Clothing Care 101: Five Tips for Taking Care of Your Fall Clothes
It’s that time of year. Fashion weeks have come and gone. Our favorite brands have launched new collections. We’ve splurged. We’ve purged. We’ve welcomed our old favorite sweaters and layers back to the real world. Now that we’ve made some big decisions about our fall aesthetics, let’s talk about clothing care.
Love is a word I use for people and my clothes. I love my clothes. I invest my hard earned money and time into making them mine. They all deserve a fighting chance to strut around in the daylight as much as possible. I’m not going to wear them if I don’t take care of them. I’ve written about clothing care here, here, here and here. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t offer you a simple reminder of my top favorite tips:
Get the stains out: First things first. Make sure your canvas is clean. Even if an item is new or if you haven’t worn it in a while, you’ll always find a smudge of something: lipstick from your try on, chocolate from the kids, blood from a random paper cut. Keep a dresser drawer full of handy tools like Dryel dry-cleaner kit with a stain pen. Keep your laundry room ready to fight the heavy hitting stains with Biz Stain fighting liquid.
Create a system: Take time to organize your closet for two reasons: visual ease and clothing care. The more aquatinted you become with where each item in your closet belongs, the more likely you are to put items back in the right place. This makes getting dressed much less stressful in the morning because you can find your clothing faster. It also makes you more acquainted with each item, so nothing gets forgotten and therefore become ill-kept. See my closet organization rules here.
Let your clothing breathe: When you organize your closet, make sure to remove any items you don’t wear. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it eliminates distractions when you’re putting outfits together. If there are items you don’t wear stuffed in your closet, you might not see others you do want to wear. Also, if you let your clothing get too close to other items, then wrinkles start to form and fabric starts to wear. Give them space to move around a bit and breathe. They’ll last longer and look better.
Smooth out the kinks: If you’re taking items out from hiding, they may be wrinkled in time. Literally. There is nothing like a crease that’s been in the works for four months. The first step to working out the kinks is to hang the item up with room to breathe. Make sure the way it is hanging is smooth, loose, and free from pressure from other items. Leave it for a day or so and see what happens. If you aren’t satisfied, try to hang the item in your bathroom while you shower. The heat and moisture will help the wrinkles release even more. The next step?
Learn how to use a steamer: Once you’ve replenished your closet with new clothes and invited your old favorites to join the party, you’ll want to easily get dressed day and day out. If you stumble upon a wrinkle while you’re picking out your clothes and don’t have time to let it breathe, reach for a hand held steamer. I keep mine in a dresser drawer. It heats up quickly. It’s the ultimate clothing care weapon for women who take their clothing care seriously.
This post is sponsored by Biz. I use it every day! Happy to continue to partner to help your clothing last.
