Hello awesome people! Happy July! So we have successfully begun the second half of this year and time seems to be on a jet plane. July is a special month for me because a lot of good things happened to me in July 2015 like the completion of my NYSC. Read more of that here, & here. It was a sort of rebirth for me and I'm so thankful to God for bringing me this far.

So this post was inspired by my mum and how well and long she's able to keep her clothes. I've had some family friends and relatives marvel at how long my mum's clothes have lasted and how well they still look regardless of the years they've spent in her wardrobe. It's simple, how do you handle your clothes? Do you soak your clothes in detergent overnight? Do you wash your clothes like you fell into a gutter? Do you sort your clothes before starting to wash even? These are some questions my mum used to ask me while growing up.lol. So I'm here to share some useful tips handed down to me from my mum that have helped me over the years in maintaining my clothes so stay with me. These tips apply to both hand washing and washing with a machine.

• Sorting; Before you even start to wash, this is the very first step that you should take regardless of the means of washing, be it with your hands or a machine. Sorting means separating your clothes according to colour and/or fabric. For example, you can't wash a red shirt with a pair of cream pants. It's pretty obvious. The elements of red will definitely rub off on the cream coloured pants and if this is repeated for about 2-3 times, you can as well kiss the pants goodbye.
  
  
  
  
• Avoid soaking; This might seem impossible to some people because they believe that soaking of clothes makes it easier and faster to wash. If we're talking about whites here then I can agree with this. But it certainly shouldn't be tried with coloured clothes because it only drains the life out of the fabric. With time, the clothes would start to look dull and the next thing you'd say is that the material is fake. Oh yeah?
  
  
  
  
• Not washing machine everytime; Yes, easy with the machines. Some clothes aren't meant to be rigorously washed by a washing machine. You know those labels attached to your clothes?
  
  
  They carry a lot of information about how that particular piece of clothing should be handled. Some clothes are made to be hand-washed and once they go into a washing machine, they never come out the same. Don't blame it on the lady in the market that sold that lovely top to you.
  
  
  
  
• Detergents, hold on that; Do you know detergents aren't meant for ALL types of fabric? Forget what you see in their TV commercials. Bar soaps or tablet soaps as some people know it work wonders on dark coloured clothes. They are mild and remove dirt just as much as detergents. They work really well on ankara(African prints)
  
  
  
  
  
• Stop washing all the time; You read that right. Some clothes just need fresh air and they're ok. You don't always have to wash and wear. It's in cases like this that my mum asks me if I fell into a gutter.lol!

I hope you find these tips helpful. You can also share some more tips if you have in the ccomment section below.
Keep shining,
xo, Evita.