The importance of Proper Care

No matter how well clothes are selected, nor how attractive they are, no person is ever well dressed unless those clothes are given proper care.
A well groomed appearance is not acquired accidentally. It is the result of conscientious and systematic care of both one's person and one's wardrobe.
Carelessness in later life is often due to the fact that one has been careless about one's appearance while growing up.

The necessity for the care of clothing is due to these facts:
            a) aids the wearer to maintain greater pride and self-respect
            b) the clothes last longer
            c) clothing is always ready for use on the shortest notice
            d) there is more demand for neatly dressed individuals than for those who are not so careful about their clothes

Different garments and different materials require separate methods of care, but all require care in some manner.

 

Methods of Care : Daily Care

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today"

Daily care requires only a very few minutes, but to be effective, it must be done regularly.

Airing
This freshens the garments, helps take out body odours and also aids in restoring the garment to its original shape.
 
Hanging
Give children small hangers and low hooks for their convenience. Never hang knitted garments - fold on a shelf or in a drawer.  Bias garment are also usually better folded.

Brushing
Brush wool and silk clothes immediately after wearing. The longer dirt or dust is allowed to remain in garments the harder it is to remove.  Stand before an open window while brushing.

Shaking
Shaking is effective in removing surface dirt from cottons and linens.

Pressing
Press clothes whenever necessary. 
a) Wool materials should be pressed through a damp cloth on the wrong side.
b) When pressing silk materials, press on the wrong side of the garment with a medium iron using cheese cloth or light weight muslin  between the material and the iron.  
c) Cottons may be pressed on the right side, while linens should be pressed on the wrong side.

Steaming
Velvet materials cannot be pressed directly with a hot iron. However many wrinkles may be removed by hanging the garment over a tub of boiling water or a room filled with steam.

Mending
Minor repairs should be attended to as needed. These repairs include the sewing on of fasteners, replacing hems, mending rips and tears and tacking cuffs, collars, belts and trimmings.

Care of shoes
a) As soon as removed, wipe with a soft cloth to remove any dust or dirt which may cling to them. 
b) Polish as often as necessary to keep them looking like new - polish not only improves the appearance of the shoe, but it softens and preserves the leather. 
c) The life of a pair of shoes is multiplied three fold if never worn more than three days in succession.
d) Keep the shoes on some sort of rack or in bag. This protects them from dirt and keeps them always where they can be found. The shoe tidy can be fastened to the wall or cupboard door  

 

Stain Removal

Tea or Coffee stains on linen should be soaked in clear cold water before soaping.

Fresh bloodstains should be washed in clear cool water, if dried they may be soaked and rubbed.

Many fruit juices may be removed by pouring on hot water, the kettle held high - allow water to pass through the stain.

Fresh writing ink stains usually yield to cold clear water. Soaking in milk may help, changing the milk as it discolors.

Black grease stains may be loosened by the application of lard. Wipe off when it becomes discolored and apply more. Wash in soapy water.

Grass stains may be dipped into alcohol. Some stains come out easily by washing in hot soapy water.

Nappies to be rinse immediately and put to soak at once in cold water.

Mud: Allow to dry, then brush, if traces remain, rinse in water mixed with a little vinegar (one spoonful per litre of water)

Perfume: very difficult to remove without leaving a ring - rub with hydrogen peroxide but note that this may cause colours to fade - so carry out a test on a less visible part of the garment first

Lipstick: apply diluted hydrogen peroxide 

Felt pen/ballpoint pen: place the garment on a clean white cloth - dab the stain with another white cloth soaked in 90 degree alcohol

Chewing gum: rub with an ice cube to harden the gum which can then be removed by breaking it without damage to the garment

Chocolate: for a cotton fabric dry-rub with soap and wash in cold water - for a synthetic fabric apply lemon juice - for wool apply benzine - for silk apply warm water

Candle wax: scrape off any solid wax - place the stained area  between two pieces of blotting paper and press down with a warm iron on the piece of blotting paper in contact with the wax. The wax will stick to the blotting paper.

Sauces: hot water or trichloroethylene can be used to dissolve grease

 Laundering

Order of laundering  :
a)  Sort clothes into groups:
                    1) white
                    2) colored
                    3) degree of soil
                    4) kind of materials - cottons - silks - wools
b) Remove all stains
c) Mend
d) Soak clothes

Soaking
The purpose of soaking clothes is to loosen dirt and save time, labour and strain on the fabric during the washing process. After stains have been treated, the soiled places should be thoroughly soaped (a good laundry soap such as "Savon de Marseille") and the garment soaked in warm water. Do not soak in hot water and do not soak colored garments that will fade.

Cautions for laundering Woolens & Silks
                  a) do not wash in hot water
                  b) do not apply soap directly to material
                  c) rinse thoroughly
                  d) hang in a shaded place
                  e) iron while still damp
                  f) do not iron on the right side and use cloth over woolens
                  g) do not use a hot iron

Drying 
* Clothes smell sweeter and have a better color if hung outdoors to dry.
*  White linens and cottons may hang in the sun but colored materials should be placed in the shade as the sun fades colors - especially when wet.
*  Woolen garments should be gently pulled into shape.

 

Repair of Clothing

" An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

 * Keep your garments in good repair. Constant watch and repair of rips and tears as soon as they appear will often prevent grief later on.

 * Keep snaps, buttons and hooks and eyes sewed on in their proper places. A pin never satisfactorily nor neatly takes the place of any one of these.

 * Coat linings 
  - Sleeve linings that are worn thin or ragged can have a hemmed patch of any similar material because it does not show.
  - When the lining is worn around the collar a shaped hemmed patch of self-material can be slip-stiched on at the neck line and catch-stitched to the garment around the other edges.
 - Such repairs as these frequently provide an additional season's wear. 
 - Ripped coat linings should be slip stitched to the coat. In order to make it inconspicuous turn back the edge 1cm and carry the thread alternatively through the lining fold and the garment; press flat. 

* Coat buttons
- Coat buttons are ordinarily large and cut the thread; they should be sewed on with heavy thread and a strong shank provided.  Ideally a small button should be placed on the under side, both to help protect the material and cover the ugly irregular stitches.

* Sweaters
- Broken threads may be caught and crocheted in again but if there is a hole it will be necessary to match the yarn and darn the hole.
- If the yarn is fine the mending yarn may have to be untwisted and fewer yarns used.
- A blunt crewel needle is necessary to interlace the threads and fill in the hole.
- Catch the mending yarn into the loose loops at the edges on the hole but do not pull the garment out of shape.
- It is helpful to baste a piece of still paper to the back to serve as a foundation to darn over.
- Boy's play sweaters worn thin at the elbow may be darned and further reinforced by stiching or an oval shaped patch of soft leather (and old kid glove may be used).    

* Raincoats
- Raincoats and plastic macks may be repaired with adhesive tape.

*Alterations
After alterations: When you remove a hem or seam and have holes from thread showing, dampen a cloth with white vinegar, put it under the material and press.

* Fabrics                   Invest in good quality fabric which will facilitate care and  washing as it will not welt, colour will not  run and it will not shrink