As girls who maybe guilty of picking things up off the floor…..going for a “crushed textured cotton look,” spot cleaning on the run with a babywipe and never making it to the drycleaner (jacket’s been known to have a two year holiday)…..we've put some tips together on how to care for your clothes:

Keeping your cotton Whites
- Sard Wonderstick slather on generously to collars and cuffs
- If you have a nasty spot/stain: bring out another friend, the super soft toothbrush, spray the toothbrush with Preen and gently circle work that stain
- Throw in to a warm bucket of sudsy water with a good shot of Napisan and soak-em long time (days if you forget)
- Wack into gentle cycle in a machine (or hand wash if you so desire…)
- And if you are lucky enough to have a “good drying day,” then into the sunshine!


Keeping your cotton Blacks
- Less is more with this one – use the least amount of water possible and a tiny bit of a soft washing detergent like Woolmix
- Turn inside-out to wash
- Dry as far from the sun as possible
- Keep the shirt inside out and iron on the reverse side (otherwise it gets a shiny lustre…)

Silks
- Sigh. Although you will mostly find a dryclean only label on a silk piece (unless it’s been pre-washed), a bet is that most will wear it a couple of times, maybe dry clean it once or twice and then go……”silk it” – into the silk-wash for you…
- What will it do? Washing silk will change the look of it, the original sheen may end up with a more matt finish and it may shrink the piece.
- However, if you did want to hand wash it, do so with a super light detergent, and don’t wring the piece, roll it up into a towel, dry flat and then lightly iron.
- Big no-nos for silk are: sun, heat and chemicals (deodorant) and perfume….spritz prior to dressing

Ironing with Joy (and if no Joy, iron with wine and Nina Simone…)
- Check the care label for the correct setting of the dial
- Dampen your piece for the ultimate in ease and crispness
- Start with the collar and cuffs, they have double thickness and will be less likely to re-wrinkle
- Iron the back of the collar first ironing in from the edges, then move to the front side and repeat with the cuffs
- For a super smooth collar and cuff go with a misting of Fabulon
- Move to the sleeve by flattening out the sleeve’s back side, iron, then turn over to iron the front of the sleeve
- Hang shirt over the ironing board away from you and start to iron by panel, always follow the grain of the fabric (along the length of body and cuffs) to maintain the original shape. Move to the back of the shirt, taking care at the seams and finish with the last front panel
- Hang your shirt on a quality hanger with the top button done up and allow to air dry before hanging in the wardrobe

Take a Bow! You are a ROCKSTAR!

Trouble Shooting: Getting rid of Rust: a true favourite!
Ok, so have had a couple of lovelies who accidentally soaked their shirt overnight and had left their cufflinks in…messy. Challenge was on and here is how we removed the rust from an otherwise pristine white shirt!
- Spread your shirt out on an old towel with the rust areas facing up
- Grab the salt and sprinkle it onto the rust spots
- Pour the juice of a half a lemon over the salted rust spots
- Gently, gently rub in
- Take it out into the sun and watch the stains disappear before your very eyeballs!
- Leave it out in the sun, then give it a gentle wash in light liquid (no bleaches etc)