Classy Southern Texan : March 2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018 1 comments

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 2 comments

Welcome to another edition of Laundry Talk Tuesday....Today I am covering why your clothes may SHRINK or STRETCH when washing.

YES, this happens in your washer not your dryer!!

Source: Picture taken by Greg Beason

Source: Picture taken by Greg Beason

You have read the care labels of your clothes and they still seem to stretch and shrink for some reason. Most of how our clothes react during cleaning happens way before you ever purchase them. Some clothes are pre-shrunk and some will shrink after washing depending on your washer and dryer settings.

Every type of clothing fiber reacts differently. Wool, cotton and even bamboo have lots of stretch built into them. Side note if you have never tried bamboo sheets or shirts you are missing out. My husband's favorite brand is Cariloha. We discovered this brand on a cruise to the Caribbean but now they have a local store in Austin, TX.

Source: https://www.cariloha.com/mens/tops/polos/bamboo-performance-jersey-polo-coastal-blue-stripe.html
Loose fabrics type will stretch more when exposed to heat and agitation from a washer.

What can you do to avoid Stretch and Shrinking?

1) Read care labels before purchasing clothing

Look for key words like pre-shrunk. Some companies will stretch the fabric during production to use loose fabric. This reduces the price you pay for the item.

2. Follow guideline for washing vs dry cleaning. Most labels tell you to wash in cold water with similar colors. Many items tell you to tumble dry low or to lay flat to dry.

3. Using cold water will not prevent all shrinking!!!! Using cold water is however less damaging to fabric than hot water.

4. The gentle cycle of a washer or hand washing is also less damaging to your clothes. Setting with longer cycle have more agitation time which can cause your clothes to shrink.

5. Front loader or top loaders without a center agitator are also less damaging and will cause less shrinking than your standard top loader. The tumble action in high efficiency washers is more gentle on clothing.

6. Air drying clothes is the most gentle method and will provide the least amount of shrinkage to your clothing. Drying clothes also on a lay surface will prevent shrinking.

7. If you can't air dry your clothing use the lowest setting on your dryer. Remove your clothing from your dryer while clothes are slightly damp and allow them to air dry. Lots of heat on clothes is hard on them.

8. Wearing clothes for extended periods of time between washes can also stretch your clothing. I personally do not suggest wearing your jeans/pants more than 3 times in a row. You will notice after about 3 washes they have naturally stretched out and fit looser.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 No comments

Friday, March 23, 2018 2 comments

Wednesday, March 21, 2018 2 comments

Welcome to this week's edition of Laundry Talk Tuesday. Today, I am sharing some tips on how to sort your laundry. I am sharing some great laundry hamper for sorting also and just how to prevent your clothes from bleeding/dying and just how much sorting you should do.

At my house, all of our laundry goes into two hampers that I bought from Target years ago. They are wicker and I think we have had them close to 7-8 years. They have held up, they are wicker on the outside and then have a fabric liner in the inside (yes you should wash this occasionally.)

People ask me all the time how they should sort their laundry. How much is too much and why can't I just throw it all together in one load? I know many people who do their laundry daily and mix together darks, lights, towels, etc. I DO NOT recommend this for many reasons.

1) your once white clothes may turn red, pink or even blue

2) your white will appear dingy or dirty

3) your clothes make shrink

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS read your labels. This is one of the easiest ways to sort your laundry. Some labels say hand wash, some say cold with like colors and some mention laying flat to dry.

Another quick way to sort clothes is by color, fabrics and weight (towels, sweaters, etc.)

Before you start washing your clothes....

Some people prefer to wash their clothes all on one day typically the weekends and other wash different loads on different days.

If you are one of those who choose one day a week to do all your laundry, I recommend sorting as you wear your clothes. Use a laundry hamper with sections or get 3-4 hampers for each load you plan to do.

If your hamper doesn't have labels create them. The most common are whites, darks, towels and jeans. You can even create a section for dry cleaning so this isn't just laying on the floor of your closet.

Pre-sorting will make your laundry seem less of a chore!

Laundry Hamper

Hamper

Step One

If you are familiar with your clothing items you may be able to skip this step...

Read each care label on each piece of clothing, on the label you will find how the item can be washed, sometimes even at what temperature and how it should be dried.

If an item says wash separately or hand wash put it in its on individual pile.

If an item says dry clean only, then DRY CLEAN ONLY!!!

Step Two

Once you have your hand wash and dry clean items separated sort into color piles

1) white, pastel, greys, etc

2) dark- black, red, navy, brown

3) jeans

4) towels (white/color)

Step Three

Once separated into lights and darks you may want to separate further and do tops, pants, underwear/lingerie

Step Four

I like to put my bras and underwear in lingerie bags...you can find these several place for no more than 10 dollars. These items are expensive and you want to keep them lasting for years