Oxanna asks:
On the topic of buying more expensive/quality basics, as referenced in the Frugal Upstate post, does anyone have tips on how to *keep* those items looking good? I can’t afford even a small wardrobe of expensive clothing (think $70 for pants at Ann Taylor – unless we’re talking for a suit), so my “expensive” is a lot less quality than others’ “expensive”. Unfortunately, I often bu items that I think are classic and nice, and because I don’t have as many of them, they end up looking worn very quickly. (I don’t dry clean, and don’t see the sense in it for most clothing – if it’s “quality”, why shouldn’t I be able to handwash it?) Any tips?
Great question. After all, we are on a budget around here.
My best tip, I’m a little afraid to say, is to wear things as many times as possible between washes. Laundering, and especially drying, is very hard on clothes. Angie says she is usually able to wear knit items 4-5 times before laundering.
I have also been finding myself slowly drifting to more wovens. (Not so practical for moms with babies, I know.) All cotton or cotton-spandex button-front shirts are “a dime a dozen” at thrift stores and need nothing more than washing and ironing to look crisp and quality. Removing them from the dryer while still slightly damp makes ironing a snap.
Finally, here’s Meg’s advice:
I try to avoid dry clean only things, but I don’t handwash stuff either. I wash all my clothes on delicate in cold water and hang dry. (I do separate out whites, put real delicates in delicates bags, and wash jeans separately.) Hanging saves time and energy, and my clothes last longer. The dryer is your clothes’ worst enemy. That lint comes from somewhere! Plus it takes the stretch out of clothes. The only stuff I don’t hang is knit sweaters and anything else that should lie flat. That way they don’t get misshapen.
Also, I take my clothes off when I get home and change into gym shorts and old t-shirts. That way I can play with my kitties without worrying that their claws are going to put a knick into my good clothes (small knicks become big holes quickly). Sometimes I wear a piece of clothing for so few hours that I can easily rewear it before washing. I hang almost all my clothes in my closet, so things air out very well. Also, I use good, friction hangers and I take care not to stretch the necks out when hanging.
What would you add?
I agree with all this. I have been reading that we wear out our clothes by laundering/cleaning them much too frequently. I also do not dryclean. I used to use a coin-op dry clean but switched to laundering everything. This includes coats! They come out great. The only thing I couldn’t wash would be a bias cut wool jersey, because of the bias.
I used to wash by hand but now I put things to soak for a short while and then spin them out. Then I refill and agitate for about 2 minutes and spin them out again. Then I hang them. I prefer to hang everything vs. laying sweaters out flat. I use hangers with snap on plastic shoulders when necessary, otherwise just round shouldered hangers. I use various detergents. Am careful not to use enzyme detergent with wools and silks. Am trying a for darks detergent now and can’t say whether it makes a difference. With wools and silks I would use a woolite knockoff or, in a pinch, shampoo. For stains, I tend to use Goop from the dollar store – that’s a waterless hand cleaner. For ink, cheap hairspray. Otherwise, so long as not wool/silk then I soak in enzyme wash. I don’t use non chlorine bleach because it never seems to do anything for me.
I read some articles about keeping darks dark, which matters to me. So I wash them inside out in cold with the dark detergent – supposed to disable chlorine in the water? – and hang to dry. No fabric softener as I read it leaves a haze on clothes that makes them appear less dark.
I put none of my own clothes in the dryer with the exception of a few very old workclohes and cheap underwear. A lot of my cotton has spandex. The dryer is supposed to be hard on elastic.
I also store very few items folded. I want the wrinkles to hang out and unless the items are a looser knit, they develop some wrinkling from being folded. I also loathe folding clothes. 🙂
So I hang everything that I can and that includes the knits that most folks wouldn’t. They don’t seem to “grow” or be pulled out of shape. Some people would hang them folded but that would defeat my purpose of having them look uncreased. I hang pants on clamp hangers from the bottoms, so the weight of the pants pulls them into a neat appearance.
oh, and I’m pretty sloppy so the only way I can wear nice casual clothes and continue to do housework is to remember to wear an apron while doing dishes and cooking. I seem to be able to get out regular dirt no problem, but it’s that kitchen area that’s death to my clothes.
one thing that helps to make clothing last longer is to dry EVERYTHING on the delicate cycle.
Wow, Vildy’s laundry routine rocks! Are you for hire?? hehe
I recently started hanging our clothes out on the line to dry. It was purely because I was trying to save energy. But I have to admit that I was *very* impressed at the differance it is making in their wear! I almost always hang everything upside down, which makes them dry less wrinkled (I’m having to iron much less since I started hanging out), and it doesnt’ stretch shoulders out of shape. I love the crispness of the shirts. (Although on towels — not so good. So I’m sticking to machine drying my towels!)
Hey Vildy, I use Goop too! For awhile we couldn’t get it and I was beside myself. It is fabulous for the collars of my hero’s dress shirts and the odd occasion one of us spills butter or salad dressing on our clothes.
What you say about hanging knits makes sense, especially since the thing that is most annoying, at least in my household, is when they shrink up. It’s crazy, I never would have thought about how our water is all chlorinated. How would you get rid of that?
Carrie, I wish I had a line to hang stuff out on. I know it sounds like an easily surmountable challenge, but we haven’t been able to work it out yet. We live on a corner; thus, we have two front yards and two side yards, no back yard. In the meantime, I’ll have to try MamaArcher’s idea and use the delicate setting for drying.
Oxanna ~ I hope this is helpful!
I grew up with a giant clothes line in the back yard and when living in Europe, was glad I didn’t have to adjust to the fact that they don’t even *own* dryers most of the time (towels are so scratchy with this method! but it *is* a life saver for clothes.)
I know some people say to *never* wash your jeans but my anally clean upbringing won’t allow me to go that far. Really, the only thing I dislike about summer is the fact that the heat makes it impossible to extend the amount of time between washes like you can in cooler weather.
Thanks for the link! I’m glad you liked my comment so much.
There’s nothing wrong with wearing clothes more than once if no one else can tell. Washing clothes more often than needed is a waste of time, money, and energy. It’s harder to get away with right now in Florida because of the heat, but I can still usually get away with re-wearing jeans a couple times (though I’m honestly not much of a jeans person any more). Skirts are even easier to re-wear.
Yes, you ladies are absolutely right. In the heat, I try to just have lots of cheap shirts, especially, because once you drench them, well, you really need to wash them before wearing again. Lots of laundry in the summer, but on the other hand, the clothes are generally smaller.
It’s going to be over 100 here today.
I forget to read my blogs for a few days and someone goes and posts a comment of mine! That should teach me to forget my reading. Thanks, Rebecca! 🙂 And to everyone else who gave the many helpful hints.
For background…I usually hand-wash my clothes (except for jeans), and *try* to avoid the dryer. However, due to the summer heat, I do wash them a *lot* right now. I should probably go look for more wovens, not knits, as mentioned, since they do seem to wear better. And get cheap shirts for summer. 🙂 And answering my own question…I should probably purchase more natural-fiber clothing, since synthetics attract perspiration.
To all without clotheslines: there are drying racks! Annoying to have up, but if you have a laundry room, they provide a place to dry all those air/hang dry only clothes. (Just be sure to get metal, not wood. Wood, I’m sorry to say, can leave marks on clothing.)
This is some advice I can get on board with!!
I never understood moms who said that they do loads and loads of laundry each day. My daughter (and now son) are fairly messy, so most shirts are washed each time, but shorts are not usually. I teach them that just because they take them off, they aren’t dirty.
My husband also does the same with his, as do I.
Not only does it save your clothes, but it saves energy and saves your time!
In addition, I have “yard work” and “workout” clothes that I’ll set aside and rewear even after they get a bit smelly. It all depends on what type of work I’m doing and who I expect to see.
I so agree Rebecca! Tumble driers ruin your clothes – it’s a fact. They shrink and dull anthing that you put in. Refrain from using that tumble drier for your clothing. Hang dry in your wardrobe instead.