Hi everyone, it's Justine
Last week, I talked about how to recognize good and bad quality when you're shopping for clothes.
That raised a TON of questions about care instructions
and about how to keep your clothes longer once you have them
So I'd like to tackle those questions today
I'm going to start with basic care instructions
and then I'll give you more homemade, specific tips on how to clean, and also store, your clothes.
First when you look at the label you see five different little icons.
You have wash, bleach, dry, iron, and dry clean.
Those five icons tell you what you can, and cannot, do.
Let's take them one by one.
First, washing.
A crossed little wash tub means that you cannot wash the garment at all.
You might want to rethink whether you want to buy that garment after seeing this symbol on the label.
The little hand in the wash tub means that hand-washing is recommended.
Wools, silks, and fine fabrics are usually better off with hand-wash.
Today, most washing machines have a hand-wash option
among the cycles that you can choose from
It means that it's a gentle cycle and that it's not going to spin too much
so that you actually don't have to hand-wash the garment yourself
A machine-washable garment will tell you at which maximum temperature you may wash it.
30 degrees (Celcius), 45, and then up to 60 or 95
Over 60 is really just for bedsheets and white things that you really want to boil
You'll never use such a high temperature for colored items.
and honestly, the colder the better
for the fibers of the garment and for the environment.
The last thing you need to know about washing is that
is that little bar that you sometimes see underneath the symbol.
That means "delicate" if you have 1 bar,
"very delicate" if you have 2 bars
Watch out with these ones; they're very sensitive. That's why they especially highlighted it on the label
Wash VERY gently, try not to spin at all, be very careful how you handle it
and lie it flat so that it will dry keeping its shape.
Then the "bleach" question
I don't bleach anything, ever
Mostly because it's very chemical
and it's bad for the environment, and I don't want that one my skin, either
so I use other tricks to keep my white things really white
I will come to that also in a minute
But, basically, if you wash the white garment in a washing machine, it comes out white.
If you have the feeling that your white items
come out a little bit gray-ish
then you want to open the machine
clean the old fibers and the dirt from previous washes that are stuck inside
Change the filter; it's a machine problem
It's not a problem of white losing its brightness or something
Also, since you want to wash bleachable and non-bleachable items together
make sure that your main detergent does not contain any bleach agents
otherwise, it will fade out all your colors
Drying
A simple square means "natural dry"
With a little curve, it means "line drying"
and with a little bar, it means "flat" drying
A synonym for that is a square with a circle, crossed
That means, "no tumble dry". Dry it another way.
If you may tumble dry a garment, it's either with "low" heat: one dot
or with "normal" heat: two dots.
Remember that, in general, fabrics and seams do not like to be tumble dried
It's not necessary, and it's really harsh on the fibers
so it actually reduces the life-expectancy of your clothes.
Ironing
"Do not iron" is a symbol that you will often seen on garments
that have a print on them or sequins
or non-woven fabrics like neoprene
"Iron" or "do not iron" is not a matter of quality
and it has nothing to do with synthetic or natural fibers
Today, modern synthetic fabrics can perfectly be ironed; that's absolutely no problem.
If you may iron, one dot means "low heat"
no steaming while you're ironing; no pushing the button
Two dots mean "medium heat"
Eventually, you can steam if you have a really, really bad fold
but not so much
and three dots means you can go ahead, "high heat", and you may steam it.
Those symbols match the symbols on your iron
So it's super easy to recognize
I hate to iron for me privately, so I don't
I just put the clothes on lines and hangers
right after the wash
and then the folds and the creases and the problems
just come off naturally
Though, I know people who iron even socks and underwear
I won't name them here, but you know who you are.
I wonder, why?
It's lost lifetime!
Drying cleaning
To be used with caution only if really, really necessary
it is toxic for you and for the fibers
They use chemicals to wash your clothes instead of water
so you can imagine that
A cross-circle means "don't dry clean"
If you can dry-clean, the circle will have a letter inside
that tells you which chemical agents may be used to clean this fabric
I hope you're aware when you pick up garments from the dry-cleaning
You should immediately remove the plastic bag
from the garments, so that the fiber and the fabric can breathe again.
So, that was to help you understand the care instructions
so that you know what you're buying before you take the garment home.
Now let's talk about pragmatic care instructions and grandmother's tricks.
First, how to keep white garments white.
I simply air-dry them in the sun
You know, sun bleaches out colors so it's not so good for colors
but for white, it's perfect.
And if you have a stain on a white garment
use a mix of vinegar and water
that you apply onto the stain, let it soak for a little while
and then wash the garment normally.
Then, natural fibers.
They auto-clean.
Seriously!
You don't need to wash wools or silks too often.
Just hang them outside, give them some breeze
Shake them for a little while if you've been going out to a pub that was full of smoke
Wait for a few days then put them onto a lavender pillow.
Lavender is a natural cleanser
and the smell will be completely gone.
If you haven't been sweating really, really badly, or getting a stain
you don't need to wash a wool sweater.
Beware when you wash wool
Even if the label says 30 degrees Celcius are okay
I would ALWAYS go with cold water
Don't spin, don't tumble dry, don't shake.
Just air-dry laying flat
Why?
Who has every had a sweater, made of wool, that came out of the machine
four sizes smaller and hard as rock?
Me!
That's because water, plus heat, plus movement
makes felt out of wool. It's a mechanical process
and you can't save it anymore once that has happened.
So, you're already adding water because you're washing your sweater
Make sure that you don't also add heat
and that you limit movement as much as you can.
What to do when you have an item that really, really stinks?
Like a pair of used sport shoes, for instance.
Place the shoes into a bag and into the freezer.
The bag must be completely sealed
so that the shoes get cold but not wet.
After a few days, the cold will have killed all the bacteria
and the smell will be gone.
By the way, that also works fantastically for jeans.
When you wash jeans or clothes that have hardware on them
together with lighter fabrics
make sure to turn the pieces that have hardware inside-out
so that they don't damage the lighter fabrics
And if you're washing hard fibers with light fibers together
you want to put the light fibers into a little fabric bag
so that they don't get damaged and you can wash everything together.
When you switch seasons in your wardrobe, and you're putting a part of your clothes away
Make sure to wash them really thoroughly - this time, yes - and then put everything
into a fabric bag - not plastic - because plastics keeps, and fosters, humidity.
Have you ever had a sweater
that came out of storage yellow-ish or stained?
Well, you had bacteria left on it
and keeping everything in a plastic atmosphere
allowed the bacteria to grow and expand.
So, prefer fabric, add a lavender pillow, auto-clean; you'll be fine.
Thumbs up if you learned a tip or two in this video
I probably forgot something, so feel free to ask in the comments below
and also share your own grandmother's tips because grandmother's knew everything
Also, thank you so much for 75,000 subscribers
Um, every one of you who subscribes is one more reason for me to do more videos
So, thank you so much.
I'll see you Sunday and Wednesday, again.
Until then, take care. Bye-bye!