Laundry - Spring Fabric Care

As the days become longer and the weather becomes warmer, consumers are beginning to swap their parkas and sweaters for light jackets and sandals. For many consumers, there is nothing more frustrating than unpacking last year’s favorite spring outfit to find it faded, misshapen and musty. Worst of all, this fashion disaster could have been prevented by following a couple easy fabric care steps.

Fabric care experts from Whirlpool’s Institute of Fabric Science, an informational hub for everything laundry, offers the following storage tips to keep your clothes in tip-top condition for next season:

• Make sure clothing is washed and free from stains. Stains can appear months later if fabric is stored unclean.
• If the care label recommends dry cleaning that favorite sweater, take it to the dry cleaner before storing. To save yourself some time and money, check the care label first since not all wool sweaters need to head to the dry cleaner. If wool is labeled "hand wash," use the washer's hand wash or wool cycle with cool water. Easy care wool knits can be cleaned on the gentle or wool cycle of your washer with warm water. When the cycle is finished, dry on a flat surface away from direct heat or sunlight.
• Before storing, make sure clothes are completely dry and have room to breathe.
• Fold and stack knits loosely, do not hang them. Instead of using garment bags, use clean storage boxes. Not going on a trip for awhile? Store clothes for next season in a suitcase.
• Unpack your spring and summer favorites and find that they need to be refreshed? Remove odors and relax wrinkles with Whirlpool brand’s Fabric Freshener. This portable, collapsible appliance uses distilled water to immerse clothing in a blanket of steam. Available at www.whirlpool.com, MSRP $219.