Laundry Habits that Will Help You Preserve Your Clothes for More Wearing Mileage

There are a number of things we can do in the process of laundering to help get the most mileage out of our clothes. We spend hard earned money on our clothes and it only makes sense that we want to keep them looking their best for as long as we possibly can. With all the new innovative laundry products on the market today, it is now a lot easier to get rid of nasty stains, prevent shrinking and fading and keep our clothes looking their best for longer periods of time. Here are a few simple tips to incorporate into your laundry habits to accomplish that.

1. Wash as much of your laundry in cold water as you possibly can. This is one the best ways to prevent your clothes from shrinking and fading, which help to keep them looking new longer. I was one of the biggest skeptics of this procedure for a long time. My mother always said the hotter the water, the cleaner the clothes. Not so in todays world where there are a number of laundry products specifically designed for colder water laundry washing. When you buy your laundry products look for labels that say "cold water" wash.

2. Try and take care of stains as soon as they happen, if possible. They have these "pens" that will help you erase that stain as soon as it occurs. Tide To Go is one such product and it works quite well, I have found. Removing stains before they're set in for days will help your clothes keep that fresh look longer.

3. If your laundry is quite heavily soiled, presoak it before you put it through the whole laundry process. This will help loosen some of that dirt and grime and make it easier to get clean in the washing machine.

4. Carefully read and follow manufacturers washing instructions on your laundry. If it says hand wash and line dry, do that for the best results. Those instructions are put on the clothes for a reason. I know you can gently machine wash some garments that say hand wash and still get good results, but you are taking a chance that it could fade or shrink and then it won't look as nice after it's been laundered.

5. Line dry as much of your laundry as possible, if you have the space and the time, of course. There's nothing fresher smelling then bedding that has hung outside on a clothesline to dry, Just ask your grandma.

6. Don't "over wash" your clothes. There's no need to wash some of your garments after only one wearing. When you take them off, check for any stains or odor and if it doesn't exist, hang it back up in your closet. This works well for a number of outerwear garments such as sweaters, skirts, jackets etc. They will stay new looking a lot longer if they aren't constantly washed and cleaned. This doesn't work for every garment you wear, of course.

If you keep these tips in mind when laundering your clothes, they should stay new and fresh looking for you a longer time.

Source: personal experience