Taking care of your clothes. Any tips?

[Deleted User]

I bought a bunch of clothes from Marks & Spencers less than a year ago. Hardly wear them, probably less than 20 times each item (if that) and already they look terrible. The jeans look faded, trousers have white streaks, the t shirts have got stringy and "sling up" from the bottom and the jumpers have bobbles all over.

Only thing I can think of is washing. I just chuck everything is by colour and choose the "cotton" setting as that gives the most complete wash. 

Just looking for the best tips for keeping clothes in good condition. 

ChilliBob

I read somewhere that the colurs are less important these days once spmrtjohas been washed once, and that the material was more important - so cottons on cottons and synthetics on a different setting.

We use something called 'easy care' on our Bosch machine - perhaps try the manual for your machine and see what programmes are on there. I think default cottons might be 60 degrees, thus easy care setting is 30 degrees.

Other thoughts - turn stuff inside out to wash. With my decent jeans I discovered there was a programme that said it was better for denim for example.

Oh and there will be a billion house wife's/husbands doing videos on YouTube about this - like that Emily Norris one etc! 

ChilliBob

Disclaimer: my wife is the expert with most washing stuff, especially stains, but I'm the fussy one if stuff is say silk, merino wool, hand-wash etc and I like the garment! 

ka7e

I'm probably old-fashioned, but I still sort my washing by lights, darks and coloureds. I wash nearly everything at 30 degrees with a bio powder. Bedlinen and towels at 60 degrees, regardless of washing instructions. If you have stretch jeans and wash them at high temps, they elastane goes baggy and white streaks can appear. Avoid T-shirts with seams, they nearly always go wonky - look for a tubular body.

I use thin, flocked coathangers. They seem to grip the fabric and you can hang clothes so that the shoulders and neckline stay straight. Quality knitwear needs a bit more shoulder support, so a shaped hanger works better.

theoretica

Washing is hard on clothes - you want to do the minimal to keep them clean and not too often.  I tend to bung everything in a 30 degree mixed setting.  Occasionally I want a cotton load - but for towels and things like that, not fine clothing cottons.

Torry_Quine

How often are you wearing clothes before washing them as too frequent washing doesn't help. 
I use a colour catcher sheet in every wash so no need to sort by colour 

benson1980

What temp do you wash at?

I used to have this issue. We were washing everything at 40. Since washing at 30 degrees for certain bits of clothing, they remain like new.

Misslayed

You can use the 'hooky' side of Velcro to remove bobbles from knitwear

kdotdotdotdot

It sounds like you're washing your clothes on too high a temperature.  Cotton is usually 60c and that's far too hot for anything that isn't pure cotton.  Most clothes do better at 30c and many are fine at 20c.  The only exception might be for underwear which might need a higher temperature if there are, er, marks on it.  Remember that you're only washing your clothes, not sterilising them.  

Yes, cheap jumpers will bobble.  You can use a razor blade to 'shave' them off, or buy one of of those gadgets that does it.  

HC

I think some clothes do wash better than others. I had a jumper I'd bought recently from Marks that looked 'worn' and had bobbles on it after a washing it twice (At 30 degrees).

I also used to buy a lot of basics from GAP but have found after one wash some things just go out of shape or start to bobble. Its made me stop buying from them.

I think its cheaper/production and materials some of the time, rather than the washing.

theoretica

Also helps to wash inside out - and with any zips done up.