Q&A: How to Keep Clothes Looking New
April 25th, 2007
Q: What’s the best way to keep new clothes looking new? Whenever I buy something, it looks great the first time I wear it, but then after the first or second wash, it starts looking older and older.
A: Clothes start to look older after washing for three main reasons: (1) Color Fading, (2) Pilling, and (3) Wrinkling. Here’s how to combat each:
Problem: Color Fading
Solution: Wash your clothes in cold water. Many clothing dyes aren’t color fast to begin with, and the tendency to "bleed" increases with the temperature of the water. Colors tend to become permanent after a few washes–and the garments under high heat accelerates the color setting process. Note: Always wash denim inside-out to prevent color loss.
I’ve found that using gentler detergents (like Woolite) helps to extend the "new" look of my clothes. Oh, and if the garment says "Dry Clean Only," do just that.
Problem: Pilling
Solution: Buy a fabric shaver to quickly and safely remove the "pills" (balled up fuzz) and lint from your clothes. Fabric shavers, like the model pictured, are especially useful to give new life to sweaters.
Pilling happens when your clothes rub up against something else. In the washing machine, this can happen when clothes rub up against the sides of the machine–or when they rub up against each other.
To minimize pilling, we recommend (1) placing items prone to pilling inside garment bags, (2) using the delicate cycle, and (3) not overloading your washing machine full of clothes.
Problem: Wrinkling
Solution: Fold or hang your clothes as soon as the dryer cycle ends. The longer clothes sit in the dryer after the dryer cycle ends, the more wrinkled they will become.
If you can’t take clothes out of the dryer right away, try moistening a hand towel and adding it to the load and then run the dryer for 10 minutes. The heat and moisture combination works much like a steamer and will help reduce wrinkling.
You can use a fabric steamer to remove wrinkles in your clothes. Steamers are less harsh than irons on your clothes–and will help to preserve their usable life span.
Pictured: Surround Air XJ-350 Electric Fabric Shaver | $29.99 at Target.
Style question? We’ve got answers. E-mail us at tips at omiru dot com, or leave us a comment with your question.
8 Comments Add your own
1. Briana | April 25th, 2007 at 10:11 am
This is a great post. My boyfriend’s clothes are ALWAYS so wrinkled, and I couldn’t figure out exactly what he was doing to make them that way. This makes sense - now I can tell him to stop leaving them in the dryer for hours after they’re done!
2. Trisha | April 25th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Thanks, Briana, and glad we could help
3. Jakuda | April 26th, 2007 at 3:16 am
For dry-clean only garments, avoid dry cleaning as much as possible. Spot cleaning and a steamer may be all you need between dry-cleanings.
4. Trisha | April 26th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Excellent advice–dry cleaning is harsh and reduces the life of the garment. Thanks for the tip, Jakuda!
5. John | August 11th, 2007 at 10:25 am
An excellent way to keep your shirts looking new (that is, crisp and the collar straight, not curling) is to use Sizing Spray. It’s different than starch spray, which makes shirts hard, not crisp.
Designers will actually spray their shirts with Sizing Spray when they ship their clothes of to retail stores to be sold to customers.
6. Trisha | August 12th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for the tip, John!
7. John | August 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
info on that stuff:
http://www.laidlawcorp.com/industrial/chemicals/spraysizinginfo.htm
it also tells you where to get it (it’s not that common)
8. DJ | February 6th, 2008 at 7:51 am
How do you get wrinkles out of clothes that were caused by the heat setting on the dryer being too hot?? I’ve tried ironing them and using the steam setting on my iron and I’ve also tried hanging some of the severely wrinkled clothes in the bathroom during my shower and nothing is working! HELP! All of my clothes are ruined!!
9. Deb Whitworth | March 17th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I purchased a fabric steamer several weeks ago very reasonably on drugstore.com. Shipping was included (a pet peave that keeps me from shopping on line) and the cost was right around $60 for a Conair steamer. The website provided product reviews, which were very helpful and I actually changed my choice after reading them. I’m thrilled with my steamer. My jackets, sweaters, and cotton shirts look great. Clothes that I’ve just purchased (complete with shipping wrinkles) look gorgeous after being steamed. I’m a true believer! Better than the iron ever was and it fits nicely into my linen closet.
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