Long Live The Clothes In Your Life With These Economy Crisis Wardrobe Saving Tips
Aug 19, 2009 Save Money
If you are like most people, you probably have invested quite a bit of money in your wardrobe. With clothes being a basic life necessity, it’s not surprising that we spend tons of cash getting and replacing them. But, what if you could help your clothes to last a lot longer? Imagine the saving! Cost-conscious people can do just that by being in the know about “wardrobe conservation”.
But, despite the amount of money that you spend on clothing, if you are like most, you want to get a lot of use out of them. If you can extend the life of your clothes, then you can save money along the way because you won’t spend needlessly in replacements. The best way to get your clothes to live up to their full potential is to properly maintain them.
Make these clothes saving tips a part of your “wardrobe conservation” plan to keep from having to spend more money on clothes. With good maintenance habits and, even, a little energy conservation, you can get more for your money and max out your clothes use. Here’s how:
Keep all clothing away from hot water! Cold water keeps your clothing from fading better than hot or warm water. For some people, this will be a little tough because hot water is thought to be wonderful against germs in the wash. Washing your clothing in cold water will also help to reduce shrinkage in some clothing. Plus, you will save money by reducing the amount of energy that you need for washing your clothes. Not only could you see a major saving with having your clothes longer, but you may also enjoy a saving, cost-reduction with your energy bill!
For those that are worried about germs in their clothes, deal with that by adding a smidgen of vinegar to your laundry. It’s a natural clothes freshener and can keep odor and germs at bay. Not just a cover up like the national brands, it really kills the germs that cause the odor. You can buy for cheap a big jug of vinegar for less than $2.
Use a cloth for ironing so that you don’t put heat directly on your clothes. This is important because all of that heat can destroy your clothes, especially if you have the iron on the highest setting. Though, you should never really iron on the highest setting. It’s one of the easiest ways to burn your clothes. This could be an old sheet or you can buy for cheap some fabric for this purpose.
Don’t wash your clothes too frequently. If you wash your clothes too frequently, you are almost guaranteed to have torn edges, holes or thinning, and definitely fading. Save on water and on detergent by washing when things are really dirty. Some items of clothing may only need an occasional wash, like denim, unless you are working and playing hard in them. To keep them fresh, get some of those dryer sheets that you can buy for cheap. Don’t use the entire sheet, instead divide it into 4 equal strips or squares. If you only need to freshen a few clothes, then use one square. Plus you can also keep some squares in your dresser drawers.
Bring back undershirts! Buy for cheap a bunch of undershirts or camisoles from a consignment or thrift store. These items help to keep the underarm portion of your shirts in good shape, otherwise, you could potentially sweat so much in your shirts or have the pits packed with deodorant to the point that they get destroyed. In this economy crisis, do whatever you can to save your clothes and keep them usable!
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