Broke Ass Laundry: Don’t Dry Clean. Save Money.

Some comedian whose name I’ll probably be crucified for forgetting once said: “This shirt is dry-clean only.  That means it’s dirty.”  And we all laugh because, yeah!  Mine too!

Everyone knows that dry cleaning is stupid expensive. For that reason many of us try to get more than one wear out of a thing before we absolutely have to bring it in.  What not everyone knows is that dry cleaning is actually bad for your clothes.  It can alter the color of your fabric, compress the fibers of your fabric, causing a sheen to appear on your clothes where NO SHEEN SHOULD BE, and if that weren’t enough, the chemicals administered during the process can actually deteriorate the fibers in your clothes.

Turns out that the best way to clean your clothes is to just wash them and hang them dry.  Sometimes stuff does need to get dry cleaned, but theres plenty of stuff that doesn’t and even shouldn’t.  Here’s how to take care of cleaning almost all of your everything without paying for a dry cleaner.

CASHMERE / WOOL

HAND WASHING:

– To wash – submerge item(s) in cool water with 2 capfuls of Woolite, or another gentle laundry detergent.

– Use your hands to agitate the water and detergent.

– Soak for at least ½ hour. It is harmless to leave soaking for longer unless you are washing silk.

– *DO NOT PANIC if you see color in the water. This is normal and it is simply the yarn dye releasing color. You will not notice any loss of color at the end.

– Rinse well – running room temperature water until soapy water is gone.

– Do not wring; press the water out of the item instead.

– To dry – place item on top of a towel making sure the towel and item is flat and in its original shape, then roll up in the towel (like a rolling pin) to remove excess water.

– To finish drying – lay item flat in its natural shape on a drying rack or towel. Hang, if item will not stretch or deform

DELICATES:

– Follow same washing procedure as with cashmere

– Lay item flat on a drying rack, a towel, or hang to dry

– Some items may need to be steamed after washing.

STAIN REMOVAL:

– Get to it as soon as is humanly possible

– Dab, DON’T WIPE, with a cloth dipped into cold water.

– Apply Stain Solution to the stain.

– Work the Solution into the stained area with our Stain Brush.

– Wait fifteen minutes.

– Soak

– If stain has faded, but isn’t completely gone, repeat the process until satisfied.

– Launder as normal.

ODOR REMOVAL

– Soak with vinegar first before washing. (cottons/synthetic materials soak for at least an hour- woolens/synthetics 30 min max. ) Soak items in a basin with water (use hot water when applicable)

– Launder

– Run a load of laundry on the normal wash cycle with one cup vinegar. Follow with a regular wash cycle with detergent.

– **do not soak vinegar on silk, acetate, and rayon

– Apply directly on the underarm or odor area before washing

JEANS

– Keep your jeans from fading, shrinking or tearing by washing them with cold water and hanging them to dry