Unless doing laundry is your favorite hobby, we thought sharing tips on how to lighten your laundry load while conserving water and energy would be helpful this week.

Although we wouldn’t have a viable business if not for the thousands of items you allow us to clean each day, we want to help you maintain the quality and integrity of your clothing.  We also want to encourage you to help our environment by reducing your water and energy consumption.

A good rule of thumb when determining how ”dirty” the clothing is after wearing is divide clothes into two categories:   Items that have direct contact with skin and items that don’t.

The first category, items close to the body (such as underwear, hosiery, work out clothes, swimwear, T-Shirts, tanks, camisoles, and some tops and dresses that are in close contact with the underarm area), should be washed after every wear.  Bras don’t come into direct contact with the underarms so they can last 3 to 4 wears if you rotate them so they have a 24 hour break between wearings.

The second category could have some variables such as dirt or staining incurred from wearing, in which case you would wash after that wearing.  But, to keep it simple, here’s a rough guideline on how often you should wash particular clothing items, assuming no visible stains or soiling.

JEANS: Denim is one of the most durable materials and gets better with wear.  Washing too often (heat, water, detergents) can make your new jeans look old quickly.  Jeans can be worn 4 to 5 times before they need a wash.

DRESS PANTS/SLACKS/ SKIRTS: If you work indoors in a clean, air conditioned environment, you can get away with wearing them 2 to 3 times, bearing you haven’t spilled anything on them.  To help them last longer, change out of them as soon as possible when you get home and hang them up immediately to allow the wrinkles to fall.

SUITS, JACKETS & BLAZERS: These items don’t require much upkeep since typically you wear a dress shirt, blouse or T shirt under them.  Check the areas that contact the skin such as collars, sleeves and elbows and spot clean them if necessary.  Unless there is a visible stain, Jackets can usually be worn 4 to 5 times.  Always dry clean your suit jacket and slacks together each time to prevent uneven fading.

SWEATERS: If you wear another garment under the sweater, you can usually wear it a few times before it needs washing.  If you wear it close to your body, you should expect to clean it after one to two wearings.

SLEEPWEAR: Even if you shower before bed, we all sweat at night.  We also shed skin cells so we recommend washing your PJs after 2 to 3 wearings.

Being in the cleaning business, we love fresh, clean, crisp clothes and we love helping you look your best in them.  But, over washing your clothing wastes water, energy and money while shortening the life of your clothes.

Our Limited Time Offers can help you clean particular items regularly.  Start off with clean sweaters by taking advantage of our current promotion..  From now until March 3, 2012 receive $3.00 off each sweater cleaned.  Check our Promotions page regularly to take advantage of future Limited Time Offers on shirts, blouses, knits, pants, shorts, etc.

If your items go straight into the laundry basket after every wear, we can still lighten your load with our Family Wash Service.  We’ll pick up your items, wash, fold & return them in a reusable box.  Each box you return to us, we’ll take a $1.00 your next Fluff & Fold.

- S.O.

We love our sweaters and more times than not, we’ve paid a little more for them than other items in our wardrobe.  For your sweaters to maintain that just like new appearance, they must be stored properly on a daily basis.  If you want your sweaters to last until next winter, follow our very important tips on how to store them THIS season.

Sweaters should be folded when storing. Hanging the sweater will result in a larger sweater than the last time you put it on as it will stretch.  Once the fibers are stretched out, it’s difficult to regain it’s original shape.

Store sweaters dry. Never put away a damp sweater.  This will encourage mildew or mold to grow and this cannot be removed.  The mildew and mold may spread to surrounding clothing and they all will smell bad.

Do not store with moth balls. They are stinky and they are unhealthy for human beings.  Use cedar balls or mixed herbal sachets as a safe alternative.

Keep your wardrobe clean. Give your sweater a good shake after each wearing to remove fluff and dust.  Remove dandruff, hair and lint regularly.  Also, dust and vacuum your closet regularly to avoid dust settling into the fibers of your sweaters when you aren’t wearing them.

Remove stains immediately. Even the smallest stain should be removed before you put it back into your closet.  The fresher the stain, the more likely it will come clean. And remember to never rub a stain; blot, blot, blot.  Click here to read our tips on stain removal at home.

Remove pilling from from your sweater regularly.  Pilling is caused by the sweater rubbing together in places like your side, under the arms, on elbows and on the chest during wear.  Remove them often this season because the pilling can become worse when you store them for the summer.  Click here to read how to De-Pill your sweaters.

Follow the washing care instructions on the label. If the label says “dry-clean only”, we recommend having it professionally cleaned.  The manufacturer recommends dry cleaning because of a sweater’s design, bulk, trim, or fiber content and it should be entrusted to a reputable professional dry cleaner.  If the label says “hand wash only”, Click here to read how to do it properly.

Remove dry cleaned sweaters from their plastic bags. There is usually some moisture involved in the cleaning and pressing of garments. The plastic bag traps in moisture and can cause mildew which is a real threat to the integrity of the clothing’s fibers.

Give your sweater a break. Wearing it too frequently, even though you love it, will cause it to lose shape or build up hard-to-remove perspiration stains.  Alternate your favorite sweater with other sweaters or jackets.

Let your deodorant and perfume/cologne dry or set before putting on your sweater. Perfume or cologne is best sprayed on your body before you dress as it can weaken the fibers of your sweater.

Accessorize your neck with a scarf. The scarf acts as a buffer between your face makeup and neck grime and the collar of your sweater.  As a bonus, if you are sensitive to a fiber the sweater is made of, such as wool, the scarf will reduce that discomfort.

At Classic Cleaners, we’re experts in caring for sweaters.  Let us help you maintain the integrity of your wardrobe with our current promotion of $3.00 off each dry cleaned sweater until March 3, 2012.  We’ll help your sweaters look just like new so they can continue to keep you warm and cozy year after year.  We’ll even come pick them up from you for free when you sign up for our free pick-up and delivery service.

- S.O.