Garment care guide

ADVICE FOR TAKING CARE OF YOUR FAVOURITE OUTFITS

Caring for your clothing will enable you to retain the brightness of its colours and the strength of its fabric as long as possible.

Washing constitutes an important step in caring for your linen properly and abiding by the instructions given on the labels is essential for preserving your clothing. Remember to sort your laundry according to colour, material and the recommended washing temperature, and put the fragile items, tights and lingerie into a washing net or a pillow case in order to protect them as best as possible. Avoid spin drying at too high a speed as this would break the fibres of delicate fabrics..

For drying, carefully hang up your clothing in order to avoid creasing and give preference to flat drying for all woollen garments. If you hang up your washing outside, it is a good idea to avoid direct sunlight: hang your clothing up inside out and in the shade if possible.

As for ironing, this will be made a lot easier if your laundry is still damp. For embroidery and delicate details, the use of a press cloth is preferable in order to preserve the fabrics. Taking good care of your linen will preserve your clothing and prolong its life under good conditions.

The labels tell you everything. Here’s how to decipher them :

Washing

	Wash by hand, maximum temperature 40°C
	Machine wash at the maximum temperature shown in degrees Centigrade
	The Bar placed under the tub indicates that spin drying should be restricted in order not to damage the clothing
	Do not wash

Ironing

	Gentle iron: +/- 110°
	Medium iron: +/- 150°
	Hot iron: +/- 200°
	Do not iron

Dry cleaning

	Dry cleaning allowed
	Dry cleaning allowed with the usual solvents allowed except Trichloroethylene
	Dry cleaning allowed with the usual solvents allowed
	Do not dry clean

Drying

	Machine dry with no temperature restrictions
	Machine dry with temperature adjusted to the number of dots in the circle. 2 dots correspond to the normal temperature.
	Do not machine dry
	Dry flat
	Dry on a line without prior spin drying

Bleaching

	Bleach allowed, diluted and cold
	No bleach or chlorination allowed

And for perfect care, here are a few other little things that should not be neglected:

1. Sort your clothing according to colour, washing temperature and materials.

2. Do not overload your machine as the resultant friction may damage your clothing and what is more the washing will be less efficient .

3. As often as possible wash your coordinated items at the same time so as to avoid ending up with a non-matching set and limit colour differences.

4. For items that contain elastane, give preference to washing cold or at 30°.

5. For velvets, printed garments or items with paste and sequins, bead embroidery or fancy knitwear, turn the garment inside out and wash it on the inside in order to protect it.

6. On drying pleats have a tendency to leave white marks. Take care when you are hanging out your washing and if you like using a tumble dryer, leave the garments on the inside.

7. Velvets, printed garments or items with paste and sequins, bead embroidery or fancy knitwear have to be ironed on the inside.

But also:

Wool shrinks when it is washed at too high temperatures and it loses its shape when it is hung up.

Drying in the sun causes colour fading.

Bleach attacks the fibres and it is therefore always preferable to use bleaching agents.

Cotton tends to run and it is therefore always better à to wash it on its own.

Exceeding the recommended quantities of washing powder will not make your clothing any cleaner and it is even likely to leave marks on it.

Viscose fabrics will retain their beauty longer if they are not spin dried but left to dry in the open air.

Remove the washing from the drum of the machine fairly quickly after the washing cycle has been completed. Damp linen tends in fact to develop bad smells. It is also preferable to leave the machine door open between washing cycles and regularly run the machine at 95° without any washing in it but with a bleaching agent.

And if you leave a paper handkerchief in a pocket, don’t panic, start a rinsing cycle with a nylon stocking inside the drum and it will pick up all the fluff on its own.

There you are. This little list is not exhaustive and we all have our own little tips. So, don’t hesitate to share them with us on Afibel Blog or on our Facebook page.