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The Best Ways to Clean the House to Head Back to School

For parents, it is the most wonderful time of the year: time for the kids to head back to school. This time of year brings a lot of new things into Garner homes. There will be new book bags, school supplies, school outfits, shoes and more. In addition to all of the new items, time can become limited by trips to school supply stores, Raleigh malls, and department stores.

With all of these errands, organization, and laundry needs for the new items in the home, it can feel like there is no time left. But, the back to school season is a great opportunity to clean out closets, reorganized the house, and get the year started in the right manner.

It can be tough to know where to start. The laundry service experts at Mr. Laundromat of Garner suggest starting off with the closets. 

4 laundry tips to get the closets organized for the new school year are: 

  1. Pack Up the Summer Clothes. Back to school season comes right before the start of Fall. It may seem like a little early, but it is a great time to pack up the summer clothes. Move summer clothing in organizational bins or Ziploc tight bags to preserve clothing for next summer.
  2. Prepare the Handed Down Clothes. In Garner families with more than one child, parents are used to handing down clothes. Fall is a great time to take clothes that an older child wore the year before and give them to the next child. It is a vital part of organizing the closets for heading back to school and can save some money on buying new clothes.
  3. Pull Out Last Year’s Clothing. If there are clothes that have been packed up from last Fall, pull those out and clean them. A Garner laundromat, like Mr. Laundromat, can help if there are a lot of clothes coming out of storage.
  4. Prepare New Clothing. Many kids love buying new school clothes. Prepare to preserve the colors in new clothing by washing new clothes before wearing them. Be sure to sort the laundry into like colors and use color catching sheets in the laundry in order to preserve the clothing colors.

Before buying new clothes, bring out the clothes from last year and move the handed down clothes. Have those items laundered and evaluate what clothes can be worn another year or what needs to be donated or thrown away.

Keeping clothes clean and preserving clothes for the long term can be a handful. If that is a little too much to do this school year, consider using a laundromat such as Mr. Laundromat to handle all laundry needs.

After the closets are reorganized and ready with back to school clothing, the next step is to clean the items that shouldn’t be cleaned at home. Back to school, like Spring, is a great time for a big cleaning in the home.

 

3 items that should be cleaned before heading back to school, but can be tough to clean at home, are:

  • Shoes, especially children’s shoes, can get very messy during the Summer. They could be covered in mud and grass stains. While shoes can be washed at home, they could damage the washing machine and must be washed one at a time. If the kids have more than one pair of shoes, this could take a while!
  • Large Bedding. As a Garner laundromat, we suggest having bedding cleaned once a month. Many Garner families choose to wait a little longer on the larger bedding items such as pillows and comforters. The larger bedding items need to be cleaned, but don’t fit very well in a washing machine or dryer.
  • Pet Bedding. Pets are a vital part of the family, but the washing machine and dryer hate pet fur. It can clog up hoses, vents, and more which can lead to very costly laundry repairs. Having pet bedding professionally laundered can save a lot of money.

While these are not the first things thought of when cleaning to head back to school and it may seem like it could take a lot of extra time, but the laundry team at Mr. Laundromat would love to help take care of these items.

Taking care of the items above may seem futile, but could lead to some great advantages such as saving money and keeping the family healthy.

 

A few things that will be gained by cleaning before heading back to school are:

  • Make School Mornings Easier. Getting the kids up and ready for school can get the entire day started off in a stressful manner. But, having all clothes cleaned and kid’s closets organized with school clothes can make the process a little easier.
  • Preventing Allergies and Sickness. Cleaning and laundering the items in the house can prevent allergy outbreaks and days out of school or work. Bedding is one of the most common areas in the home that holds allergens.
  • Preserve Clothing. Having clothing, such as shoes and bathing suits, cleaned can elongate the lifespan of those items. Many Raleigh parents throw away kid’s shoes after a summer of mud, grass, blood and more. But, having those items cleaned can make them last even longer.
  • Save Money. In almost all clothing situations, it is cheaper to clean and preserve than it is to buy new. Cleaning shoes is much cheaper than buying a new pair of shoes.

There are plenty more reasons why starting off the year on a cleaner note can be great for the family. And it may seem like there is a lot to do before school starts back, but cleaning the house can be great for the family.

If there is too much laundry to handle, bring clothes to Mr. Laundromat, a local laundromat off of Highway 42 in Garner. We charge 99 cents per pound of clothing to have clothing washed, dried, and folded! For more information on our services, call the laundry experts at Mr. Laundromat today.

How to Best Prepare Winter Clothes and Linens for Storage

 

Now that winter is over and spring is officially here in the Triangle, it is time to think about transitioning from the cold weather, winter wardrobe to a warm weather, spring wardrobe. Before enjoying this spring season, one must make room for their spring clothing by doing the following pair of things.

  • Cleaning Winter Clothes Correctly.
  • Properly Packing and Storing Winter Clothes.

Mr. Laundromat knows how important it is to not overlook either of these steps when transitioning out of winter clothing. Following those steps can not only protect the clothes, but also save time and money months from now when winter comes again and there is no need to throw away expensive winter clothing or have to spend hours laboring over trying to clean them. Let us now look at the first step to properly taking care of  winter clothes now that spring has arrived.

Cleaning the winter clothes correctly means:

  • Wash All Winter Clothes: Do not put this task off until the fall or next winter. Not only will this result in an unpleasant smelling winter wardrobe, but any stains will have had a great deal of time to set and ruin some favorite winter clothing items.
  • Clean Winter Coats Correctly: This is a common mistake people make, but not washing big winter coat at all or washing it incorrectly it could cause it to lose some of its puffiness as well as decrease its effectiveness in keeping out warmth. Most experts recommend having one’s winter coat professionally cleaned.
  • Clean the Accessories the Right Way: While some winter accessories such as mittens and hats can be tossed into the home wash, more expensive items such as leather items or luxe/silk scarves require a more technical approach where a trip to the dry cleaner is necessary.
  • Take Care of Sweaters: It can be a tricky and long process cleaning all of the winter sweaters and cardigans, especially those that are made of materials such a wool and cashmere. Experts recommend not using a home washing machine, and instead either washing such items by hand or at a high quality delicate washing machine such as those found at professional laundry services.

Now that the winter clothes have successfully been taken care of and cleaned correctly, it is time to look at the second step of taking care of any winter wardrobe: storage.

In order to properly pack and store winter clothes, start by:

  • Pick the Location First: A good rule of thumb when storing clothes is a dark, cool, and dry location with good ventilation to combat mildew. A sunny location can quickly fade clothing, while a humid, warm space is ripe for bug problems.
  • Choose the Right Containers: It can be tempting and convenient to store winter clothes in that cardboard box that is laying around the house, but cardboard is terrible protection against humidity and bugs. Instead Laundromat recommends using clear, air-tight, plastic containers, or vacuum-sealed bags.
  • Hang or Fold: When trying to deiced whether to hang or to fold different articles of winter clothing, a good rule of thumb is to go by the type of fabric they are made of. For natural fibers like cashmere and wool it is best to fold to prevent them from becoming over stretched. When hanging clothes make sure to use the correct type of hangar. For example, thin materials like silk and cotton can be drawn out by unpadded hangers. For more information on which types of hangers to use for certain materials, contact professionals such as those at Laundromat.
  • Avoid Mold and Mothballs: If clothing not packed away and stored correctly then the chances of mold and bug dramatically increase. To fight these, many people use mothballs but mothballs have a distinctly bad scent, instead experts like those at Laundromat recommend alternatives like lavender, cedar, and lemon rinds to keep winter clothes fresh and smelling good.

One more important things that should not be forgotten when cleaning and storing winter items is the cleaning and storage of winter linens or sheets. Many people are under the assumption that they should just be thrown into a closet or attic, but in order to take the best care of large comforters, blankets, and other winter linens there are certain steps that should be taken.

The best way to put up winter comforters, blankets and sheet is:

  • Clean and Repair: This may sound like a broken record, but taking the time to have comforters and blankets professionally washed can make all of the difference in the longevity of all linens.
  • Storing Correctly: Like with clothing it is important to store one’s winter linens in a cool, dry place that is dark. Many storage experts also recommend using vacuum sealed bags in order to save space that these bulky items would otherwise occupy, in addition vacuum sealed bags do an excellent job keeping bugs and other nastiness out, so long as the comforters and blankets have been professionally cleaned beforehand.

The transition from winter to spring and summer is filled with fun and happiness. Don’t get bogged down trying to figure out how to best treat, clean, pack, and store winter wardrobe and winter linens. Come visit the laundry experts at Mr. Laundromat in Garner for advice on how to best clean and care for a variety of winter clothes and bedding. As a reputable and high quality laundry business, not matter what winter, spring, summer, or fall laundry cleaning needs are, Mr. Laundromat can fulfill them in an efficient and effective way.

Call Mr. Laundromat today at 919-332-4195 for answers to any questions about laundry. Then bring

any winter clothing items to our location in Garner at 106-2 Bratton Drive.

 

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Open 7 Days a Week!! Monday - Friday 8:00am to 8:30pm (Last wash is at 8:00), Saturday - Sunday 7:30am to 8:30pm (Last wash is at 8:00). We only Close for Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the 4th of July!