Help Your Dry Cleaner Help You: Caring For Your Clothes
Posted on: 29 May 2015
Surely you've heard the old adage, "The clothes make the man." This holds true not only in professional environments, but wherever you go. Clothes have a strong impact on the first impressions you make. Caring for your clothes means that they will last longer, and make you look good in all walks of life.
Preventing Stains and Wear
Whether your clothing is "dry clean only" or not, it's important to care for it properly to keep you looking your best. There are products you can buy that you apply to your clothes before wearing them that will actually help to repel stains if you accidentally spill something. It's important to review the product to make sure it works for the type of fabric you are wearing, but it can pay off in the long run to prevent stains.
Before getting dressed, be sure to let lotions, deodorant, and other self-care products dry thoroughly. They can cause colors to fade before their time.
Another trick to helping your clothes stay fresh is to hang them up at the end of the day, letting them air out. This helps smells like smoke and perspiration lift from the fabric, as opposed to simply tossing clothes in the hamper. Additionally, this will help keep clothes that need to be dry cleaned from becoming unnecessarily wrinkled.
Treating Stains
Even with good prevention, stains will happen. It's important to treat stains as soon as possible after they happen. The longer a stain sets into the fabric, the harder it will be to remove. Before treating the stain, however, consider the type of stain you are dealing with.
Water-based stains can be pre-treated with a stain remover pen or similar products. You may also try hand-washing the stain with cold water to reduce its appearance. Oil-based stains can be tricky to handle, especially with delicate fabrics. Get your garments with these types of stains to your dry cleaner as soon as you are able, as they can use specialized solvents to treat them.
Taking It to the Pros
It's important to remember not to use an iron on clothes with these stains, or to try hot water in removing them. Heat can set in the stain, and even make it impossible to remove at all.
Once you take your clothing in, be sure to point out all stains that you need removed. Lighter stains or ones in inconspicuous places could be overlooked. Laundering the item before treating the stain can set the stain, or cause discoloration of your clothing. When visiting a professional dry cleaner like Chris French Cleaners, make sure that they know about the stains beforehand.
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