Only wash your clothes when necessary
We tend to over-wash our clothes! Don’t make me say what I didn’t say, hygiene is very important of course, but apart from certain parts like underwear, socks, sportswear and parts that directly touch our skin, it It is not necessary to wash each* item of clothing after a single wear. Some items such as wool sweaters, jeans, skirts or any item of clothing that is not worn next to the skin do not have to be washed as regularly as one might think.
Obviously it depends on the season, the climate in which you live and your lifestyle 😉 In summer for example, we sweat more and it is therefore necessary to wash your clothes more regularly. The infographic below sums it up pretty well:
Washing your clothes only when necessary and not just by reflex saves water and in this it is also an ecological gesture too!
In July 2022, I discovered a very practical (and portable) little device to refresh your clothes between 2 washes: the Bosch FreshUp textite refresher ! It neutralizes bad odors on textiles (body odors, food, smoke, etc.) without chemicals, without water but thanks to plasma technology which dissolves the bonds of odor molecules. What’s cool is that it doesn’t just mask odors, it neutralizes them ! Recently I have often used it on the lining of my blazers to refresh them between 2 dry-cleanings and it is really effective!
To each subject its maintenance
Obviously, when washing, each material requires specific maintenance . Personally, I machine wash almost everything I have in my closets, even my delicate sweaters! Here is a quick summary of the most common materials and their associated maintenance guide 😉
Cotton : it is easy to maintain, machine washable between 30 and 40°C and is perfectly iron-friendly to be smoothed out.
Wool and cashmere : I wash almost all my sweaters in the washing machine, cold (or sometimes even 30°C but cold is safer in case of doubt) with a wool/delicate program, especially without spinning hard (very important , I put 400 rpm, never more). The label often states “hand wash”, but the wool cycle of the machines is perfectly suitable for this type of washing. Personally , I prefer washing in the washing machine on a gentle cycle rather than by hand, because the garment is better rinsed and wrung out, which prevents it from deforming when drying.I dry all my wool or cashmere sweaters flat on a towel. Do not use the dryer for these materials, at the risk of ending up with child-sized sweaters 😉 It is not necessary to iron wool or cashmere.
Also, you should wash your wool and cashmere sweaters fairly regularly so that the knit gets tighter and they don’t pill too much. The best is to use a special detergent for woollens, personally we use Eric Bompard cashmere shampoo (a discovery by Vincent who loves researching everything to find THE best product) and it’s great!
Lyocell / Tencel : this material can be washed at a temperature of 30° with a wool/delicate program, as for wool, especially for clothes made of 100% lyocell/Tencel. On the other hand, the dryer is to be avoided! Indeed, the lyocell tends to weaken when it is wet, a hot passage could therefore tear its fibers. You can iron this material by turning the fabric over, but be sure to set your iron to a low temperature.
Viscose : this material can be washed at a temperature of 30° with a wool/delicate programme. It is advisable to wash the viscose parts together with other parts to prevent the drum of the machine from damaging them. You will notice that the appearance of the viscose changes once wet (the viscose becomes stiffer, almost cardboard), but once dry, the material will regain its original appearance 🙂 The dryer is however to be avoided and as for lyocell/Tencel can be ironed by turning the fabric over, at low temperature. You can iron this material by turning the fabric inside out, but be sure to set your iron to a low temperature, ideally when the garment is still slightly damp.
Polyester and polyamide / nylon : these are not delicate fibres, prefer washing at 30°C. These are very polluting synthetic materials during their production, so I try to favor them recycled when I buy them.
To wash polyester or polyamide (recycled or not), you can invest in the GuppyFriend washing bag which captures the microplastics that synthetic fiber clothing releases when washed and which pollutes rivers and oceans. This bag considerably reduces the production of these plastics (by 86%) in addition to protecting our clothes (thus maximizing their durability). The microplastics retained by the bag can then be thrown away in the trash. Vincent and I have been using it for a few months after discovering it, it is very good and ultra easy to use (with a good capacity).
Linen and hemp : machine wash at 30 or 40°C. They can absolutely be ironed, but rather on the reverse with iron on low temperature.
Silk: silk is a noble and fragile way. As for wool or cashmere, I prefer to wash in the washing machine on a delicate/cold wool program so as not to deform the piece. Do not use fabric softener (this risks greasing the material) and do not use a tumble dryer to maintain the silk. If you wash your silk piece by hand, do not soak it too long (no more than 5/10 minutes).
Like wool, dry your silk pieces on a flat towel. If you have washed your garment by hand and need to wring it manually, you can lay it on a towel then roll the towel up and leave the garment in it for a few minutes while the towel absorbs the moisture before washing. dry flat. If the silk is stained, avoid rubbing and instead take your piece to the dry cleaners.
Jeans/denim : there are several schools and it also depends on whether your jeans are denim or not (this is a particular way of dyeing the yarn: if you look closely, you should see a white yarn and a blue on denim). In the case of denim, the rule is to wash it as infrequently as possible , and cold, on a delicate cycle at the risk, otherwise, of bleeding the blue and creating a faded effect. The lighter your jeans are, the less sensitive they will be to fading. Jeans of particular colors (white, red, etc.) are mostly fake denim (they have no white thread, just colored threads) and can therefore be washed without this problem of fading.
Leather (bags & shoes) : remember to wash and wax your leather parts regularly to keep it supple and prevent it from drying out.
And the laundry?
I occasionally use dry cleaning, especially for my most fragile items or for my coats and jackets. At the end of each season, I take the coats I’ve worn the most to the dry cleaners before putting them away in their covers and finding them all clean the following year!
What laundry?
We use detergent and softener from the Ecover brand that we buy in organic stores.
Repair & retouch the parts we own
Repairing damaged clothes means learning to resist the phenomenon of “disposable fashion” 😉 Personally, I use a lot of alterations for my clothes. Whether it’s to repair clothes that come unstitched or torn (it happens, but it’s not necessarily irreversible) or to have certain pieces taken back so that they fit me perfectly .
Indeed it is utopian to imagine finding a garment – whatever it is – that will fit us perfectly, as if it were tailor-made for us! We are all different, with our own morphologies and two people who are the same size will never have an identical body! It happens very often that I buy clothes that I like and have them slightly taken back in length, at the waist or at the level of the chestso that they fit me perfectly. A garment that we decide to have altered is a garment in which we invest since we will pay alteration costs (but which are often less expensive than we think, sometimes even offered by certain brands) and we therefore take the time to make sure that we really like this piece before depositing it with a retoucher or a retoucher.
You often ask me for my addresses to have your clothes taken back : in Paris, I entrusted all my ready-to-wear pieces to Alice Retouche in the 17th arrondissement , she is wonderful! She touched up from the most basic pieces to the most precious pieces (a rhinestone dress that I wore at the Cannes Film Festival and my civil wedding dress in particular). In Bordeaux, I entrusted several clothes to Atelier D Retouches in the Chartrons district and I was delighted with the result! Obviously if you know how to sew yourself, it’s even better!
The same goes for shoes: taking them regularly to a shoemaker to maintain them and resole them allows you to keep the same pair for years! I have a pair of André Chelsea boots that I’ve worn hundreds of times and that I have re-soled every year: they’re perfect, with just the right patina to give them charm. In Paris I entrusted my shoes to Retro by Mickael in the 3rd (the team does a wonderful job), but I have not yet tested a shoemaker in Bordeaux on the other hand (if you have good addresses I am interested)
My essential accessories to take care of my clothes
I have two accessories that I couldn’t do without to take good care of my clothes on a daily basis:
My steamer, of which I have spoken to you several times. I received this model from Philipps at least 4 or 5 years ago for my birthday and despite regular use and many trips, it still works great. It is very practical (quite compact) and I always take it on trips with me to smooth out my clothes that come out of my suitcase, as I explained to you in my article on the art of packing your suitcase properly . I also have a more classic iron, but I use my steamer more. For really very wrinkled parts, it will be preferable to prefer an iron, but to “smooth” a part the steamer is faster and more manageable in my opinion. I like !
My “pill remover” : it was my friend Juliette who introduced me to the anti-pill razor and it really revolutionized my life, just that haha! At first I thought it would be a gadget, but I use it very regularly. No more pilling, it brings all my sweaters, plaids, hats, scarves, socks, etc. back to life. ! I gave it to everyone around me haha! Go for it, you won’t regret it
NB: to remove hair or dust from your clothes, you can use a clothes brush like this one , which is very effective.
