How To Wash New Clothes? Here Are A Few Quick Tips!
New clothes always need to be washed with extra care. If you don't handle them right, the colors can fade,they can shrink, lose their shape, and get wrinkled - and this is true for any costly item too! We have put a lot of effort into picking these beautiful new clothes, so we certainly don't want to spoil them! I am going to show you some tricks today by which you will never run into these problems again.
Preventing Clothes from Fading:
You can minimize the color of the garment from being damaged by washing with a neutral (silk, shampoo, household) detergent at temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius. Don't use laundry powders and soaps, or soak clothes in hot water.
Wash dark clothing separately to avoid color bleeding. Add a little salt while washing, and water should not be too hot.
Be sure to wash the fabric and then rinse with clean water right away. Do not let detergent or alkaline soap sit on the fabric for an extended period.
Do not expose clothes to direct sunlight; dry them in a cool, ventilated place.
Here's a small tip for effectively avoiding your clothes fading: line dry clothes inside out. For sweaters, you can also soak them in cold teawater before washing.Bright colors such as red and purple should be soaked in a little vinegar before washing. Salt water soak before washing a brand-new out fit is also a good practice.
Clothes Shrinking:
Generally, we wash our clothes first when we buy new ones.However, after washing, the clothes which fitted perfectly before, may shrink and become unwearable! Many people believe this is a problem with the quality of the garment but, actually, it is the in correct washing method that has caused this problem.
Hand Washing is Best:Machine washing is very common but it also contributes heavily to the shrinkage of clothes.In this respect, it is recommended that you wash the clothes separately.If you have items that are not suitable for machine washing, then you should hand-wash or dry-clean them Look at the label of the garment for further information.
Say No to High-Temperature Washing: Some people believe in washing clothes with hot water because they will come out softer or disinfected. But, the warm water temperature must be less than 30 degree centigrade so that clothes won't shrink too much due to heat.
Don't Soak Too Long: It is standard practice to let clothes soak before washing, but the right amount of time is 10-15 minutes. Soaking causes dirt to be reabsorbed by the fibers of the clothing which will become softened and shrink.
What if Your Clothes Have Already Shrunk?
Try these methods:
Conditioner:
Suitable for: Knitwear, cotton, and almost all other clothing materials.
Not suitable for: Silk.
Pour half a basin of warm water, add one capful of conditioner, and stir well. Then, put the shrunk clothes in the water.
Gently rub and stretch them for 5 minutes to soften the fibers.
Next, squeeze out the water from the clothes (don't wring them dry or rinse them). Take a large, clean bath towel and lay the clothes flat on it. Stretch the clothes up and down, and side to side.
Roll up the towel with the clothes inside, gently pressing to absorb excess water.
After 5 minutes, remove the clothes, stretch them slightly, and air dry as usual.
Several people wonder whether clothes need washing after soaking in conditioner. The answer is no. There will be no foam residue, and, it will not irritate your skin. Conditioner makes the fabric fibers stretch, and, when the clothes dry, gravity will stretch them further and restore the shape of the clothes.
Vinegar and Borax:
Suitable for: Wool, cashmere.
Not suitable for: Synthetic fibers.
(Best to empty it in a sink or basin). Pour measured warm water out. Add 2 tablespoons of borax per liter of water or 500 ml white vinegar to each liter of water.
Stir the mixture and soak wool clothes in this water for a minimum of 25 minutes. If the clothes have shrunk considerably, you can stretch them gently as you soak.
After 25 minutes, discard the garment, wring it dry, lay on a towel and roll up and again wring it out.
Let it remain in the towel for around 10 minutes.
Later, take out the garment and leave it flat for air drying. In case you don't fancy the scent of vinegar, you may also give the garment a cold water hand wash and then hang it for drying.
Warm Water Soak:
Suitable for: Jeans.
First of all, wearing your jeans to stretch out the fabric is the best solution even if you have to force your way in a little bit. For the cases where you simply can't fit into them, a warm water soak for a minimum of 15 minutes works great.
Pour warm water into a bathtub, wear the jeans, and sit down with the legs submerged up to the thigh level. Stay submerged for around 10 minutes.
Once out of the bath, walk around, do some leg bending exercises to elongate the denim fibers. Keep them on for 1 hour.
Take off your jeans and hang them to dry.