Crafting a wardrobe that consists of clothing pieces you truly love and want to wear on a regular basis is harder than it may seem. Especially when your favorite pieces somehow continually end up faded, stretched out, or shrunk not long after you cut off their tags. Once you’ve finally tracked down a collection of clothing items that fit properly and suit your style, don’t waste your efforts—and money—by carelessly damaging them. In order to make your clothing last longer, here are some clothing care mistakes that you need to stop making.
Not Sorting Your Clothing Before Washing
You’ve probably heard it’s important to sort your lights from your darks to prevent discoloration when washing your clothing. However, the color of your pieces isn’t the only important factor to consider when separating your clothing items for the wash.
In addition to sorting your lights from your darks, you should also try to separate your clothing made from heavier, more abrasive materials, such as denim, from your more delicate garments. Doing so will prevent fragile items from getting worn down more quickly.
You may also want to consider sorting heavily soiled garments from lightly soiled pieces before tossing them in the wash. For example, if your kid just ran around in the dirt and got their clothing all muddy, you might want to avoid putting those items into a load with their other relatively clean clothing.
Not Storing Your Clothing Properly
Unless the weather where you live stays fairly consistent the entire year, you likely won’t wear many of your warm-weather pieces during winter. After all, tank tops and freezing temperatures don’t make the best combination. As such, you may choose to store your summer items for the winter and vice versa.
When doing so, it’s important not to simply stuff your clothing into a box for several months and expect it to come out looking the same as you left it. To prevent stains, mold, warping, and discoloration from destroying your clothing, make sure to store your pieces in a plastic container in a dark and dry location. In addition, you should wash your clothing to get rid of any hidden sweat or oils on the fabric that could develop into stains overtime.
Overfilling Your Washing Machine
Perhaps one of the most common clothing care mistakes that you need to stop making is putting too big of a load in the washing machine. Minimizing household chores may seem tempting, but in this case, it simply isn’t worth the risk.
Overfilling your washing machine can end up damaging both your clothing and the machine. Plus, your clothes won’t be able to get properly cleaned since they won’t have enough space to rub against each other during the washing process. As a result, it’s important to take your washing machine’s advice and keep loads equal or under the dedicated clothing limit on the machine.