Care & Repair
Pilling is two separate failures and only the second one is visible
The small balls on a jumper are the end of a process that began with fibre ends working loose, which is why…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
Washing, storage and repairs — the difference between five years and one.
Care & Repair
Agitation, not water temperature, is what wears clothes out
The heat setting gets all the attention on a machine dial, but the damage done to a garment in the wash is mostly mechanical, and the lint filter is the proof.
Care & Repair
The enzymes in ordinary detergent are why wool and silk get their own bottle
A standard laundry detergent contains biological catalysts chosen to break down specific kinds of soil, and…
· 3 min read
Care & Repair
Moths are after the protein, which decides everything about storage
Clothes moth larvae eat keratin and nothing else, and once that is clear, most of the folk remedies sort…
· 3 min read
Care & Repair
Most shrinkage happens in the dryer and heat is only half the reason
Garments contract for three quite different reasons, and only one of them is permanent, which is why some…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
Pressing and ironing are different operations and one of them stretches cloth
Sliding a hot plate across fabric and setting it down on the spot do different things to the weave, and…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
Hardware fails before cloth does and it is the cheapest thing to fix
Buttons, zips, hooks and press studs are the mechanical components of a garment, and most clothes are…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
Whether a shoe can be resoled was decided before you bought it
The join between the upper and the sole is either a stitched, openable construction or a glued one, and…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
A hanger is a load-bearing device and most of them are the wrong shape
Hanging a garment transfers its entire weight onto two small areas of cloth, and whether that damages it…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
A hole in a knit and a hole in a weave need opposite repairs
One fabric is built from continuous loops that unravel and the other from crossing yarns that fray, so the…
· 4 min read
Care & Repair
Dry cleaning is a wash in a liquid that is not water
The process is neither dry nor gentle in any general sense, and knowing what the solvent does and does not…
· 3 min read
Care & Repair
Stains fall into four chemistries and each one wants a different attack
What removes a grease mark will set a protein one, so the useful first question about a stain is not how…
· 3 min read