Google Arts & Culture makes a great point: "We all have to wear clothes and every piece of clothing we buy represents a personal choice."
Yes, fashion makes a huge difference to the point that it can change lives. However, clothing isn't just about being high fashion or having great aesthetics for social media or whatnot. If anything, clothes are a basic need. This includes the old oversized shirt you can't let go of and your favorite pair of jeans.
Clothing is an investment, and we want to make sure that we care for it properly. Different fabrics are made from different kinds of materials and require different kinds of care. We put in the effort to shop for quality goods, so we should spend time caring for them properly.
Read on to learn more about the basics of different fabrics and getting them cleaned:
Fabrics that fall under cotton are generally "pre-shrunk," making them far more durable. Cotton garments can be washed with a machine using any detergent. The general rule for bleach (reserve it for white garments) applies here. If colored clothing needs bleach, make sure that what you use is color-safe.
Keep in mind that denim-yes, the material for jeans and jackets-is also under this category. That's because cotton is woven into denim with the use of a twill.
White cotton has to be washed with bleach on the "hot water" setting. For everything else, machine-wash using warm or cold water with detergent that's all-purpose. To avoid yellowing, let it line-dry in shade after.
Synthetic fabrics are often resistant to shrinkage and can be used in wet environments. However, friction makes them rather susceptible to static electricity.
Polyester is a man-made fabric that was introduced in the 1950s and took off in the 1960s, becoming the “wonder fiber” of the 20th century. The fabric is durable, easy to keep clean, and comes in a wide variety of colors and styles. While most polyester fabrics benefit from warm water machine washing, it's important to prevent the fibers from melting. This is best done through ironing the fabric on low heat.
A synthetic fiber widely used today is spandex, also known as elastane, which is found in sportswear. It's largely because of how it can resist wear and tear given friction alongside flexibility. Spandex fabrics should never be washed with hot water and bleach.
This material is essentially a textile. It's made out of wood pulp, then treated with chemicals. Given all that, the fabric is essentially categorized as semisynthetic. One of the drawbacks of rayon, despite how comfortable and cool it is, is that laundering it tends to make it shrink and/or bleed. The crispness also ends up getting lost as well.
A good rule of thumb here is to get it dry cleaned. When that's not an option, handwashing with a mild detergent in cold water should do the trick.
Fashion is great, but clothes are a basic need. Different fabrics will need different methods of cleaning. Cotton, for example, benefits from any detergent in a machine-wash cycle.
Trying to find a laundry service in Springlake? Check out Mule Team Laundromat today! We provide our clients with fast laundry solutions to help take the stress out of laundry.