Thrifty Mommy

Top 10 ways to take care of your clothes

by kellys on November 10th, 2006

Are you contemplating how you are going to fund your child’s college education? Worried that they will want to be a doctor or lawyer and you will get the bill for all the 25 years of college? We are too. But that is another post altogether.

However recently I came across a great little blog from The Frugal Law Student. Evidently, he is paying his own way through school with the help of his wife. Kudos to them. But he reminded me of a lost art – clothes washing 101.

Make sure you read the labels carefully when washing clothes. Unnecessarily ruining a favorite shirt or pants that actually fit (this is rare in my closet) can ruin my whole day. So here are some of my favorite ways to keep clothes newer longer.

1. Check the pockets. Lipstick and crayons can be a real killer.
2. Wash as much as you can in cold. Hot water can shrink your clothes and cause the colors to run.
3. Turn you clothes inside out. The pills will be on the inside instead of the outside.
4. Dry clean only is on the tag for a reason. Don’t think you can outsmart the dry cleaning industry by doing it yourself. It WILL end up in the trash eventually.
5. Don’t dry everything. Lay your delicates out.
6. Hang your shirts up inside out. My mother-in-law does this to get rid of the little coat hanger defects in the shoulders.
7. My personal favorite, Downy Wrinkle Releaser, so that you don’t mess up clothes with an iron.
8. Towels can be dried on high, not your sweaters. That is unless you are tired of it and want to hand it down to your little first grader. Dry most of your clothes on low.
9. Protect your suede clothes with your life, or at least talcum powder. The powder is cheaper.
10. Don’t fill your washing machine up to the rim. I have ruined too many clothes by overstuffing my washing machine and then drying them before I realize that they had detergent or fabric softener still on them.

These are just a few ways to protect your investments. After all, it is definitely cheaper to not have to replace your wardrobe if you don’t have to. I certainly don’t have the money to do that too often.

Tags: clothes, laundry, top-10, washing-machine

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POSTED IN: Top 10 lists, clothes, frugal living