If you’re an avid thrifter, then most likely you’ve come across some pretty gnarly items and possibly have left them at the store because you just weren’t sure how to clean them. One thing that I’ve earned is that it is much better to be safe than sorry when thrifting so these are the best practices when cleaning your items.
1. Dry Clean
Check the tags and if your item is something that needs to be dry cleaned, don’t skimp on the cost. Many times the care tag is removed in items and if that is the case I usually err on the side of caution and have the item dry cleaned. If there is no tag keep in mind that some of the most common fabrics that need to be dry cleaned are
- Suede
- Leather
- Silk
- Wool
2. Steam
Aside from cleaning your items make sure you steam them or put them in the dryer at a very high temperature as this helps get rid of unwanted pests and your items will be wrinkle free!
3. Spot treat
Always have some sort of spot treatment on hand, my favorite spot treatment to use is Grandma’s Secret Spot Remover. I swear this stuff works on just about everything!
4. Know your stains
While you don’t have to have a Ph.D. in stain removal, you should be familiar with some of the common stains seen like makeup or ketchup. This makes it easy to know if the item is something you should purchase or leave at the store. If you want a guide on how to identify and remove some of the common stains read our article here.
5. Wash by hand
If you’re unsure about the material of an item or the care tag has been removed (as it often is), you can try washing it by hand or find a small spot to wash and see how it reacts to detergent. But I as I stated before I usually opt for dry cleaning if the tag is removed.
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