Keeping Clothes Young

(Wash Graphics provided by Laundry Care Symbols)

Mother Sue called it bonding: an opportunity to strengthen emotive relations. And the euphemism caught. To this day I adore nuzzling into a hot, clean pile of dryer contents. And find few things more socially rewarding than sorting socks with a loved one.

Once again I confirm my belief in clothing investments. And in consequence, I confirm the need for proper care for maximum wear. This week we'll be investigating keeping our clothes looking young as long as possible.

In honesty, I anticipate the idea of aging myself: soft laugh lines, strands of silver surrounding my face. But this kind of beauty is earned rather than received. In the lovely prose of Eleanor Roosevelt: "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, But beautiful old people are works of art."

And properly broken in clothes are expenditures of effort as well: jeans stretched into a second skin, shoes curving along each toe. But in order to keep your clothes in their prime for as long as possible requires a proper understanding of care. Today we'll start with the hieroglyphs on the reverse side of clothing tags.


Wash Delicate: Gossamer clothing require elite circumstances. Dial in on the appropriate cycle and segregate from coarser clothing. Try putting delicates inside a pillow case and close with a knot to protect them from the washing machine.




Do not wash. Usually there is a dry clean symbol with this one.






Hand Wash: con sus manos pequeñas.













Goldilocks always enjoys optimal washing results because the water temperature is just right. Too high water temperature will destroy the textile or make the colors bleed and fade. Too low temperature may leave the clothing item soiled. Each dot indicates an increased temperature starting at a cold 30C and increasing by 10 degrees Celsius (about 20 degrees Fahrenheit) with each additional point.

Bleach: Bright and sharp whites can require the assistance of bleaching agents. The equilateral triangle indicates an open invitation to bleach, just follow the instructions carefully. Too much chlorine based bleach can turn evil.

Non-chlorine bleach only: Use only bleaches that do not contain chlorine (aka color safe Bleach).

Do not bleach: This garment has no tolerance for bleach, so keep the whitening and brightening agents at bay.

There are four ways you follow up on your washing: tumble high, tumble low, line, and flat. If in doubt, lay it flat.

Tumble dry using low heat

I had a long acetate skirt that I attempted to smooth with a warm iron. The results were a gastly scar floating on the back of the bustle. I still wore it, feeling a literary connection with Meg in Little Women, but not all appreciate the dramatics of ironing mishaps.

Do Not Iron! When you see this symbol, put your iron down!

If one or several of the dry-cleaning symbols are present it is usually accompanied with a do-not-wash symbol. Leave the interpretation of these markings to your dry cleaning professionals




Do not dryclean! Seriously keep them away from the solvents or else.




So reheat your dryer contents if they've gone cool and come back tomorrow for more ways to keep you clothes young.