Clothing fabrics are as varied as their buyers and in today’s post, you will learn how to care for different types of fabrics that are commonly found and used in your homes.
Acetate: Hand Wash and Air Dry
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Acetate is a common man-made fabric that is mostly used in conjunction with other fabrics in order to create easy to drape clothing. They can be cleaned but are highly sensitive to dye transfer. On each garment you will notice a label that explains how to take care of the clothing in question, read it and use cold water to clean the acetate rich fabric.
Acetate is weak by nature which means that too much heat, wriggling, and twisting can damage your clothes. It is best to hand wash these garments and incase machine wash is possible, use a gentle washer for this purpose.
After washing, you want to iron the garment with a low heat setting. Always press on the inside which will help in preserving the beauty and shine of the clothing.
Cotton: Hot Water Wash and Tumble Dry Warm
Cotton is known to be the most favorite and comfortable fabric in the world. You will find that cotton is used in a number of different types of garments like t-shirts, gowns, trousers, and more. Cotton is known to shrink unless it is pre-shrunk at the time of manufacturing. The details can be found in the label. If the label says “cold water only”, it means that the garment will shrink if not washed properly.
And since you are not a hobbit, you do not want that to happen!
If the garment is pre-shrunk, it means that you can use warm water to wash it. There is also the option of using chlorine to wash cotton based garments but only if the label says so. Chlorine will help remove hard to wash stains. Try to use a low heat setting when drying cotton garments otherwise the chances of shrinkage will only increase.
In the summer time you can probably just hang dry the clothes.
Linen: Cool Water Wash with Air Dry.
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Linen is a natural fiber that is manufactured from the Flax plant. It may be possible that you will need to dry clean linen based garments, so it is best to check the label here. If the label says that the garments are machine washable then use water that suits the color of the garment.
Linen absorbs a lot of water when compared with other clothing materials and so it is crucial to guard it against over-crowding in the dryer as well as washer. When ironing a linen based garment, use hot iron setting and press it from the inside out.
Polyester: Cool Water Wash with Air Dry or Tumble Dry
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Polyester was considered to be a wonder material not so long ago, in fact only in the last century. However, it has come a long way since then. Polyester is popular because it allows manufactures to create some of the most durable, easy to wash, and care garments in the world. It is possible to machine wash a polyester based garment; however, it is prudent to check the label first.
Use a low heat setting when drying polyester clothing with tumble dry. A neat trick to avoid wrinkles in polyester clothing is to remove them from the dryer while they are still a little damp. It will also prevent static build up. Never use a hot iron setting otherwise you will run the risk of melting the fabric.
Silk: Hand Wash or Cool Warm Wash and Tumble or Air Dry
Silk is a natural fiber that is not only strong, but also supple and lustrous. One of the oldest materials to be used in clothing, silk is washable depending on how it has been used with other fabrics.
Several weave patterns that are used with silk make it puckered or tight when washing. Once again, read the label to better understand the clothing material and usage instructions. If the label says “dry clean only”, it means that washing this garment in water will damage the garment.
If the label says that it is washable, it means that you are supposed to use soft washing materials that are made for silk garments and hand wash it only. Silk is a very delicate fabric when it comes to care.
