Making Clothes Last Longer

One of my friends, bless her... drives me utterly crazy. She does not take care of her clothes... and she is an adult...with children! We meet for lunch once a month. Typically, she is running late because she had stopped by a store that was having a sale and picked up some new things. Then she proceeds to talk about how she is broke and how her family cannot afford to go on vacation this year.

I am meeting her for lunch this week and have come up with a list for her. She finds my "tips" cute and usually passes them along to her family and friends. However, this list of tips is just for her. In addition, you if you need them...feel free to pass them along to whomever you chose. Times are tough and we all can benefit from a few common sense money saving tips.

Making clothes last longer- spill be gone

The secret to stain removal is not what to use but how soon to apply. As soon as you arrive home, treat the stain with stain removal... I use dawn dishwashing soap as my stain pre-treater. I have even started keeping a small bottle in my very oversized purse for away from home emergencies.

Making clothes last longer- be loose as a goose

Unbutton your clothes. All items are checked for bottoms and then unbuttoned prior to going into the wash. This prevents the threads on the bottoms from being weakened due to the machine's agitating. Less loose buttons this way.

Making clothes last longer- fold is bold

I was brought up to fold my sweaters not to hang them on hangers. I have carried on this tradition and have passed it along to the next generation. My sister and family now reside in Maine. They have an abundance of sweaters... much more so than my family here in Texas. Having a plentiful amount of something still is no reason to discard good advice. She folds the sweaters and my niece and nephew do too. The ones that are discarded on the floor leastways.

Making clothes last longer- on the flip side

All clothes are turned inside out prior to washing. This is relatively simple as that is normally the way they are found in the dirty clothes hamper. This prevents color from fading. I admit it; there are times when not all shirts are turned inside out... but always the jeans.

I am also going to encourage her to leave notes. For every item she takes to the dry cleaner... pin a note to the front about what caused the stain thus providing the dry cleaners a better chance of removing the stain.

If she adheres to this list... I bet... I just bet her family will be able to take that vacation after all.