Quick, Helpful Cleaning Tips

We know what you’re thinking: who actually reads that tiny print found on the clothing label? The short answer is that people who want to save money on dry cleaning do. You can save a ton of money in damaged clothing and will get a lot more out of your clothing purchases if you pay close attention to the recommended method for cleaning. And more importantly, actually follow the directions that you read; if the item indicates “dry clean only,” you should only dry clean that item. It’ll pay off in a big way in the long run.

Your clothes should be cleaned regularly to ensure that any stains or problems don’t snowball into something bigger. However, it is important to understand how often it is appropriate to wash different types of clothing. You should only wear dress shirts once before cleaning; suit jackets and pants can be worn twice before cleaning; and sweaters only have to be cleaned after being worn three times. Knowing how often to clean your clothes will help you to make the most of your wardrobe!

You’re being tricked by laundry-detergent companies; they make a fortune off of recommending the “proper” amount of detergent for a load, increasing the speed with which you go through detergent and how often you must buy replacements. In reality, new laundry machines are so high-quality in their cleaning abilities that all you really need for a standard load is about a tablespoon of detergent. You read that right, just a tablespoon! The true cleaning comes from properly treating stains quickly when they occur.

Open zippers are a catastrophic laundry hazard! Picture this: your favorite sweater is being shuffled amongst your laundry, defenseless against the machine’s overpowering pull. A pair of jeans moves toward it, zipper ajar. With effortless ease, the jagged edge of the zipper snags your sweater and pulls on a thread… We know, it’s too terrible to describe the rest. Trust us, just keep your zippers zipped and you’ll thank us later.

As for velcro, keep it out of the wash altogether, or at least wash it in its own load. Velcro has the same destructive power as an open zipper with no way to neutralize it.

When you’re drying something large and bulky, it can be hard for the entire item to be fully dried in one cycle. This is because the dryer isn’t able to reach all of the parts of a large item. But don’t worry! We have the fix for you. Throw some tennis balls in with any large item — comforter, blanket, etc — and they’ll get to work on making sure the item is evenly distributed and gets equal dry time. But a word to the wise: make sure you do this when everybody is awake unless you want your neighbors or family members’ sleep disturbed by the tennis balls’ clunking!

If you want to prevent shrinkage, damage and may other issues involved in machine drying, just take a couple of extra hours to hang dry your clothes. This is the absolute best drying option both for clothing quality and for the environment. Get more bang for your buck by hanging to dry and saving energy costs.

Prevent your new jeans from fading by soaking them in 4 tbsp of vinegar mixed with 5 quarts of water for 30 minutes.

Accidentally leave your wet swimsuit in your beach bag for too long? Soak it in warm soapy water or combine 1/4 teaspoon of color safe bleach and 1/4 cup of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. With a clean cloth, gently rub the stain with the solution until it's gone. Then, wash the swimsuit and let it dry in the sun.

Some stains just aren’t worth the struggle; sometimes a professional is required. You might have some great home remedies, but in reality they are likely much more complicated than you realize. Most average homeowners just don’t have the training and equipment to deal with truly nasty stains, and even if you might be the exception, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Any money spent at Rose Cleaners will be paid back and more in clothing quality and longevity.