How do I keep towels soft?
Why towels go hard and scratchy, and the washing changes that keep them absorbent and soft without fabric conditioner.
beginner15 min2 min read
Clothing & Laundry
Washing, drying, stains and making clothes last.
109 guides in Lifestyle
How do I remove stains from clothes?
The general stain removal method, plus specific approaches for the common ones — and the one rule that ruins more clothes than anything else.
beginner30 min2 min readWhat should never go in the tumble dryer?
Four separate categories should stay out of a dryer, and only one of them is about shrinking. The others are about damage, delamination and genuine fire risk.
beginner10 min2 min readWhy do my clothes smell even after washing?
It is usually the machine rather than the clothes — and a monthly hot wash fixes most of it.
beginner1 hr2 min readWhy does cotton shrink in the tumble dryer?
Three different mechanisms all get called shrinkage, and only one of them can be undone. Which one happened decides whether the garment is recoverable.
beginner10 min2 min readHow do I wash clothes properly?
Sorting, temperature, detergent quantity and load size — the choices that decide whether clothes come out clean and last.
beginner20 min2 min readWhy does wool shrink and felt, and can it be undone?
Wool fibres are covered in one-way scales that ratchet into each other when they are warm, wet and agitated at the same time. That is felting, and unlike ordinary shrinkage it is permanent.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I dry clothes indoors without causing damp?
How to dry laundry inside without creating the condensation and mould problems it usually causes, and how to speed it up.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I shorten jeans and keep the original hem?
The fold that lets you cut length out of the middle of the leg and put the factory hem back on the bottom, so the jeans keep their original stitching and worn edge.
intermediate1 hr6 min readShould I hang or fold each garment?
The answer follows from how the fabric carries its own weight. Anything knitted stretches from a hanger; anything tailored loses its shape folded.
beginner10 min2 min readWhy have my stretchy clothes gone baggy and lost their stretch?
Elastane is thermoplastic: heat softens it and it re-sets in whatever shape it was in. Two per cent of the garment carries all of the recovery, and once it has gone nothing puts it back.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I remove yellow sweat and deodorant marks from shirts?
The yellow crust under the arms is aluminium from antiperspirant reacting with sweat, not dirt — which is why detergent alone never touches it.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I sew on a button so it stays on?
The shank that lets the button sit properly, anchoring the thread without a knot showing, and matching the original.
beginner15 min3 min readWhat do washing machine programmes and settings actually do?
A programme is only ever four variables in a particular combination — temperature, time, how hard the drum moves, and spin — and knowing which one each programme changes lets you ignore the other twelve buttons.
beginner15 min5 min readWhy does polyester smell when cotton does not?
Polyester is water-repelling and oil-attracting, so body oil bonds to the fibre surface where a normal wash cannot reach it. Bacteria feed on that oil and the smell returns the moment the garment warms up.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I get cooking oil and grease stains out of clothes?
Grease needs a degreaser applied to dry fabric, not water — and the mark that only appears after the garment has dried is the classic sign it was washed too soon.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I fix a fallen hem?
The invisible slip stitch, when hemming tape is acceptable, and getting the length right before you sew.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I get white clothes white again?
Whites go grey from underdosing, overloading and hard water rather than from age — and the fix is usually the wash routine plus an oxygen bleach soak.
beginner40 min4 min readHow do I remove blood, milk and egg stains?
Protein stains behave as a group and all need the same thing: cold water and no heat at any point, because heat cooks the protein permanently into the fibre.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I wash and look after cashmere?
Cashmere is a very fine, very short animal fibre, which is why it feels the way it does and why it pills in the first month. Hand wash it more often than you think, comb it, and never dry clean it routinely.
beginner25 min4 min readHow do I dry washing indoors without causing damp?
Where to put the airer, what ventilation it needs, and why radiators are the worst option.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I get rid of clothes moths?
Identifying a clothes moth infestation, clearing it properly, and the storage that prevents it recurring.
beginner3 hr2 min readHow do I make clothes last longer?
What actually wears clothes out — washing, drying and storage — and the changes that meaningfully extend their life.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I load a washing machine properly?
The drum is not a container, it is a tumbling space — and the difference between a clean wash and a disappointing one is almost always how much of that space is left empty.
beginner10 min5 min read