Sections
Guide sections
The guide is built around four themes that follow a garment's journey through your home. First you read the care label and learn what the item can take. Then you wash and dry it. Every now and then you deal with stains. And at the end of the season you put clothes and shoes into storage until next year. Each section links to pages where the topic is covered in more detail.
Caring for clothes is not a set of strict rules but a handful of habits repeated many times. Once you have learned them, you stop thinking about every wash and start noticing that your things look new for longer.
The sections include only what you can do at home without special equipment and without risk to your health. We do not give recipes for homemade cleaning mixtures, we do not recommend specific brands and we do not promise miracles: if an item needs professional cleaning or repair, we say so.
Care labels and symbols
The small tag in the seam is the shortest and most precise set of instructions for any garment. Learn to read it and you will avoid most unpleasant surprises.
- Five basic symbols
Washtub, triangle, square, iron and circle: which stage of care each one stands for.
- Numbers, dots and bars
How a symbol tells you the maximum water and iron temperature and how gentle the wash should be.
- The label has been cut off
What to do when there is no tag: how to proceed carefully and avoid ruining an item of unknown fabric.
Washing and drying
Most ruined clothes come to grief right here: water that is too hot, a fierce spin or a radiator under a wet jumper.
- Sorting laundry
Why you need several piles: by colour, by fabric type and by how dirty things are.
- Delicate cycles
When a gentle programme is enough and when only a hand wash in cool water will do.
- Drying without stretching
How to dry knitwear, shirts and down jackets so they keep their shape and loft.
Stains
With stains, the key is not to rush for strong products and not to panic. Calm action in the first few minutes makes almost all the difference.
- The fresher, the easier
Why a stain should be treated as soon as possible and why hot water can sometimes set it.
- Testing on the inside
How to try a product on a hidden area before applying it somewhere visible.
- One product at a time
Why different cleaning products must never be mixed and how to use them safely.
Storage and shoes
A garment put away dirty or damp may fall prey to moths or mould by next season. Shoes also need preparing for their break.
- Winter clothes away for summer
Step-by-step preparation of warm clothes for long-term storage: cleaning, drying, covers and the right spot.
- Moths and damp
How to keep pests out of the wardrobe and why airing helps more than any sachet.
- Shoes through the seasons
How to dry, clean and store boots, ankle boots and summer shoes so they do not lose their shape.
Read next
- Guides
How to put winter clothes away for the summer: preparation, steps with illustrative examples, mistakes and a checklist. Plus the article catalogue.
- Questions
Short answers about care symbols, wash cycles, stains, household cleaning products, storage and shoes.
- Collections
Reading paths: your first laundry on your own, wool and delicate fabrics, shoes through the seasons.
- Reference
Glossary: care symbols, wash cycle, delicate cycle, spin, sorting, fibres, pilling, moths.
Sources
- ISO 3758 "Textiles. Care labelling code using symbols" (general provisions)
- Guidance on the safe handling of household cleaning products (general provisions)
This advice is general and reflects what we knew when the page was prepared. The best guide for any particular item is its own care label: if the label disagrees with our recommendations, follow the label. For expensive, vintage or complex items, it is wiser to turn to professional cleaning or repair specialists.