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Wash clothes???? Send anything you want to keep longer than 3 months to the dry cleaners. The washing machine is only for underwear, t-shirts, socks, and towels.
I don't even send cashmere to the cleaners. I wash on gentle cycle in cold water with something like Woolite. For sweaters, you put them into a mesh bag so they don't get stretched out. Dry them spread out on a mesh sweater dryer.
I wash a lot of things in cold water using borax and washing soda with a little bit of Woolite and nothing has ever faded. The borax actually makes things brighter and new looking.
If something is really dirty like greasy jeans from working on the car or there are really germs that might need killing I do use hot water and add grated Fels Naptha soap to the washing soda and borax. It's no trouble and that Fels Naptha will get the grease out.
I separate according to color and often I will hang the clothing OUT in the sun to dry. When clothes are hung out to dry they seem cleaner and I think they are. You probably do have to purchase decent clothing to start with though--meaning non Walmart.
I have had issues with dye fading mostly when I've washed in hot water and/or not turned the item inside out. Cold water wash/turn item inside out/hang dry seems to preserve dark pigments best.
I have had seams let loose during washing/drying, and it seems that poor construction pretty much goes with the territory these days, no matter the price point. It's easy to say, "Oh, Target clothes disintegrate in the wash," but I've had shoddy construction issues with inexpensive items, and costly ones where one would expect higher quality, alike. I overall just look at most clothing as essentially disposable, unless it's handmade by someone with skill, and buy with the fact that subpar quality is nearly a given, so why spend that much?
Drycleaning your everyday, machine-washable attire is ridiculous.
This is why I don't buy clothes at Target. They are programmed to self-destruct when you get them home. Sometimes, they can't wait and begin falling apart in the store.
Actually, haven't had this happen much. I have some Target sweaters that held up a lot better than pricy ones from banana republic.
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One day, I got a new pair of blue jeans at SuperTarget. After I brought it home, I immediately put it in the washer. Once the wash was done, I found the back pockets suddenly torn up.
Not often. I used to shop at Old Navy, then I moved overseas for a few years. When I returned, the quality of clothing at that store has gone downhill bad so I don't go there. I don't buy at Target, Wal-Mart. Don't like the styles. I did buy a shirt on sale for $1.97, now it has some weird discoloring. Well, you get what you pay for, don't you? I figure it was a yardwork shirt anyway, right? I'm not going to wear a $30 shirt for yardwork anyway, so there ya go. Otherwise no, I don't have that problem by simply washing. I can't imagine sending all my shirts and pants to a drycleaner every week! Sheesh!
Oh please... I have jeans, pants, tops, and gym clothes more than 3 YEARS old (not 3 months!) that are machine washed.
Bed linens and table linens too.
It is not necessary - and way too expensive! - to send everything but "underwear, t-shirts, socks, and towels" to the dry cleaners. Not to mention inconvenient.
Not to mention that dry cleaning uses toxic chemicals.
I use those lingerie bags in the washing machine for anything that might be likely to fall apart.
Has this happened to you before? Something that looks nice when you try it on in the store, and after not long, with only a few washes, all the nice color fades until it doesn't look like the thing you bought originally?
Yes, with cheap clothing. It also tends to pill quickly.
I wash most things with success. I don't use hot water except for some white towels and sometimes some kitchen linens. Hot water fades and shrinks. I don't get my clothes that dirty, really. I can use some Shout on collars and cuffs, if necessary, but mostly things get washed on warm with cold rinse and then are carefully monitored in the dryer. Delicate things are washed in cool with cool rinse.
I group similar colored clothes together. I also use color catchers in any wash where I worry about dye transferring to other clothes. And I am not afraid to block a sweater if I have to, instead of putting it in the dryer. Sometimes I let the sweater air dry and then finish it in the dryer.
I try not to buy too many really cheap garments. They can be a pain to launder. But washers have so many ways to control the cycles now. It is a lot easier to keep fragile garments nicer longer.
I wash most things with success. I don't use hot water except for some white towels and sometimes some kitchen linens. Hot water fades and shrinks. I don't get my clothes that dirty, really. I can use some Shout on collars and cuffs, if necessary, but mostly things get washed on warm with cold rinse and then are carefully monitored in the dryer. Delicate things are washed in cool with cool rinse.
I group similar colored clothes together. I also use color catchers in any wash where I worry about dye transferring to other clothes. And I am not afraid to block a sweater if I have to, instead of putting it in the dryer. Sometimes I let the sweater air dry and then finish it in the dryer.
I try not to buy too many really cheap garments. They can be a pain to launder. But washers have so many ways to control the cycles now. It is a lot easier to keep fragile garments nicer longer.
what are color catchers?
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