Maintaining Bed Linen Durability and Quality
* Take a few seconds to read the care labels and follow the instructions on the bedding packages before laundering your linen. Obvious, you might think, but when was the last time you actually did this? Care labels usually provide very specific guidelines for caring for your bedding, based on the fabric type, thread count, materials, manufacturer and colors of your bed linen. Laundering instructions do vary and one size does not necessarily fit all.
* Familiarize yourself with your wash machine settings. Again, not all wash machines are created equal. There may be various industry specific symbols that are used on the setting selections. If you are not familiar with laundry symbols and do not understand what the symbols mean do some research to find out and avoid costly mistakes. Not doing so could result in your misinterpretation of the instructions and eventually to the ruin of your luxury linen. Understanding exactly how to handle your linen in the machine could help prevent shrinkage and maintain the original high quality of your linens.
* Since we are always so busy we tend rush right though the cleaning process and as a result overstuff the wash machine to get through the process more quickly. As a result, we make some very bad decisions by thinking that it may not really matter if I mix the colored linen with the whites, or if I stuff one more piece in the machine, it can handle it. Do not overload the machines. The damage is two fold. 1) If the linen does not have enough space to move around in the machine, this hinders the cleaning process, by compacting the very dirt that has been removed during the cleaning process back in to the linen, and thus ruining it and 2) Stuffing the machine puts more stress on the machine as it needs to work harder to get through the cycle.
* Protecting your investment in your high quality bed linen also depends a great deal on the type of laundry detergent you use. Some detergents contain harsh cleaning materials that may damage your luxurious linen by causing the colors to fade. This can be prevented by taking two simple steps. 1) Use more gentle detergents and 2) Do not use too much detergent. While we may enjoy seeing the sodding during the wash cycles, we can accomplish the same level of cleanliness of bed linens by cutting down on the amount of laundry detergent in a load by as much as half of what is typically used.
* How about the drying process? It is not necessary to over dry your high quality linen. We tend to overdry our linen simply because we love the warmth and the pleasant aroma of the fabric softener when we remove our linen from the dryer. Over drying is detrimental to the durability of our luxury linens (and also cause ) by causing the colors to fade. How do we know when it is OK to get the linen from the dryer? A simple tip will help protect your investment. Getting the bed linen from the dryer when they are still slightly damp is all you need to know to do the trick. So do not keep linen in the dryer for longer than necessary. AND by the way, have you ever considered drying your linen in the natural sunlight during the warmer months? Few things smell better than the natural fragrance of sundried laundered linen.
It is generally accepted that good quality bed linen can improve the quality and quantity of sleep that we get. Unfortunately, we often do not pay enough attention to the proper care of the luxurious bed linen in which we have invested. As a result, we often unwittingly shorten the life and quality of our high quality bed linen. Try some of these tips the next time you care for your luxury linen. Also, read the care labels and see if all along you missed an important step in your linen care process. Let us know if these simple but important steps were an eye opener for you.
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