Washing clothes??

[writeleigh]

How do you wash/care for your infant/child's clothing so that they stay really nice? DS's clothing starts to look worn really fast :(

[AngelaS]

My girls' things almost all get washed on cold and hung up to dry. I have a hanging rod in my laundry room, so most things get put on a hanger.

[iluvmy2boys]

I only wash on cold, use the smallest amt of detergent possible but I DO put in the dryer and usually it's on high.

But, considering all this, I have clothes from my 5.5yo that still look BRAND NEW even after so many uses/washes. We do have some shrinkage (but nothing that I wouldn't expect normally) and our navys/reds sometimes look a bit "faded" but overall, our clothes still look really nice.

HTH

I did find that generic/cheap detergents, etc made my clothes look worn much faster than a higher-priced detergent.

[alkagift]

Leigh,
What do you mean by worn, exactly? Pilly? Faded? I wash DS's clothes in plenty of water (meaning I don't over pack the machine at all), usually tepid water, on gentle. Up until 4 or 5 months ago, I was often double rinsing but I don't see that made a difference at all. I use Tide and I use about 2/3 of what the box call for--the water barely suds. I think overfilling the machine gives you pilly clothes, as does heavy agitation, and fading is sometimes the overpacking but is mostly the detergent. What are you using?

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[writeleigh]

Good ideas so far :) Thanks.

Hmm . . . I hadn't considered using less detergent. I usually use ALL or any type of free-and-clear detergent. Maybe it's also overpacking the machine though. I mean his clothes start to look faded.

[gisele]

I use warm water, Dreft, and hang dry his clothes. I think the key to keeping stuff looking new is to keep it out of the dryer - that is where clothes really take a beating. I also have a front-loading washer, which is kinder to clothes than a top loader.