It’s all fun and games until you get some gravy on your silk
In that case, the stains were literally a buzzkill. The same frustration and despair can happen when your abbott vest comes out of the wash looking like the tassels went through the lawn mower. Keep your Lilly Pulitzer clothes perfectly pristine with these easy laundry tips!
Laundry Bags
These are a necessity. Anything I own with beading, tassels, pompoms, or clasps goes in a laundry bag before washing. This keeps the garment together so it can’t get stretched. It also doesn’t allow the garment to move around too much and get agitated, so the things with embellishments have a better chance of coming out of the wash intact. These are my favorite laundry bags because they come in different sizes and have cute detailing. They also come in white with gold!
Stain Removers
When it comes to stain removers, OxiClean is the best. I don’t say that lightly, I actually did a science project on this in high school testing a ton of different stains and OxiClean was the most successful in removing the most amount of stains. I haven’t had any issues with OxiClean taking the color out of highly saturated fabrics, but I always recommend testing it in a small, not easily seen portion of the piece of clothing just to make sure. For example, I don’t use OxiClean on my tiki pink kelly ankle pants because they don’t hold their color as well.
Detergent
Get picky. I used to spend less on detergent and have to purchase dryer sheets or fabric softener. Don’t do this. Fabric softener can compromise the integrity of the fabrics of your clothes, so when your kalissa tunic top rips you can be sure this is why. Dryer sheets are just a money suck, but you won’t need them if your detergent has a great scent. I use OxiClean detergent for my whites and Tide Color Defense for my bright colors. They both smell great (a clean scent, not perfumey) so even out of the dryer they have that nice clean laundry smell. Invest in your detergent and buy what you need for whites and colors. It is always great to have a mini bottle of Woolite on hand for when you want to hand wash your silks.
Water
Always use cold water. I will use hot water on sheets and towels, but when it comes to my clothing I always use cold water to maintain color vibrancy. This will also help to prevent color bleeding.
Cycles
I traditionally wash my clothes using a normal cycle, but if I have a load that is mostly full of embellished tops or dresses, then I might run the washer on delicate. Soft sweaters like the elyssa wrap also do better on a gentle cycle so that the soft cotton doesn’t get agitated as much, so it also won’t pill as quickly.
Silks
My silk tops I normally hand wash in room temperature water in my bathroom sink. I use a little (read: less than dime sized) amount of Woolite and rinse in a cold water bath with a small part of vinegar in it. This should help maintain the color and softness of the silk fabric.
ALWAYS pay close attention to your silks when handwashing and ALWAYS test in a small section first. I tried to handwash my lulu print elsa and the whole thing bled – it was awful. Only wash the entire thing if you absolutely need to, otherwise just dry clean it. Now, I steam my silks thoroughly to clean them and use baby wipes to help get out stains and spot treat. This is the best way to clean them that I’ve figured out without risking any major bleeding.
Hang Dry
I hang dry a lot of my clothing so that it doesn’t shrink up or change shape. All of my sophie dresses, tatum sweaters, elyssa wraps – all of these go straight onto hangers to dry. Tops like the tobyn top, made out of a rayon, air dry really quickly so I also hang dry those. Pieces like the abbott sweater also hang dry because of all the tassels. Sometimes if you put tassels in the dryer they look terrible when they come out. Collapsible drying racks are helpful for air-drying laundry but only buy the plastic version. If you hang whites on the wooden rack, the color of the wood could bleed onto your clothes and stain them. I bought a large lucite rack for the bedroom to make hang drying easier. Now I can just pop everything on its hanger, put it on the rack, and go!
Super-Saturated Colors
If you just purchased kelly ankle pants in berry fizz or tiki pink, this definitely applies to you. Highly saturated cotton fabrics can be tricky to wash without causing major color bleeds. In an ideal situation, here’s what you should do: run through the dryer on super hot heat to set the color into the fabric. If you can, soak in a vinegar/water mixture to help set the dye. Use about one-gallon water with 1/4 cup table salt and one cup vinegar. This should help to naturally lock the color into the garment. I would only use this technique on cotton clothes, not silk or other delicate fabrics!
What are your laundry tips? Share your best advice in the comments below!
