You’ve likely seen instructions on clothing labels telling you that you should hang some of your clothes to dry for best care, but what exactly is the process of hang drying your clothes and why is it beneficial?
Hanging clothes to dry helps to avoid the heat damage that can be caused by traditional dryers. Delicate fabrics, such as those used in activewear, underwear, and jeans, can lose their shape and fit due to the harsh tumbling and heat of the dryer. By air drying your clothes on a clothesline or laying them out to dry on a flat surface, you can help your clothes maintain the same fit and form that you bought them with.
To help make the process as simple as possible, we’ve laid out a step by step guide with tips on how to hang dry your clothes.
- The first step to hang drying, or air drying, your clothes, is to wash them. This can be done in a machine washer, or by hand in a sink or a basin.
- Once your clothes are washed, remove them from the washer/sink/basin and hang your garments to dry on a clothesline, or lay them to dry on a flat surface inside. Where you choose to hang dry/air dry your clothes will affect the process you should use.
- If you choose to hang your clothes to dry on a clothesline outside, here are some tips about the best way to hang them:
- Pants: Hang your pants upside down. Make sure to match the inner leg seams of the pants, and then place the clothespins on the hems while attaching it to the clothesline.
- Shirts and tops: Also hang these upside down. Place the clothespins at opposite ends of the bottom hem of the shirt or top, and pin to the clothesline.
- Socks: Hang socks in pairs and upside down. Attach the clothespin to the toe area of the sock and let the top part of the sock hang down.
- Bed linens: Since sheets and blankets can take up a lot of space on the clothesline, you should fold them in half and pin each end to the clothesline.
- Underwear and bras: Hang underwear from opposite sides of the upper seams, and bras from their hook ends.
- If you choose to lay your garments to dry inside, here are some tips to help them air dry quicker and look their best:
- Make sure to lay your clothes on a flat surface when air-drying garments inside the home.
- Be sure to leave some room between garments to allow air to circulate and allow the clothes to air dry more quickly.
- Placing your clothes near a window, vent, air-condition, or a fan. This will help to speed up the drying process.
- If you do not have a lot of surface area to lay your clothes flat to air dry, you can always put your clothes on a hanger and hang them to dry on a rod or a drying rack.
- If possible, you should always lay sweaters and garments made from more stretchy material flat to dry. This will help to maintain their shape and form.
Hanging your clothes may take more time and effort than the traditional dryer, but it can help some of your favorite garments last a lot longer and stay looking as great as the day you bought them.
Rinse offers a Hang Dry service and we can take care of any garments that you’d prefer to be air dried instead of dried in a traditional dryer. Try our Hang Dry service at rinse.com.
“What exactly is Dry Cleaning?” It’s likely a question that you’ve asked yourself on numerous occasions, but haven’t gone out of your way to answer… until now. We’ve heard the question quite a few times ourselves, so we decided to set the record straight and make the dry cleaning process a little less mysterious.
In the simplest of terms, dry cleaning is a process of cleaning clothes without the use of water. The absence of water in the process is where the name dry cleaning comes from (one mystery solved). Instead, dry cleaning uses non-water based chemical solvents to clean clothes.
In more complex terms, the dry cleaning process has quite a few steps to it: Inspection and Tagging, Pre-Spotting, The Dry Cleaning Process, Post Spotting, Finishing Touches.
Here are what these steps entail:
- Inspection and tagging process: This is one of the parts that you’re likely most familiar with. You take your item into the store, and the dry cleaner creates a tag for your item/item. This is also when your clothes are examined for any stains, missing buttons, tears etc.
- Pre-spotting: Here is where things begin to get a little mysterious for us. Once we’ve dropped off our garments, cleaners will typically go through a pre-spotting process where there’ll actually apply a chemical solvent, vacuum, or heat to stains on your garment, which can help remove the stain in the actual dry cleaning process.
- The Dry Cleaning Process: This is the part we never see. Once your clothes have been pre-spotted, your clothes are placed into a machine and submerged into a non-water based solvent. The clothes are then rotated in a perforated cylinder where the cleaning solvent is released in a steady amount throughout the entire process. From there, the machine rapidly spins the clothes to get rid of any excess solvent and releases warm air. Your clothes emerge completely dry.
- Post-Spotting: Here your cleaner will inspect your clothes for any remaining stains and residue and remove them using the same process they did in the pre-spotting stage.
- Finishing: Once your clothes have gone through the complete dry cleaning process, they are pressed, steamed, or ironed for presentation. This is the part we love, because it makes our clothes look amazing, and likely the least mysterious since the equipment that cleaners use is typically at the front of the store.
Dry Cleaning can be beneficial for garments made from fibers that don’t react well when exposed to water, like silk and wool. It’s also good for garments that shouldn’t be exposed to the heat of a traditional dryer for an extended period of time.
While the Dry Cleaning process can seem a bit mysterious to many, all in all, it’s not as complex as it seems once you break down the steps. If you’re interested in having an item Dry Cleaned, schedule a Rinse and try our Dry Cleaning/Launder & Press service.
Once you’ve found the perfect pair of jeans, there’s no way you’re giving them up. Whether they’re trusty blue bootcuts or white skinnies, your jeans need proper care so they’ll look great no matter how often you wear them. You might feel a bit nervous caring for your jeans, though. After all, you’ve heard that washing denim too often can cause the color to fade. How can you ensure that your go-to pair stays clean?
Look no further than this handy denim guide. We break down everything that goes into caring for denim so you can make sure your jeans last as long as they’re in style—and a good pair never goes out of style.
Raw vs. pre-washed
Knowing the difference between raw and pre-washed will help you take better care of your denim.
Pre-washed denim: Just as the name suggests, this type of denim has been washed before you bought it. This is to help the denim maintain its original shape. With pre-washed jeans, you’ll run into fewer problems when cleaning, but it’s still a good idea to use the washing machine sparingly.
Raw denim: Darker in color than pre-washed denim, raw jeans can take months (and even years) to break in. After repeated wears, they’ll develop natural creases and snugly fit the contours of your body. This type of denim hasn’t been washed before, and may shrink slightly in water.
Pre-washed denim
Avoid washing too often
Contrary to popular belief, jeans don’t need to be washed after every wear. In fact, as long as your jeans aren’t stained, you can wear them multiple times before they need to be cleaned. Generally, you should wash your denim after five wears.
Be sure to turn your jeans inside out before you throw them in the washing machine.
For blue denim: Use cold water on the gentle cycle.
For white denim: Use warm water on the same cycle and avoid bleach, which can cause your denim to turn yellow over time.
Always air dry After washing your jeans, make sure to air dry them. This will prevent the denim from shrinking and fading in color. While you’ll want to dry your blue denim away from sunlight, the reverse is preferred for your white jeans. Sunlight serves as a natural bleaching treatment so air dry your white denim out in the open.
Raw denim
Freeze the bacteria away
Raw denim hasn’t been exposed to water before, so soaking it can cause the material to shrink. As a cleaning workaround, you can kill any bacteria by placing your raw denim in the freezer. Follow these instructions for a crisp, clean feel to your jeans:
- Fold your jeans and place them in a large ziplock bag.
- Seal the bag and store it in the freezer overnight.
- After you’ve removed them from the freezer, let your jeans warm up a bit before you wear them—unless you like feeling chilled.
Keep in mind that the freezer treatment isn’t intended for cleaning stains. If you find that you’ve spilled something on your favorite pair, rub a small amount of water and liquid detergent onto the stain. Leave it for a few minutes, then wash it out and let your jeans air dry.
Spot clean stains
Here’s how you can remove common stains from your jeans.
- Mud and grass: Wait until the stain dries, then wipe away any excess dirt. Mix some water and soap, and use a toothbrush to scrub the cleaning solution into the stain.
- Grease and oil: Blot with a paper towel to soak up any excess oil. Wipe the stain with a cloth dipped in soapy water.
- Red wine: Pour a bit of white wine over the stained area and then blot with a clean cloth.
Afterward, be sure to rinse with cold water. These stains are likely to happen while you’re on the go—have a stain remover on hand so you can pre-treat right away.
Keep these DIY denim care tips in mind next time you’re cleaning your favorite pair. Taking proper care of your jeans means you can wear them as long as you’d like.
Photos: Unsplash, PDPics, Chay Talanon / Shutterstock.com
Think of your favorite coat or jacket. Now, try to think about the last time you had it cleaned. It’s easy to forget to care for outerwear as the seasons change and your wardrobe staples rotate, but just like your trusty pair of blue jeans, your coats and jackets needs regular care to keep looking good.
We’ve outlined basic guidelines to help you decide when to clean your outerwear, so you can give these pieces top-notch treatment.
Consider the fabric
The fabric of your coat or jacket is one of the key factors in deciding how frequently it needs to be cleaned.
- Down jackets, leather jackets and wool coats: Once a season, if worn sporadically; twice a season, if worn regularly.
- Suit jackets and blazers: After four to five wears.
- Fleece jackets: After six or seven wears.
- Rain jackets: Once a month, if worn infrequently; twice a month, if worn regularly. You should also use a durable water repellent finish to ensure the jacket’s waterproof coating is doing its job.
By the end of the season
In order to prolong the life of your coat or jacket, don’t forget to tend to your outerwear during the off season. Before storing it at the end of the season, make sure your jacket is clean—even if you don’t see any visible traces of dirt or stains. Moths are attracted to perfume and food odors, so if your coat or jacket isn’t freshly cleaned, it can end up with pesky moth holes.
While many coats and jackets can be hand washed or machine washed, dry cleaning is ideal for wool coats or ones with embellishments. Keep in mind that leather jackets
require special care; leather can’t be exposed to water, but bringing it to a specialty cleaner will ensure your jacket gets professional treatment.
Storage considerations
Clean outerwear and appropriate storage go hand in hand. In order to ensure your outerwear is in excellent condition for the following season, you want to make sure everything is taken out of your coat or jacket pockets. Besides that, check that the zippers are zipped, buttons are buttoned and snaps are snapped. This will help your coat or jacket maintain its original shape.
When it comes to storage, your outerwear, especially a leather jacket or down jacket, needs to be given breathing room. This means you shouldn’t store your coats or jackets in plastic garment bags but rather in fabric storage bags. Plastic bins are also acceptable, but only if you don’t store too many coats and jackets in one bin.
By following these cleaning and storage guidelines, you can continue to wear your coats or jackets in the years to come. After all, they keep you warm and cozy through cooler weather, so they deserve a little TLC in return.
Photos: progressman / Shutterstock.com, Dmitry_Tsvetkov / Shutterstock.com, topnatthapon / Shutterstock.com
