Have you ever been told that too much cleaning can reduce the life of your clothes? Claims have been made stating that agitation, heat and chemicals can have a negative effect on the life expectancy of clothes. The truth is cleaning can help prolong the life of your clothing.

Here are some facts:

Stains set with age – by cleaning your garments frequently, stains are much more likely to be removed. In addition, ground-in dirt and soil act like abrasives, or sandpaper, on your clothes and will cause rapid wear of fibers. Always clean your clothes before you store them, either by laundering or professionally dry cleaning. Many food and beverage stains as well as body oils left on the garment may oxidize over time and can leave a yellow or brown stain. Once these stains oxidize they are difficult if not impossible to remove. In addition, insects are attracted to these types of stains and can cause fabric damage.

Insects like stains – microscopic insects love to feed on your clothes. They are attracted to unattended stains and can cause damage to fibers. Frequent cleaning keeps clothes fresh and insect free.

We’re nice to your clothes – a person is more likely to wear out a garment with regular wearing before it will wear out from frequent cleaning.

Don’t Press It – some people think that pressing a garment is all that’s needed to make it look wearable again, but if you press an item before it is cleaned it is very likely that stains and other dirt, such as body oils, will be set permanently. A Fabricare article published by the International Fabricare Institute illustrates this point – “Picture a white T-shirt that you’ve worn four days in a row and then take an iron and iron the underarm areas. Is that T-shirt ready to be worn another four days in a row now?”

Proper care and regular cleaning of your clothes really does extend their life and keep you looking your best.

Another concern many customers have when it comes to their clothing is how long will their clothing last. Following are life-expectancy figures for some common garments. These figures are based on normal wear and cleaning. This information is provided by the International Fabricare Institute.

  • Dress shirts: 2-3 years
  • Blouses: 3 years
  • Dresses: 2-3 years
  • Formal Wear: 5 years
  • Sweaters: 3 years
  • Sport Coats: 3-4 years
  • Slacks: 2-3 years