How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Clothing can take a sizeable chunk out of your budget. Taking proper care of your clothes will get you lots of extra mileage out of them and save you money.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Needle and thread
• Extra buttons
• Sweater dryer
• Collapsible drying rack
• Plastic totes
• Cedar blocks

1. 1. Use scissors to remove price tags from your clothing. Yanking out plastic tag holders may be easier but can cause rips.

2. 2. Treating a stain as soon as possible will decrease the chance of it becoming permanent. Ordinary dish detergent is a great stain remover especially on food and grease stains.

3. 3. Be sure to separate darks and whites in the wash. Light colored clothing can leave lint on dark clothes while dark clothes can bleed colors onto white clothes. Always follow manufacturer directions for water temperature and wash cycles to prevent shrinkage and fading.

4. 4. Do not put cotton clothing in the dryer unless it is preshrunk. Sweatshirts, sweat pants, sweaters and even jeans will shrink in the dryer. Put sweaters on a sweater dryer being careful to spread them into their proper shapes. Hang jeans and sweats on a collapsible clothing rack to dry. You will save energy and keep your clothes from shrinking.

5. 5. Use baking soda and hot water to brighten white clothes instead of bleach. Over time bleach will cause your clothes to disintegrate. Bleach is also harmful to some septic systems.

6. 6. When your clothes come out of the wash be sure to check them for rips and missing buttons and mend them right away. Letting tears go unchecked could send them beyond repair once the fabric starts to fray.

7. 7. Store your out of season clothing in plastic tote containers in order to keep them safe from insects and rodents. You can throw in some cedar blocks for added protection.

[AmyJaine]

on 3/13/2008 Always looking out for ways to save money. Great advice. Thankyou.