Keeping Your Clothes Like New

It's always a little bittersweet to finally part with a piece of clothing, whether it's stained, colorless, the fabric has lost its luster or it's gained a few holes along the way. Sometimes you're ready for it to go, but sometimes  there are pieces you have to repeatedly replace like socks and underwear or that favorite rock concert t-shirt that you just can't seem to let go of. You don't need fancy detergents or dry-cleaning to keep your clothes perfect. Here are a few tips to extending the life of the clothes you have, and saving a few bucks while you do it!

Fading Away
Nothing makes a piece of clothing look old like faded color. To prevent fading, wash colors on cold, avoid hanging colored pieces in the sun to dry, turn pieces inside-out during washing (especially jeans) and consider adding 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of white vinegar to your wash cycle to preserve the color. If the color has already faded, you can add new life to your clothes by dyeing similar colors. Black clothing is great place to start. You can find affordable fabric dye online or in most grocery stores in the laundry aisle.

Hard Fabric
Everyone knows the unpleasant feeling of a scratchy towel or crusty socks. For thicker fabrics, be especially sure that you're not overloading your washer with too much detergent. You can run the washer on a rinse cycle with towels, socks or sweaters and if it looks sudsy, you're using too much. Another good prevention technique is to avoid overloading the washer to begin with. Keep lighter weight clothing and heavier fabrics in separate loads, and don't put more than 5 pairs of jeans or towels in one load. Only loading the washer 3/4 full and not packing in or pushing down the clothes are good rules to remember. Make sure socks are completely unrolled when you throw them in the wash. To soften your clothes, add a big scoop of baking soda to the wash water. Using hot water for sweaty clothes like socks and workout gear and purchasing natural fabrics like cotton, bamboo or hemp help keep things softer too.

Threadbare or Stretched Out Fabric
Hot air is great for fluffing up towels and sweaters and making your clothing feel soft, but most clothing can take a beating if they're heated for too long. Try to line-dry or lay flat your more delicate clothing, anything with elastic or spandex blends and thinner fabrics like shirts. Elastic does not mesh well with heat, so be especially careful with socks, sportswear and underwear. Check the dryer periodically when drying and take out the clothes immediately when they no longer feel damp. Smaller loads, line drying before using the dryer for fluffing or splitting up large loads into smaller ones all insure less exposure to heat and a longer life for fabric and color.

Dingy Colors
In time, lighter and brighter colored clothing can get dingy, grayish or pinkish. For whites, soak in hydrogen peroxide or an oxygenated detergent overnight. Many colored fabrics can also withstand oxygenated detergent, however be sure to test an inconspicuous spot first or use an oxygenated detergent formulated for colors. Always separate your colors into like colors when washing. It can be a pain, but it's worth it.  Wash new clothing items the first few times separately or by hand to avoid the new dye mixing with your older clothes. Did a red shirt sneak in to your load of whites? The minute you notice your clothes have encountered color bleed, take out the offending odd-colored piece of clothing and re-wash the load with oxygenated detergent or bleach. If you let the clothes dry first, chances are the color will set and there's no turning back.

Follow these tips and your clothes will stay with you for years to come! Until next time, keep it clean!

Removing Pit Stains

There are few things quite as embarrassing and clothing-ruining as pit stains. If you like wearing fresh white shirts or wear a lot of undershirts to work daily, the dinginess of a pit stain is pretty pervasive. Often enough, failure to remove these hard-to-clean stains will result in the premature purchase of new shirts when the shirt could have still been in its prime. Fear not! They can be removed!

Stain Prevention

A lot of people assume that the protein, salt and bacteria in your sweat building up on the shirt over time cause these stains. The stains look pretty gross so we assume it's a natural occurrence. Actually, it's a chemical reaction between your sweat and your deodorant. If you use any basic store-bought deodorant, chances are it contains aluminum, the real culprit of the weird color. (You guys who use body spray may have noticed that your pit stains extend to your chest and neck area, right?) The best way to avoid the stains is to switch to a natural deodorant. Spreading on coconut oil and/or rubbing a salt stick where you sweat the most work amazingly well at getting rid of odor-causing bacteria. If you sweat a lot, you might want to consider trimming back your chest or armpit hair a little so it doesn't hold so much water against your shirt. You'll still smell lovely, I promise.

Don't Bleach the Stain

This would seem like the most obvious thing to do, but the chemicals in bleach will react with the stain and make it worse. There are easier and more natural alternatives. If you bleach some of your whites, like towels, do a separate load without bleach for stained shirts.

Lemon Juice

Have you ever put lemon juice on your hair before going to the beach to lighten your locks? Same principle here. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on the effected area and hang to dry in the sun for a day. Voila!

Hydrogen Peroxide

That same stuff that's great for disinfecting cuts is also wonderful for pit stains, and is often safe on dyed fabrics too (be sure to test a hidden spot on your colored shirt first). Spray on the area and let it sit for 15 minutes or even respray and let sit over several hours for more pernicious stains. Throw in the wash and it will come out stain-free.

Oxygenating Detergent

Some powdered detergents like OxyClean create hydrogen peroxide when combined with water, which helps to lift stains. You can also pre-soak clothing in the detergent for really tough stains. Detergent is usually more formulated for colorfastness than straight hydrogen peroxide, so if you have blue or patterned dress shirts this may be your best bet.

Use these tips to extend the life of all your clothes and keep looking so fresh and so clean! Until next time!