Fabric Care - It's easy!

When you like a garment or any fabric product, the first thing that comes to your mind is its care.

Will it be tedious to maintain, will it need extra care, will it be expensive to preserve? and such are the questions that sometimes make you keep the perfectly good looking fabric back on the shelf. Isn't it?

It's not really your fault... Sometimes products do not carry care instructions making it even more difficult for us to decide. And sometimes the instructions despite of being attached, add to the confusion because we do not understand it.

Care instructions are standardized and not very difficult to understand. In this post I will simplify the symbols for you. 

But before I start, I would like to highlight an important fact. Something that we usually very conveniently forget - Fabrics are perishable. 

Yes, they are. We often get attached to our favorite dress, linen etc. and hope that they will remain as is cos we are following the care instructions. And when it looks old, loses it's shine, we blame the manufacturing or the seller. Please bear in mind that the instructions are a guide to help us understand what suits the fabric best and help keep it intact. It does not prolong its life till eternity.  

Each fabric possesses a unique quality, has a different life span and reacts differently to weather, water, heat and soap. 

Below are some care instructions that are most commonly found on care labels and come handy while purchasing.

There are many more symbols but I will update you with that information in my next post. Learn these by heart till then :)

Along with care symbols, I thought of sharing some tips on washing, drying and ironing.

Tips on washing

• Always be sure to check the pockets of all garments before washing and drying. The stains and damage which can result from one hidden lipstick, lip balm, stick of gum or crayon goes beyond words!
• Wash all of your clothes inside out to protect the fibers against damage from the
  washing machine drum or from e.g. zippers in other clothes.
• Sort articles by color, keeping whites, darks, and medium colors together. Lighter garments can pick up dyes from darker colors. 
• Wash heavily soiled, dirty, items separately from slightly soiled items. This will help prevent fading and keep colors brighter.
• Garments which generate lint, such as fleece sweat shirts and towels, should be washed separately.
• It is recommended to save energy and water by washing at low temperatures.
• Most modern washing machines produce effective results even when they are completely full. Therefore, you should fill the machine completely instead of running it half full.

Tips on drying

• Follow label instructions for drying your clothes. Some fabrics require that you tumble dry them in low heat, or that you don't tumble dry them at all.
• Do not dry colored fabrics in direct sunlight. This can cause the color to fade.
• Dry the fabrics flat to avoid wrinkles.

Tips on ironing

• Be sure you read the care label for the proper ironing procedure and temperature setting to use.
• Do not iron items which are dirty or stained. Heat from the iron will set stains.
• Keep the iron and the ironing board cover clean to avoid soiling the clean garments/fabric being ironed.
• Garments which are drip-dry should be pressed while damp on the wrong side, using a cool iron. If finishing the right side, use a pressing cloth.

Tips on stain removal - for treating specific stains on washable fabrics.

• Deal with the stain as soon as possible. The longer you wait the more time the stain has to soak in and/or dry, making it more difficult to remove.
• Lift or gently scrap off any excess material from the fabric. Use a cloth or a towel to gently blot and soak up any liquid. Don't rub! Rubbing can spread the stain and cause it to penetrate deeper into the fabric.
• Identify what caused the stain. In order to know what to do for the stain, you need to know what caused it.
• Follow the instructions on any presoak, prewash or stain removers. It's best to test a small out of the way area of the fabric first.
• If stains aren't entirely removed after washing, try rewashing the item. Allowing the item to dry, or putting it in the dryer, can set the stain for good.

So...from now on you wont feel bad for yourself for losing out on a stunning dress or a great decor fabric. Now you can make an informed decision.

Happy shopping :)

Future is in safe hands...

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY!

Hmmm just another glorified day...  Huh! just another way of making money... Sell cards, make posters... They make an issue out of everything... What's the point of keeping one day for mother earth...huh.. as if that's gonna change anything!... some would say

BUT

There are some who do care and are working silently behind the scenes in their own innocent ways...

Everyday we see so many people promoting their products and services through multiple mediums but seldom do we find a 5 year old promoting and supporting a serious concern such as 'Save Earth'... impressive isn't it?

Meet Mishu, the little environmentalist in the making. I don't know him personally but saw some of his work while searching for some environment related images. I was amazed to see his creations, some of which are his own ideas! His mother, Himadri of course plays a huge role in all of this. It's really wonderful to see how much effort this mother-son duo are putting in to spread awareness.

Here is some of his work -

Lush green forest!
Made from play dough and sticks. How simple and cute :)

He says - This is my forest!
He used wood shavings, ground nut peels, water bottle caps, egg shells, corrugated sheet,

''Mishu said some really interesting things. While we were pasting trunks he said, “Aur tree lagao”(Put more trees or you can read the universal message-PLANT MORE TREES).''

Love thy trees!

Mishu used play dough (green, orange and yellow), cookie cutters, plasticine moulds, corrugated sheet, thermocol (to cut clouds), gravel, shells and other tools.

To cut 'heart shaped leaves' was the kid's idea!
It's true, you can't hide your love! :)

Taddaaaa....!!!

Isn't it absolutely adorable!
























You know, this is my third draft before I could finally compose my post. I was going to write about eco-friendly fabrics, what to buy, what not to buy etc. but I was having a very hard time moving on from this kid's wonderful works and to stick to the main topic of the post i.e World environment day. So ill just leave it at that for now. Will write about the fabrics very soon :)
As far as environment day goes, I don't really need to say anything more after sharing the lil one's work and effort. Isn't it?


So point taken master Mishu!
With thoughtful kids like you in this world, we know our future is in safe hands :)





With all due credits to Himadri pachori -
http://mumpaintslives.blogspot.com/2011/06/this-is-my-forest.html

Useful - Useless - REUSE!

Hey there!

Hope you liked my earlier post and are now busy making your own jewellery bowl! :)

Isn't it hard to part with your favourite clothes, kitchen ware, furniture or anything if it gets damaged?
You wish it could be yours forever and remain in the same good condition...

I love some of my furniture dearly but it's no more in a usable condition and unfortunately I am not as lucky as Joey to have Rosita - a chair that heals itself! Sigh!

I couldn't throw my favourite chair away! So I decided to use it differently... I was in my study room, searching for some small note. I searched on the table, in the drawers but nope, I had lost it.
I wanted to buy a pin up board for my table but the idea of a typical board was just not clicking. Something had to be done before I lost more valuable information I had written on small chits of paper...Oh so clumsy me! I thought and turned around only to see my poor little broken chair shoved under the cupboard.

Eureka!! I knew what I had to do next... my problem was solved!

See the transition here -


Before - A beautiful, wooden low-seating chair, finally succumbed to my friend's giant body! i dare not take his name ;P

 After - Make over into a colorful board on the study table

NOW - I finally have something to stick my notes on!
           - My collection of coasters are mounted on it neatly!
           - Interesting knick-knacks also found a place for themselves!
           - And what's best? I didn't have to drill in my wall to put a boring pin-up board!


Hey Joey! My chair doesn't heal itself, it transforms into a better thing instead! :D