caring for clothes | organised castle

I know many of you will not read this post and others will shake their heads in disbelief at the title but please bear with me.

Ironing is an aspect of homemaking that seems to be almost universally hated but there is a valuable aspect to the task. I have mentioned before about the importance of taking care of what you own to get the maximum use from it and thus reduce the overall carbon footprint of any item. This applies to clothes and keeping your clothes in good repair makes good economic and environmental sense.

Taking the time to check each garment while you are ironing can identify problems before they become too extensive to repair. My previous post about my black linen top highlights this point. I noticed they fraying at the hem and have repaired this by using a wide satin stitch (zig zag) along the edge that had frayed. I have checked the remainder of the hem edge and cannot see any signs of similar problems, however, I will keep a close eye on it in the future.

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The mend is not invisible but reasonably well-disguised so I am happy to continue to wear this top.

Today when I was ironing I discovered 2 other issues. The first was one of GMan’s business shirts. There was a small yellow stain on the back near the armhole and I have no idea of the origin. It is about the size of a 20c piece and not terribly noticeable as it is a dark checked shirt. However, I have soaked the shirt in the hope that the stain will come out.

The other discovery was another minor mending job. I have a pair of white trousers with a centre back zip and a few stitches of the seam had broken just below the zip. This is not a huge issue at the moment but could be if I wore them and split the seam further. I repaired the seam and they are as good as new. This is a classic example of the saying “A stitch in time saves nine”. It could also save me from a potentially embarrassing and costly situation if I had to rush out and make an emergency purchase.

Obviously, I do not iron everything but hanging out washing or folding clothes I also take time to make sure they are in good order and ready to be worn.

Tonight I want to share a germ of an idea that has formed gradually over a period of time.

Some people have an ongoing shopping list to which they add items as they find that they are required. Others keep a list of what is stored in the freezer and cross things off as they are used.

I am thinking of creating a laundry list. I have this cupboard in my laundry. On the left-hand side are the assorted brooms and the vacuum cleaner (not shown), hangers for knitted items and dispensers for plastic bags as well as the racks on the inside of the door for laundry liquid and presoak and the rag-bag.

The right-hand side has the laundry hamper with shelving above. This holds various cleaning items as well as spare light globes, batteries, rubbish bags and shopping bags. However, the door is clear and this is where I could put my list.

I envisage a write on/wipe off board and am thinking of making one myself from a sheet of coloured A4 card and laminating it.

So, what am I going to write on this list, I hear you ask? It will basically be a reminder of extra jobs that need doing such as ‘stain on white trousers’, ‘scrub cuffs of mauve shirt’, ‘hem of black skirt’ or ‘darn striped sock’. They will be all the little things that seem obvious at the time but by the time I am doing the washing/ironing it can be overlooked.

What do you think? How do you keep track of the extra laundry jobs?