Clothing and Fashion Hints and Tips

Useful information of how to care and repair clothing and accessories

It was difficult to decide which area of my site was best suited for these tips but I eventually decided that they came under the "Lifestyle" style heading rather than Workshop or Utility Room.

• If clothes are creased after travelling, hang them up by the shower and the steam will help remove creases.

Courtesy of Ros Heit, thanks.

• When pressing a silk tie, never press from front as the seam will make an impression on the front of the tie will be difficult to remove.  Place a piece of card inside the tie, turn face down, cover with a cloth and press.  Remove card and there you have it.
  
• To lengthen or just for variety, sew a piece of heavy fabric with a crazy design (i.e. flowers etc.) on the bottom, giving it a 2" - 4" 'facelift'.  Sounds 70'ish but I just saw someone wearing a pair that were actually bought this way - I guess this is coming back into fashion in 2000.

Thank you Denise.

• If you have zippers that are rusty or getting stuck, just take a pencil and rub on the zipper - it is the graphite in the pencil which does the trick.   (Make sure you don't get any marks on the fabric from the graphite dust though!) 

Thanks to Sammar for this one.

• Sellotape (or other adhesive tape) wrapped around your hand, sticky side out, can be used to remove fluff and pets hairs from clothing and soft furnishings.
   

• Clean dirty white shoes and handbags by dabbing with cotton wool and nail varnish remover.
   

• When velvet clothes become shiny and/or "seated", spray item with a fine mist, brush up against the pile with a nail brush and leave overnight.  It is probably safest to test this on a hem first.
   

• Use sandpaper to remove a stubborn mark from a felt hat.  If this does not work get a felt tip pen in a matching colour and draw over the offending mark.
   

• If you need to remove a pencil mark from embroidery (or indeed from any fabric), take a small piece of dough from a loaf of white bread, knead with fingers and then rub gently over the pencil mark, which should disappear.
   

• Use a piece of white chalk to remove marks from white material.
   

• Snags in woollen clothing can be hidden by taking a needle and thread and making a loop.  Put needle down through material next to snag, place the offending snagged wool through the loop of thread and continue to pull the needle through to the back of the material.  This will pull the snag through to the back of the garment where it cannot be seen.
   

• To make a hat smaller place small pieces of adhesive draught excluder underneath the petersham inside the hat brim.

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• To prevent ties from slipping off hangers, especially whilst travelling, loop them loosely over the bottom of the hanger.  This is done by folding in half, placing loop over the hanger and threading the ends of the tie through the loop.

• When hanging up trousers place one leg behind hanger and bring through over hanger from back to front.  Take second leg through hanger from front to back.  This will lessen the creasing and keep then firmly on the hanger.

• If using a wire hanger for trousers try using clothes pegs to fix the bottom of the trouser legs to the hanger as this will prevent creasing across the knees of the trousers.

• If you find the neckline of a dress drops and exposes everything when you bend forward, try this remedy.  Find a strip of plastic (sort of lolly stick shape, something like a plant marker) and sew it vertically into the inside of your dress front neckline.   The end of this plastic strip can then be placed inside your bra this preventing the neckline dropping.

• To keep a hat firmly in place, so a hair comb (like those used for wedding veils) inside the crown.

• In an emergency use a safety pin to secure a button in place.  Open safety pin, place through fabric from inside garment, through button shank, back through material and close pin. This only works if the button has a shank.

• To prevent jacket bottoms from turning up, cover an old coin with material and insert inside hem, this will weigh it down and prevent the edge from turning up.

• On holiday and there is no iron - try this.  Lay garment on a flat surface, put a hair dryer on the hot setting and pass over about 4/6 inches above the material from left to right.  At the same time flattening the material with the other hand.  Works a treat.