Hi Imogen, I love your blog and have found soooo much helpful information on it! I have a rather practical but important question: How do you keep your clothes so tidy, pressed and new looking? Everything I launder comes out faded, wrinkled and sloppy looking. Unless I iron it, which, let’s face it, isn’t going to happen unless it’s a rather dressy or formal occasion. So, do you iron your every day clothes? Hand wash and line dry? Sent it all out to the cleaners? What’s your secret to long-lasting, nice looking clothes? Thanks!
I am by no means perfect in looking after clothing, but there are some rules I’ve made for myself that I adhere to.
1. Wash in cool or cold water, it strips less dye out of clothing.
2. Wash whites with whites, colours with colours and darks with darks (no darks with your lights unless you want lots of grey)
3. Use a gentle cycle for clothing that needs it, such as wool, silk and some other fabrics
4. When you take your clothes out of the machine, give them a shake to get out as many wrinkles as you can before hanging.
5. Hang on hangers, not in direct sunlight (sunlight fades your clothes). I hang my clothes in the laundry on hangers to dry. This will also help you avoid peg marks on your clothes and creases fall out as they dry.
6. Wash less often than you think, particularly for jeans. they can go much longer than you may be used to without washing, but they do need to be washed sometimes. Turn them inside out before washing as it helps stop fading.
7. Get yourself a good steam iron. That way, you don’t have to spend lots of time ironing, but the reality is, that you need to iron some of your clothes, otherwise they will look tired and crushed. The steam iron I use means that most of the time I just hang the garment and steam, rather than iron it (so much faster and easier). Yes I do iron my every day clothes (or steam them), you won’t look polished covered in creases!
8. Avoid putting your clothes in the tumble dryer, they really do age clothes rapidly.
If you hate ironing, then buy clothes from man-made fibres that don’t need ironing. Cotton, linen, silk and the like crush and need ironing. You have to make a choice about how much you hate ironing and which fabrics you prefer to wear. Or find yourself someone to do the ironing for you!
