Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we'll give you a list of some simple and inexpensive tricks you can
use to make sure that you are getting the most out of your garments and that your cleaning
equipment stays in tip-top shape.
Today's video is part of a series on garment care; the first video in the series dealt
with how to get that musty smell out of vintage clothing and the second part dealt with caring
for and maintaining wool sweaters, you can find links to both of those videos here.
This video then will clue you into some materials that you can keep in your laundry room or
elsewhere around the home and how they can be used to find some cheap and easy solutions
to common laundry problems.
Also, be sure to stay tuned for another part in this series that will deal with a common
problem, stain removal.
So let's get started today with a tip for those of you who enjoy wearing dark denim
and prefer that your jeans or other denim garments not fade over time.
As we've mentioned before in the past such as in our full-length article on denim jeans
which you can find here, the darker a pair of jeans is, the more easily you'll be able
to pair it well with outfits in the smart casual dress code.
On that note, you can also take a look at our dress code primer video here and our video
on whether or not you should wear jeans with a suit jacket or blazer here.
The easiest way to keep a dark pair of jeans dark is to minimize how often you're washing
them in the first place, of course, but there is another technique you can use on a new
pair of jeans to make sure that their color is set even more permanently, your key ingredient
for this technique is salt.
Nothing fancy, just standard kosher salt will do.
Take a quarter cup of salt and add it to a container of hot water, stirring to make sure
that all of the salt is completely dissolved.
Of course, the container that you're using should be clean.
Submerge your jeans in the hot and salty water, making sure that every part of the fabric
is thoroughly wetted.
Now, leave your jeans in the container overnight so that the salt permanently sets the dye
to the fabric.
After this overnight soak, you can wash your jeans as normal.
Next up, we've got a way to keep your clothes soft and your wallet happy because you won't
be spending extra money on fabric softener or on dryer sheets.
So why do we recommend forgoing these two products then?
Well, in the case of fabric softener, it's not actually making your clothes any softer
rather it's leaving a sheen of petroleum and other products on the fabric cutting down
on both breathability and absorbency.
In other words, your clothes aren't going to breathe as well so you'll probably be hotter
and also, if a stain does set on the fabric, it's going to be held in that much more permanently
because of the sheen left by the fabric softener.
In the case of dryer sheets, not only do they contain chemicals known as phthalates which
are a possible cause of pregnancy issues and birth defects but they also do increase the
risk of dryer fires, not good.
So what's the alternative here then?
We suggest getting yourself a set of dryer balls in wool or a similar natural fiber to
keep your clothes soft and if it's not only the softness you're looking for but also the
scent of fabric softener, what you can do is put a few drops of essential oils on to
those wool dryer balls then the scent of the oil will be imparted into your clothing as
it dries.
As long as we're talking about the dryer, here are two other implements you can use.
Dryer balls made from rubber or rubberized plastic can be used to cut down on static
cling between clothing as can a ball made from another simple and commonly found household
material, aluminum foil.
To make one of these, start with about one yard or meter of aluminum foil and compact
it into as tight a ball as you're able.
It will compact even further as it goes through multiple drying cycles.
After about 60 cycles or so, you should be able to swap it out for a new ball.
We'll talk to a greater degree about washing and drying in a future video but for now,
know that we think it's best that you only leave your garments in the dryer for about
three to five minutes just to knock out the wrinkles.
After that, it's best to hang your clothing or spread it out on a drying rack to dry the
rest of the way.
And one final hack for today how to effectively clean out your washing machine, you've probably
noticed that over time, your washing machine can build
up an unpleasant and moldy scent especially if you have a front-loading machine with a
rubber seal.
This can partially be due to mold itself, of course, and can be managed effectively
over time by wiping down the inside of the machine and the seal with a washcloth or a
rag after each use.
It's also partly due, however, to the petroleum products found in most commercial liquid detergents
and fabric softeners.
To cut down on this problem, in the first place, of course, we would recommend that
you switch from liquid detergent to using soap flakes instead but as I've said, we'll
cover that more in a future video, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, the easiest way to remove that unattractive scent from the inside of
your washing machine is to gather up two basic materials.
One whole box of borax and one gallon of white vinegar, mix them together and pour them both
directly into the drum of your machine.
If the machine also has a loading tray where detergent and fabric softener usually go,
it wouldn't hurt to put a little bit of the mixture in here as well then set your machine
for the longest and hottest cycle possible, let the cycle run completely and after it's
finished, your washing machine should be like new.
Armed with these cheap and easy tips then you should be left with dark denim that holds
its color more effectively, softer clothes that breathe and don't hold on to stains,
no static cling in your dryer, and a washing machine that's sparkling clean.
As we said earlier, you can take a look at our previous videos in this garment care series
here and stay tuned for our video on stains and stain removal.
Also if you're looking for more gentlemanly hacks, you can take a look at our video on
35 life hacks here and also our video on 15 men's style hacks here.
We'd like to know which of today's laundry tips were you most surprised by and were you
using any of them yourself already?
Share with us in the comments section below!
Also a reminder to subscribe to the channel and hit that little Bell icon so videos like
these come straight to your inbox
in today's video I'm wearing an outfit that might be typically worn around the house taking
a day to do a little bit of necessary garment care my medium blue cardigan is especially
informal given its two front pockets I'm wearing it over a shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt that
features a gingham pattern in blue and white the shirt does have French cuffs but I'm wearing
them configured in a barrel style today so that they fit better under the sleeves of
the sweater my cufflinks are vintage silver ones and they feature a simple geometric pattern
that complements the gingham pattern of my shirt well my plain brown trousers harmonized
well with my shirt and cardigan and on that note you can check out our video on how to
effectively pair brown and blue here to go along with this color scheme my socks are
plain blue in color but they do feature a subtle stripe in their weave the outfit today
is rounded out by my dark oxblood penny loafers which are informal in nature and also harmonize
well color wise I'm not really wearing very many accessories today aside from the vintage
cufflinks but if you would like to take a look at some other types of accessories cufflinks
as well as tie pins collar clips boutonnieres pocket squares and so on take a look at the
Fort Belvedere shop here