Great ‘Take care of your wardrobe’ Hunt

Twinkly · 29 September 2009 at 11:43PM

mrsmcdade wrote: »

I would recommend spraying leather handbags with Collonil waterstop. It means that they do not get ruined by rain and last a lot longer.

Use a disposable razor on your bobbly bits too! (Cardigans, leggings, etc obviously :P)

I do the disposable razor thing too ! The things you do that you think no one else does eh :rotfl:

I've also found its a good way - if done very very carefully with slow strokes - of shaving down a shiny patch on black trousers if the irons been that little bit too hot and left a mark. VERY carefully on cheaper ones though, have had a few holes if the shiny bit has been a tad too thick.

shar0n08 · 30 September 2009 at 12:36AM

Iron a square of iron-on interfacing into the inside front knee area of school or work trousers (I usually use whole width of leg and about 6 inches deep) to stop kids going through knees at school and to prevent knees going "baggy" if you have a desk job. Doesn't work on stretchy ones though! :j :rotfl: :j

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c0113tt3 · 30 September 2009 at 8:41AM

There a few ways to save money.

Do not impulse buy just because its in a sale, which most items end up unused and sitting in a wardrobe for years and then thrown out. Try to buy whole outfits together, i.e. if you see a skirt that you want, but cant find a top in the shop to go with it, look through all the shops first to see if you can get anything to match or go with it before buying the skirt. Also try to make outfits multipurpose for all seasons. For example, a summer outfit can be turned into an autumn outfit just by adding a cardigan and boots and possibly a longer skirt. An added bonus with this method is that, if an item of clothing eventually wears out, the whole outfit can still be worn (including matching bags / jewellery etc..) as the outfits are multipurpose and have varying tops / skirts for all weathers. Try to buy clothes that are of course nicely fitted, but do allow for a little weight gain or loss.

As for looking after clothes, always use see through clear plastic covers over clothes when storing in a wardrobe. Also have a selection of different stain removers for those accidents.

zoelb_2 · 30 September 2009 at 9:29AM

I always dye my skinny jeans to revive them, instead of using ones with plently of wear left in them for scruffs. I find skinny jeans seem to lose colour quickest (because they are more fitted and get stretched about more perhaps?) so a bit of Dylon (you can usually find this cheap in certain shops, even seen it in poundland before) and you have a brand new fresh looking pair of jeans. I've even dyed a pair of unflattering light grey jeans to a fab navy colour, which are much more slimming.

I also have the one year rule - I'll stash away things I'm not sure if I still want, then if I don't seek them out within a year then they go to the charity shop.

Finally I have recently taken to raiding my Mum's 'classics' as she calls them. I used to think some of the things were hideous, but now some of the jackets/belts/bags she has I go round and steal

some of them are really similar to current trends (she's got a great sequin jacket similar to one I was going to buy, that saved me £70), but generally they are better quality and a bit different to the topshop/river island clones.

Katie-Kat-Kins · 30 September 2009 at 9:50AM

Ok My top tips are:

1. Read the washing instructions! Generally follow them although there are some things that are better handwashed than dry cleaned, cashmere for example.
2. Learn how to sew a hem properly, it is dead easy but lasts better than wunderweb, turn trousers and skirts up too the precise right length so that they aren't catching on the ground when you walk and getting frayed. Also re do hems if they start to come down.
3. Keep those spare buttons together in the same place so you can find them if needs be. They will come in eventually, even if not for the original outfit!
4. Buy some laundry bags if you find handwashing a bind, it will help keep knickers, tights and other delicates in good nick even if you machine wash them.
5. Use a damp tea towel between your iron and your clothes to prevent shiny creases down the front of your trousers.
6. If you wear suits take both the jacket and trousers/skirt to be dry cleaned together to prevent fading.
7. Trousers on suits always wear out quicker than the jacket so buy the skirt as well (or two pairs of trousers) so that you get all your wear from the jacket.
8. Read the labels before you buy, cotton or wool knitwear lasts longer than acrylic and washes better.
9. Polish your shoes before the first time you wear them and do them regularly to maintain the life, have them reheeled before they are completely worn down.
10. Treat stains immediately for the best chance to remove them.
11. Change out of your "good clothes" when you get home from work. Sitting on the sofa in your suit will make it loose its shape. You will also pick up cooking smells and stains, and need to clean them sooner. Protect your clothes from as much wear as possible by wearing easily washable not too expensive things round the house.
12. Washing your clothes reduces their life span, if you can get away with airing them, ironing them or steaming them but not washing them do.

Winged_one · 30 September 2009 at 9:59AM

I definintely agree about de-bobbling. I have a battery yoke for doing it (got for about €2-3 a few years ago) and it makes jumpers come up like new!!

Definitely repair things early - even if it's only with iron-on wundaweb stuff.

Iron clothes properly - so right across the button area, stretch out the zip cover, get into all the little bits. Makes all the difference to keeping looking smart and also prevents early wearing out on unintentional creases.

Keep your smart clothes, that rarely get an outing, in the spare wardrobe if possible. Rather than bunched up at the end of the everyday wardrobe. Use a suit bag (from when you buy a suit), or a plastic sheet from a dry-cleaning run (with a sheet of tissue paper between clothing and plastic, just at top of hanger, to prevent damage in long term), to cover each item individually and keep dust off etc.

Keep the smart handbags and accessories that also get rare outings, wrapped in tissue paper and stored on a shelf in the spare wardrobe where they won't get squashed. Also, if going to be long time between uses, stuff handbags and shoe toes with tissue paper (or newspaper, but cover outside with tissue to prevent marking) to keep their shape. (And store hats in proper hat boxes, they are cheap, with the crown gently stuffed as before).

Don't overcrowd the hanging space.

Fold clothes being stored flat properly, to prevent bad creases in wrong spots. And try to keep folded piles from getting too high - between weight of clothes causing creases and difficulty getting at clothes on bottom, it's not good.

We use the cedarwood blocks in the spare room and linen cupboard, but in our room, I clip the lavendar buds from the garden when just finished flowering (better for plants anyway) and dry these in bunches. Then I put some in the wardrobe to keep moths etc out and keep clothes smelling nice.

Only EVER wash natural fibres (cotton, wool, linen) in non-biological washing powder. Biological is fine for synthetic fabrics, or ones with a mixture. But bio will eat away at natural fibres over time so anything with a high percentage of natural fibres should be treated with non-bio.

Instead of fabric softener, use some distilled malt vinegar for towels (FS stops them soaking up water) and I tend to use it on natural fibre items also. It doesn't leave any vinegar smell. I also usually add a couple of drops of tea tree or lavendar essential oil to the fabric softener slot with the vinegar.

ubamother · 30 September 2009 at 10:38AM

if your trouser hem goes at work, don't leave it until you get home to repair as it will have damaged the fold by then and won't repair well. If desperate shove a staple in with the smooth bit of the staple on the inside so you don't catch your leg and not much shows on the outside. No-one will notice and you'll stop damage.

PennyPinchingPrincess · 30 September 2009 at 11:11AM

Buy the best quality you can afford. I don't mean in terms of brands, but the quality of the fit and fabric. Long term, cheap clothes are usually a false economy. But remember, what you can afford, not what you'd like to be able to afford!

Handwash delicate items, particularly underwear. Oh! the bras I went through before I worked that one out!

Avoid using a tumble drier where possible.

Put aside anything that needs repairing as soon as you notice it. I mend things while I'm sat watching telly

grandmasam · 30 September 2009 at 11:17AM

Clean clothes before putting away for summer/winter
Place in vacuum bags for storage,saves space and no chance of moths!
My sisters and i are the same size so we have a 'pool' of posh frocks[!!]to share between us, we each bought one, mine was from a charity shop,and can borrow each others including the accessories that match,works a treat !!
caz

Katie-Kat-Kins · 30 September 2009 at 11:29AM

ubamother wrote: »

if your trouser hem goes at work, don't leave it until you get home to repair as it will have damaged the fold by then and won't repair well. If desperate shove a staple in with the smooth bit of the staple on the inside so you don't catch your leg and not much shows on the outside. No-one will notice and you'll stop damage.

Sticky tape will do the job of holding your hem until you get home without risking damaging the fabric like a staple.

I have a number of office clothing fixes, once caught a colleague fastening his cuffs with split pins as he'd forgotten his cuff links, another colleague used a staple when she lost a button on her blouse.

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Great ‘Take care of your wardrobe’ Hunt

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