Fashion: How To Care For Your Clothing

ACETATE (CHUNKY KNITS)
Most of these need to be hand-washed or dry-cleaned. Check the label incase it is acrylic or strong wool. Whatever you do, do not put these in a dryer after hand-washing unless you want to shrink your garments!

ACRYLIC (FAKE WOOLS)
These can be washed on a warm cycle and fabric softener is a great addition to keep your clothes fresh. What is awesome about acrylic is you can dry it on a low temperature.

COTTON (THE MOST COMMON FABRIC)
Cotton is a great material if it is 100% cotton. You can wash, dry and iron good quality cotton. If it is a cheap cotton (found in your bog-standard clothing stores), you can get skrinkage to which you should keep out the of dryer if possible.

CHIFFON
Now an incredibly popular material, chiffon can go through the dryer well on a low temperature and be washed on a gentle cycle.

Be careful of using a good powder as soap residue can be leftover on garments.

DELICATES
Like underwear, chunky knits, lace and cashmere. All of these should be washed on a gentle, cold cycle in a delicates bag.

Bras should be clipped at the back to prevent the clasps breaking.

JEANS
Wash inside out and only when necessary. If you want them to go back to their original size, put in warm dryer otherwise leave to dry outside.

LINEN
For linen, you will need to check the label for specifics as there is a large range of linens out there. Some can be washed easily whilst others will need hand-washing or dry-cleaning.

All linens should be dried in the sun.

NYLON
You can wash and dry all nylon garments on a low temperature

PLEATHER
Best to hand-wash

POLYESTER
Most items made from this can be washed and dried although check the washing tags for specifics.

RAYON (AN UNDERCOVER COMMON MATERIAL)
Rayon is incredibly sensitive to shrinking and should be dry-cleaned or hand-washed and kept out of the dryer.

This material is found in most standard clothing stores and when washed wrong, you can be left with suds, wrinkles and shrinkage.

SILK
There are some pre-washed silks that can be washed in the machine but most of the time, silk needs to be hand-washed or dry-cleaned. Personally, I wouldn’t even try to wash silk in the machine – you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.

WOOL
You will need to clean with a damp sponge or cloth and leave to dry over a couch arm for best results.

TIP
With a dryer, you should really leave this as last resort. Not only is it a huge consumer of electricity, it also decreases your clothing life.

If possible, hang light garments on coat hangers and heavy items over couch arms. This will dry them flat, meaning they will resume shape and will be mostly wrinkle free!

With business shirts, dresses and other wrinkle-prone items. Remove item from the washing machine before the rinse cycle begins and hang has listed before. Let them drip dry back to shape.