Is your mind boggled by a hodgepodge of fabric care information? Do you find dry cleaning daunting and sorting chaotic? Is your laundry room a bottomless pit of blends, naturals and acrylics?
You've come to the right place to crack the clothing care code and choose the fabrics that best fit your lifestyle. Take care of your textiles correctly and they'll last longer and look better. View a very useful care label key to help you decode what all those symbols mean. Then, get specific information about some of today's most popular fabrics. Dry Cleaning Many people also have garments professionally pressed. Linen and silk items are difficult for the layperson to press and therefore usually reap best results from professional pressing. It's important to find a dry cleaner who understands the differences among caring for specific fabric types and garment types. Also, when using a dry cleaning service, be sure to bring attention to stains you need removed. Pre-spotting stains will help eliminate them before heat application sets them permanently. Professional Laundering Home Laundering When hand-washing garments, you may choose to use a special hand-washing detergent. Be wary of spending too much for a less effective product. A good hand-washing detergent should be formulated for use in cold water, dissolve quickly in cold water and be easily rinsed out of garments after washing without leaving a residue. Shampoos without cream rinses are also useful when washing garments by hand. You may also choose to add fabric softeners to your fabrics. They come in liquid and in dryer sheets. Fabric softeners make your fabrics feel softer, but some add a wax coating that reduces absorbency. If you use fabric softeners on polyester fabrics, you may see greasy-looking spots. This can be removed by rewashing. Manufacturers include universal symbols on garment labels to provide care instructions. Here is a key of those symbols. Wash
Bleach
Dry
Iron
Dry Clean
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