8 tips to keep your cotton garments in mint condition
From garments like your everyday t-shirts to socks and even household items like bed sheets and comforter, cotton is extremely common and versatile because of its durability. This fabric is breathable (super suitable for Singapore’s heat!), comfortable for daily wear, and has the ability to handle detergents and bleach. At the same time, however, cotton is prone to wrinkling and shrinking if not handled with care.
Not to worry, let us give you a simple crash course on cotton garments: the Cotton 101. We will be sharing how you can care for your cotton without taking them to the laundry or dry cleaning services in Singapore. Just a few simple changes to your current routine for your cotton garments and voilà, your days your cotton woes would be gone. Let us now begin!
1. Pre-clean your stains
It’s inevitable to get a stain or two on cotton apparel since it’s frequently worn. Prior to washing your cotton garments, scan through them for any stains, and pre-treat them with stain removers. Alternatively, you can use detergent on the stain and let it stay for about 10 – 15 minutes. Then, rinse it off with cold water.
If you’ve just gotten the stain, you can wash the stain by running it under cold water for a few minutes. Then, dab the stain with a cloth or use your fingers to rub it off. Remember, be gentle! Finally, rinse your clothing and you can put it straight into the washing machine!
2. Check the labels
Hold up, before putting the clothes into the washing machine, ensure that your piece of cotton garment can be machine washed. Simply check your clothing labels. You’d be able to see whether hand washing or machine washing is better for your garment. The labels also indicate whether a piece of clothing can be dry washed and how it should be ironed. As cotton is usually made up of an amalgamation of fibers, there are different types of cotton. Thus, clothing labels serve as important guides to get your cotton clothing to be in tip-top condition.
3. Detergent and fabric softeners
Generally, any type of detergent is fine to be used on cotton garments. However, if your clothes are heavily stained, using a heavy-duty detergent to specially target tough stains, would be your best bet.
Fabric softeners, on the other hand, are not compulsory when washing cotton garments and can be used if you like. If you struggle with wrinkled cotton garments, fabric softeners can help you with that.
4. Take note of the water’s temperature
For cotton garments, cold or warm water would be ideal. It helps prevent clothes from shrinking and from fading in color.
5. The wash cycle
The great thing about cotton garments is that they can be washed on any cycle. So, if you’re washing your cotton garments with other clothes that require a specific washing setting, you don’t have to worry about your cotton garments getting damaged. For intricate or extensive embroideries or stitching on your clothes, putting them in a gentle or lower wash cycle setting would be a better option.
6. Time to dry your cotton
Now that your clothes are washed, how do you go about drying cotton garments properly?
Always avoid the dryer unless you don’t mind shrinkage. If you have a piece of cotton clothing that is a little too loose, drying it in a dryer would give you tops or bottoms that would fit you.
When drying, remember not to over-dry your clothes as that will result in unflattering, wrinkled clothes. And that’s just not a look.
7. Ironing your cotton garments
After any wrinkling that may have occurred during the washing process, ironing your clothes helps give the appearance of crisped and crease-free clothing. Cotton is a pretty strong material, so ironing your clothes on higher settings should be of no problem. Opt for medium to high temperatures when ironing your clothes as high temperatures burn the cellulose fibers of your cotton garments. When ironing, start ironing from the inside and then, the outside to get clothing as good as new!
8. Prevent your clothes from becoming food
Apart from being worn, your clothes can become the lunch of little insects. If you’ve noticed small suspicious holes on your clothing, your clothes may have fallen prey to moths.
To avoid this, avoid keeping your dirty garments lying around! But we get it, sometimes, it just happens. Too tired and need a helping hand?
Simply contact us for laundry pickup services. You can visit our website or contact our friendly staff at +65 6354 3277.
