapped for cash - Gain is another I used from time to time. It seems to clean pretty well, but I find that it also has a strong perfume smell. I quit using it after a co-worker (a guy) asked me if I was wearing perfume.

Right now, I'm using Tide With Bleach - it's safe for all clothes. And it seems to keep the colors bright.

Take a little time to read the cleaning instruction labels on all your clothes. Sometimes you will find a label that surprises you - one that tells you to wash in cold, whereas you've washed in warm before, or one that says not to bleach, etc...

Don't overload the washer. You want the clothes to be able to circulate and toss and not be so tightly packed that load just shifts back and forth.

As for detergent, one of the things you need to watch out for is using too much. Check the suds after the machine has been washing awhile. You should be able to see sloshing water along with the suds, not just a tubload of suds with peaks. Also check the rinse cycle. If you're still seeing a LOT of suds, you're using too much detergent. Too much detergent can also ruin clothes when it's not rinsed out enough. If your rinse cycle has a lot of suds, let the cycle finish and drain, then rinse again.

Use bleach with your whites to keep them white. Again, read the lables on your whites, because there are actually some whites (depending on the fabric) that should not be washed with bleach. Be careful how much bleach you use, too. Too much bleach is difficult to remove in one rinse cycle and it can damage the fabric.

Beware of using the recommended measurements on those caps and measuring cups that come with the detergent. Often times the recommended measurement is more than you need. I always start with less, then check the machine after it's been washing a bit. If it needs more, I add a little more, and set the dial back to the beginning to start it over so that the detergent has time to dissolve.

Follow drying instructions on the labels. When the clothes are finished drying, hang and fold everything while they're still warm. Once the clothes start getting cool, the wrinkles will start to set.

 

[MisterMajestic]

Actually I store my wool sweaters in plastic containers with cedar planks. Both keep out moths. However, in the United States I know of no bugs that eat cotton in one's home.That said, storing polo shirts in plastic seems like overkill unless he's hanging them and he wants to prevent dusty shoulders.

Do you have anymore questions for me?

Well just to educate you ants do get in the home during the summer months and they do eat through cotton. So now you've learned something...

 

[Paws]

Buy quality clothes with heavy fabrics (not those that loudly cry out their brand name though), wash with a colour detergent.

'Magic Sizing' (it's in an aerosol can

Never heard of that product, but I bet you can get the same result with water in a squirt bottle.