A fashion enthusiast has taken to sharing her top tips for proper garment care to prevent common laundry mishaps.
We've all faced the frustration of pulling our favourite item from the washing machine only to find it's shrunk or discoloured. Given that different fabrics require specific wash settings, knowing how to wash clothes correctly is crucial.
Sanna Kata, a content creator known for her fashion and style advice, gave her TikTok audience a step-by-step guide on clothing maintenance. The style maven stated: "Genuinely shocks me how many people don't know how to wash their clothes properly so if you buy nice things listen up, this is going to be your one stop shop guide for how to wash your clothes. Use these tips at your own discretion and make your own decisions."
Confirming her methods are tried and true, Sanna said: "This is how I wash my clothes and I never ruin anything." She delved into specifics by addressing fastenings first, recommending clothes' buttons be undone before washing to avoid strain and eventual loosening.
For zips, she instructed followers to zip them all the way up prior to washing to prevent snagging: She said: "Zips, on the other hand, you should always do all the way up when you wash because if this is undone this is basically a bunch of little teeth that are going to bite whatever is in the washing machine with that item."
The style guru then turned her attention to silk garments. She acknowledged the common misconception that "a lot of people think you can't wash silk", but reassured that silk can indeed be washed in a washing machine, provided it's on a cold setting (below 30 degrees, "preferably 20"), using a hand or gentle wash cycle and a low spin speed.
Sanna recommended using a detergent specifically designed for silk and cautioned to "only use a tiny little bit". She further explained: "You do not need a lot. If you put too much detergent in it's going to go matte dull.
"A little goes a long way and that'll save your blouse or top or whatever it is you're washing." The fashion enthusiast warned that after washing, silk garments may feel "kind of stiff and lifeless", but assured that applying some form of heat will restore its "lustrous texture."
She suggested ironing the garment on a "silk friendly setting" at a low temperature, or alternatively, steaming it to "watch your item come back to life." Sanna added: "If you don't wanna iron it and you're scared to do that just wearing it and the heat from your body will eventually get it to loosen up again."
Following this, she moved onto discussing knitwear, particularly wool and cashmere. She asserts that knitwear doesn't require frequent washing, and the frequency depends on the type of item.
For large, loose knitted garments, she suggests treating them "treat it like a jacket", as people don't regularly wash or dry clean their jackets, so she says there's no need to constantly wash your knitwear either. Sanna personally only cleans specific areas of the garment that have become dirty, and if they start to smell, she places them in the freezer.
She washes her knitwear "every couple of months when it's absolutely necessary". For tighter fitting knitwear that sits directly under the armpits, for instance, she recommends washing "a bit more regularly".
The guidelines she provides for washing these types of clothes include using a 'cold' setting (below 30 degrees), a hand wash setting, and a low spin cycle. Sanna added: "Wool specialised detergent and only a tiny bit because again, wool has oils in it and every time you wash it you strip some of the oils off so if you use a lot of detergent you will be stripping off all those oils and it will become brittle and dull and not what you want it to be."
She further cautioned that it is "essential" not to put knitwear in a dryer as this is an "amazing way to warp it, to make it pill, to make it shrink." The fashion guru recommends laying it flat to dry and pressing it between two towels to absorb some of the excess water.
Sanna then moved on to discuss denim. She debunked a common myth: "This is a myth going around that you shouldn't wash your jeans.
"I don't think that that's really true, I think it applies to raw denim. The rule that I absolutely would not break is when you have a pair of jeans, especially a pair of jeans that are black, brown, any other colour than blue, wash them inside out or you will get stripes all along the front and again, the pants will usually tell you what they want and generally speaking, denim should be on a cool setting as well, around 30 degrees."
Sanna revealed that she doesn't wash any of her clothes at a temperature higher than 30 degrees as she believes it's "not necessary, especially if it's day to day wear". The only exception she makes is for underwear and activewear, which she washes at around 40 degrees but never at 60 degrees.
The style expert explained that washing clothes at such high temperatures "stresses the fibres so much more than necessary and they're not going to last as long." She also advises checking the washing instructions on the label inside your clothes.
