Keep Your Clothes Looking New With These At Home Garment Care Tips

If you’re on a budget, buying new clothes can be costly and unnecessary. Taking good care of your clothes will not only make you look better, but it will also make them last longer. Here are several tips to consider when you are caring for your garments at home.

Hang It Up
Make sure to put your clothes on a hanger at night if you are going to wear them again. Put dirty clothes into a hamper to be washed. Try to avoid crumpling up your clothes into a ball on the floor, which will help protect the fabric and make them last longer. Button the top button on shirts and blouses and hang them neatly on the hanger, while pants and jeans should go on a special hanger with clips that hold the top of the waist.

What’s In Store
If you need to store items seasonally, like sweaters or purses, make sure you’re storing them properly. New, airtight garbage cans make great storage containers for freshly cleaned clothing. To prevent mildew from forming in a purse during storage, stuff the inside with crumpled newspaper and leave it unfastened.

Washed Out
Wash your clothes often, using a gentle wash cycle for delicates and separating whites from colors. Don’t use liquid bleach in the wash, but instead choose a pure soap with a scoop of baking soda for a cleaner, more environmentally friendly solution. Chemical bleaches don’t completely wash out of clothes, posing a potential danger to your health.

Out to Dry
Try not to use a dryer at all, as dryers can wear out your clothes and make colors fade more quickly than if you just air dried your clothes. Additionally, dryers use a large amount of electricity, which you will see reflected on your power bill. Try drying your clothes on a drying rack, which are generally inexpensive and can be found at any home furnishings store. Once your clothes are finished drying, remove them immediately and hang them up or fold neatly to avoid any wrinkles that might occur.

Blow Off Some Steam
You can de-wrinkle clothes quickly by running hot water into a bathtub and hanging the garment on a shower rod – the steam will help to remove the wrinkles. Or, invest in a portable steam cleaner and fabric steamer that sanitizes surfaces and freshens garments without the use of chemicals, like the EnviroMate Pronto, which features a 15-piece accessory kit, four bar pressure for maximum cleaning power, a 1200W heating element and a soft touch ergonomic handle. The best part? The steamer heats up in only two minutes, which is perfect for when you need to freshen up clothes in a hurry.

DIY Quick Fixes
Just a few simple tips can help fix clothing snafus or prevent them from happening. When you first purchase a garment, dab clear nail polish on the center of each button to seal the threads and prevent the button from popping off. Rub zippers with wax occasionally to keep the teeth from snagging. Wrap tape around your finger with the sticky side out to remove lint from a concentrated area. To create your own DIY lint roller, roll up a magazine and wrap double sided tape around it.

This post was sponsored by Reliable Corporation, which carries an extensive line of home and professional sewing machines, steam cleaners, steam irons and industrial fabric cleaning products

Photo credit: iStockphoto/lucentius