It is now the time of year for a lot of us where we are packing away summer clothing and bringing out fall (and maybe even winter) items. While it is incredibly easy to just chuck everything in a bin and not think anything more about until you bring it out for next summer, that is doing a huge disservice to your clothing and to you. This is a fast clothing care tip to help you move your clothing from one season to the next!
While you should always be cleaning your clothing according to the instructions on a regular basis, it is doubly important to do that at the end of the season when you are putting your clothing away. I would recommend doing an entire wash of your previous season’s clothing, checking it for stains, tears, and fading colours before you put it away. (If something needs to be dry-cleaned or hand washed, do that- don’t try to throw it in the wash quickly because you think it is easy.)
It will give you the chance to treat any stains while you still can, and you can identify and get rid of whatever clothing is no longer suitable. I think we all have had moment where you go to pull your clothing out for the next season only to realise that your favourite shirt or suitable pants have a rip down the seam or are faded beyond the point of wearing. Going through your seasonal wardrobe before packing it away lets you do a full inventory of what you have and what you should still have, as well as treat any necessary items. (The second benefit to doing this at the end of this summer rather than the beginning of next is that you may be able to replace some items on sale at the end!)
What is your best clothing care tip?
Cheers,
The Historian
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My biggest care tip is always treating stains as soon as you possibly can. I keep a Tide to Go pen for this exact reason. I also have two favorite stain removers that I add when I finally wash something – even if I’ve already used the pen on the stain. Better to be safe than sorry.
I also like the idea of as you go through the clothes making sure to try everything on as well as cleaning out what you never wore and either selling or donating it because that’s less to put away. Also gives you more room to find pieces similar to the ones you already have in the future to add to the next season.
I have an emergency kit that has both a Tide to Go pen and blue Dawn soap- Tide to Go pens are woefully lacking on the grease marks, but blue Dawn is a miracle worker! (It has to be the blue Dawn soap, other colours don’t work for some reason…) And yes, the less that you can pack away, the better! Why keep shuffling and moving things around if you know you won’t wear it again??
Good tips! I also make sure to have our winter coats professionally cleaned in the late spring, once we’re definitely past the point of wearing them for the next few months. I feel like people don’t give much thought about the grime that can build up on a coat over one winter, or several…until you go to put your coat back on when the weather gets cold, and you’re like, Ugh, gross. It’s such a nice experience to put on a nice, clean, winter coat when colder weather finally sets in for the season. And, y’know, it’s hygienic, too. 🙂
I also recently started to separate my “non-regular” laundry items into decorative bins; I have ones for dry cleaning only, whites only (that need bleach), and hand wash/delicate only. Before the bins, I would just leave each group of clothing in piles on the floor or the laundry hamper…and then my poor husband, thinking he was helping by scooping up the laundry and doing it, would end up wrecking quite a few of our clothes… lol. The clearly labeled and different colored bins are great for containing the mess and for reminding us that certain piles need certain care.
Haha, I have a whole separate post on caring for winter garments!! https://anhistorianabouttown.com/a-guide-to-caring-for-your-winter-clothing-style-file-friday/ I always get icked out to think about how many gross germs are on scarves and mittens alone, and how irregularly most people clean them!! If you truly aren’t willing to pay for dry cleaning for your coat… don’t buy that coat!
I am thankful that my parents always taught us to separate out handwash only items as soon as you take it off!! I am very particular about checking the garment makeup and care labels before I purchase things, so I know from the get-go if something is handwash only. I love the idea of decorative baskets for them!!
Great tips. Especially the inventory one as you can forget some pieces you have by the time the season rolls back round again.
Rachael | https://rachaelstray.com
I have definitely been guilty of buying something that I already had and just didn’t check- it’s so easy to forget things, especially basics!!