Cleaning Tips

Your clothes are subject to all sorts of wear and tear every day. You would think that the washing machine can help prolong its life. But the machine you use for cleaning your clothes might be the same machine that can short the life of your garments.

Inside the washer, there is an increase in friction. This friction can help loosen up stains and get rid of dirt and grime from your garments. You can lessen wear and tear while you are doing your laundry. Here are some of the tips to help prolong the life of your clothes:

1. Turn your clothes inside out. This will prevent the outer color of your clothes from fading. Friction inside the machine speeds up the loss of color of garments.

2. While you are turning your garments inside out, you might also want to check the pockets for loose objects, paper or tissue. If tissue gets washed in the machine, tiny white tissue particles will appear on your garments. These are difficult to remove. Also check for rips and loose buttons. Mend the rips and bursting seams before washing. Running it in the machine might damage the clothes further.

3. Pre-treat stains rather than use hot water to loosen up stains. Soak your stained garments in mild stain remover overnight. After the stains are removed, you can add it with the rest of your garments so you can wash using cold water temperature. Hot water tends to release color in fabric causing color fading. This can also damage the elasticity of clothes fibers.

4. After using bleach, make sure there are no lingering bleach residues in the bleach compartment. If there are, run an empty water cycle first to make sure that the bleach is washed off properly. Some washers do not completely use detergent or bleach in the compartments. Bleach will definitely stain your colored garments.

5. When washing new clothes, wash them in cold water first. This will help set the color. Color tends to bleed if the garment is still new. You might want to separate new garments with your old ones first. This way, the color will not bleed with your old clothes.

6. Refrain from drying your clothes using high heat. Hang your clothes to dry instead. Before hanging, shake your garments first so you can get rid of the wrinkles and creases. This way, you wouldn’t have to iron out your clothes.