#washing tips

Suede is a type of leather that makes for cute and warm looking garments, shoes and accessories.

Remove surface dirt: For light dirt that is sitting on top of the surface of the shoes, brush off the dirt with a suede brush or a toothbrush. Always brush in the same direction as your suede.

For water stains: Remove fresh water stains immediately by blotting with a cloth or paper towel. If the stained area turns a different colour, try wetting the entire shoe with a damp cloth and let it dry.

For oil/grease stains: Blot out excess liquid and add a reasonable amount of baking soda (cornflour or talcum powder works too!) to the stained area. Leave it to sit for a few hours, then brush it away. You can always repeat this step until the stain is almost gone.  

For tougher stains: For more stubborn stains like coffee or ink, apply a mixture of water and white vinegar to a damp wash cloth and begin to dab/ lightly wipe away the stain.

If the stain on your suede is just way too tough and too tricky to get rid of, hand it over to professionals who performs green earth cleaning in Durango and let them get the stain out for you!

Protecting your suede

Here are some pointers to help maintain and protect your suede garments:

Use suede protecting products: These help prevent your suede garments from getting dirty or stained. Best applied before wearing the garment and can be found anywhere online.

Don’t get it wet: Ideally you shouldn’t wear suede in rainy conditions as it will ruin the fabric overtime.

Store it well: Store your suede garments in a breathable and dry environment. Keep away from damp places!

method one: home alone. if you're not left home alone for more than 20 mins/ half an hour, skip to method two or three :) <3

- take the items of clothing that need to be washed the most ( socks, underwear, singlets or undershirts, binders or bras) these are priority. 

-fill up a sink, bathtub or bucket with hot water (careful! if the clothes say no hot wash use warm water. don’t get burnt!). add hand wash, laundry powder or shampoo ( hand soap and shampoo work just as well because they’re made for getting rid of grease) if you’re not allowed to use these products, lather a bar of soap in the water until it is cloudy with soap. or, use small amounts of many soaps, so none look like they are missing. 

you’re all set up! now how and what to wash:

underwear, undergarments singlets and shirts:

1. dampen the clothes and lather them with soap outside of the sink. put soap on the whole garment if it is underwear, a pair of socks or a singlet that sits directly on your skin. lather it up by holding two ends of the garment and, bringing your hands together and scrubbing, as if you were washing your own hands, but instead you have the cloths grabbed in both fists (sorry if this made no sense, ill try to draw a diagram later if people dm me to say they don’t understand ) put the soapy clothes aside for a second, and move on to shirts. 2.if the shirt does not have food or dirt stains, i recommend putting soap on the armpit area first, and focusing on area that gets the sweatiest, to maintain the highest level of cleanliness you can. once you’ve finished scrubbing there, rinse the whole shirt out in the warm water, and set it over the side of the sink or bath to dry.                                                                                                                    3. rinse the soap out of the first items and hang them to dry too.

 to wash pants or jackets i recommend method two or three, but if thats not available to you just use method one.

method two:

this involves washing the clothes in the bath or shower while youre in there too. it works best in the bath but shower is also good. this method is riskyer but its case-to-case so do what works best 

- take the items you want to wash into the bathroom with you. you can do this by wearing them, layering them under your clothes if you don’t want to reveal its dirty, or bundling them up in your towel if you don’t store your bath towels in the bathroom. you have to move pretty quick.

1. while you’re waiting for the water to heat up, run the clothes under the cold water and quickly add soap, lather while the water is heating up.

2. when the water is the temperature you use, hop in and wash yourself, leaving the soapy clothes on the floor of the shower, or in the bath. as you're finishing up, wring the clothes out to get rid of the soap. 

method three: 

this method is only good if you can stay after school and have a school locker 

basically its just method one but in the school sinks and then drying the clothes with a hand dryer partially, and hanging them up in your locker to dry fully.

drying stuff!:

method one: hairdryer

if you regularly use a hairdryer, do this one. 

dry the clothes first by wringing them out and strongly as you can inside a dry towel. take the damp clothes and blow-dry them so that the places like seams and pockets are dry first, so they don’t smell. if you used method two, don’t wash your hair or your’ll have to explain why you used the hairdryer and still have wet hair. 

method two: hangers

wring the clothes out over a sink or in a towel. now just pop them on a hanger when they’re only damp, and put the clothes hanger in your wardrobe, somewhere in the back or middle until it dries. if you’re not meant  to own these clothes, put a jumper over top. it’ll take longer but you’re less likely to get caught

method three: school hand dryers

hold the clothes under the  school hand dryers until they’re  only damp, then hang them to dry in your school locker 

Is there anything worse than dry food? Sauce, in all its incredible different varieties, has meant we never have to worry about our food being too dry again. These moist and flavoursome little bottles of joy do come with there own problems though.

It doesn’t matter if it is the bright red ketchup, golden yellow mustard, or the infamous brown BBQ sauce that your taste-buds desire most. All of these wonderfully tasty condiments can leave us in a state of panic every time we carelessly spill them onto our new white t-shirt. We are here to try and ease that panic. Next time you find yourself overindulging in a hot dog that is drowning in mustard and ketchup, make sure you know how to remove the stains once the inevitable happens.

Tomato Sauce

Mustard

BBQ Sauce

Mayonnaise

Chilli Sauce

Tomato Sauce

You can find this versatile vegetable (or fruit!?) in cuisine all over the world.  Whether its ketchup on your fries, spaghetti sauce or bloody mary’s, sauces that mostly contain tomatoes can make it seem like the end of the world when spilt on our clothes.

The best thing you can do when spilling tomato sauces on your clothes is act as soon as possible. Try to use heavy-duty laundry detergent and make sure you use the hottest water recommended for the fabric on the garment care label.  Always ensure you check the laundry symbols before washing the garment. To start with, gently rub the liquid detergent directly on the stain. Next, place the garment into the machine to be washed. Make sure to air dry after, as heat from the dryer can set in any remaining stain particles that have not come off in the wash.

Mustard

Like ketchup, mustard can cause most people to shriek when it’s spilt on your clothing due to its luminescent colour.  Mustard contains a dye called Tumeric to enhance the yellow colour, which means it must be treated differently to other stains on this list.

If a mustard stain does not get treated quickly, the turmeric dye can remain on your clothing as a permanent reminder of your carelessness. Try to catch the stain while it is still moist and blot immediately. Make sure you do not rub the stain, as you do not want to spread the turmeric onto unstained parts of the garment.

Finally, mix a solution of three-quarters of dish soap and one quarter rubbing alcohol.  Apply the mixture to the stain and allow to soak for 10 minutes, just long enough for it not to dry. The alcohol in the solution should turn the stain a dark colour, but not to worry, it will rinse right out! Rinse the treated area with hot water, and then launder like normal.

BBQ  Sauce

Would a barbecue even be a barbecue if it wasn’t messy to eat? Most people attending a barbecue know the risks going in, but that still doesn’t make the BBQ sauce stains any less harrowing.

Removing the stain is a two-step process. Soak the affected garment just like you would soak a dirty dish in warm water with dishwashing detergent, this will help loosen the sauce from the fabric and help clean the stain. Once you have left to soak for at least ten minutes, pour some vinegar on the affected area and scrub with a kitchen sponge. After you’ve treated the stain, run the garment through the washing machine like normal.

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is probably the least threatening colour of all sauces listed in this guide, but do not let its neutral colour fool you. Mayonnaise can leave oily spots on your clothing that are not always easy to remove.

When you spill a blob of mayonnaise on your clothing, use a blunt object like a butter knife or spoon to lift as much of the Mayonnaise off the fabric as you can. Never rub because this will push the stain deeper into the fabric, making it harder to remove. Seeing as the bulk of the issue is an oil-based stain, every Mayonnaise stain should be pre-treated using solvent-based stain removal products.  If you don’t have any solvent-based stain remover at hand, apply a bit of heavy-duty liquid detergent instead. Then work it in by delicately rubbing with your fingers or a soft-bristled brush. Lastly, wash the garment in the washing machine on the highest heat it recommends on the label.

Chilli Sauce

Need some spice in your life, but don’t like it trickling onto your clothes? A good old fashioned spicy hot sauce is great for adding flavour to your dishes, but not so great for your new white work shirt. Most hot sauce ingredients consist of peppers, spices and vinegar.   Assuming your favourite brand of chilli sauce doesn’t add too much artificial food colouring, the stains should be simple to remove.

Acting immediately is proving to be a common theme in this guide. You guessed it, don’t wait until you’ve finished your food to act on a chilli sauce stain,  get on the job straight away!

First things first, run the stain under the tap for at least a minute. Do not rub the stain here, instead let the water flow do the work. We also recommend turning the item inside out and cleaning from the backside to remove it from within the fabric. After this, place the clothing in a sink filled with cold water, add a tablespoon of liquid detergent and vinegar, then gently scrub the stained area. Lastly, put the item in a washing machine and make sure to use warm water, never hot, as this will set the stain.

No matter how often you wash your sheets, one thing is true: there’s nothing like jumping into a bed that has nice, fresh bedsheets and pillowcases.  But, considering that stripping pillows and mattresses, and hauling the dirty pillowcases and sheets to the washing machine, is no one’s favourite chore, how often should you wash your bed linens?

Unfortunately, there’s no single, definitive answer. Like just about anything in your regular laundry, many health experts recommend washing your pillowcases and sheets every week. But, in the case of bedsheets, you may be able to wash them less frequently, like every two weeks, if time is an issue; or you may need to wash them even more often than once a week.

When You Might Need to Wash Your Bed Linens More Than Once a Week

To get a quick idea of why you should wash your linens at least weekly, think of it this way. If you sleep in bed eight hours a night, you’re “in” your linens for 8 hours a day. If you wore a shirt for 8 hours a day, seven days a week, you wouldn’t hesitate to throw it in the wash every week.

But there are certain conditions under which you should consider washing your linens more than once a week

You sweat a lot when sleeping

You have dry and/or flaky skin

You are allergic to dust and pollen

Your pet sleeps with you or spends a lot of time on your bed

Another Reason to Wash Bed Linens More Often

Most people can’t believe it when they hear this, but it’s a documented fact. Your bed is home to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of dust mites. Not to be confused with bed bugs, which require immediate attention if your bed is infested, dust mites are generally harmless and found all over even the cleanest homes.

Dust mites love living in your bed because they feed on your dead skin cells. But, like the rest of us, they have bodily functions and they don’t live forever. In addition to living dust mites, your linens also hold their lifeless remains and fecal matter. They are both considered allergens that can trigger symptoms like hay fever, asthma and coughing, among others.

Why Not Get Professionals to Clean Your Bed Linens?

Tie-dying fabric is such a wonderful summer activity, and one I am sure a lot of you are enjoying in your homes as the season wraps up! It’s perfect for all ages, with vibrant colors bleeding through in a myriad of patterns and designs. Creativity you can wear! We want those colors to stay just as exuberant with each wash as the day you made them, so I have assembled a few best practices for washing your tie dye fabrics.

Washing for the first time:

Try soaking your tie dye in equal parts white vinegar and cold water for 30 minutes after you initially rinse out the dye from your garment to help with colorfastness.

Toss your pieces into the washing machine with other newly tie-dyed items in a similar color scheme. Avoid adding other clothing to this wash, as the dye can run.

Set to the smallest size load.

Add laundry detergent. May we suggest one of our Small Loads Pods?

Set the water temperature to hot. (The hot water will help set the dye.)

Wash!

Place your items in the dryer.

Dry on high heat until completely dry to help set your dye.

Marvel at your masterpiece!

Tips for future washing to avoid fading:

Continue to wash tie dye shirts alone, or with other tie dye items or similarly colored garments.

Before washing, turn your tie dye garments inside out to protect the colors.

Run the washer on the gentle cycle using cold water.

Avoid leaving the garments in the wash too long after the cycle finishes, so the colors don’t bleed!

Air dry if possible. If not, dry in the dryer on a medium or low heat setting.