You learnt in some of the previous chapters about the significance of fabrics around us. They protect and enhance humans and their surroundings. Care and maintenance of fabric products, e.g., clothing, furnishing, or any other use within the household, is very important. Final selection and purchase of any product or material is largely based on its appearance in terms of colour and texture, its quality and its functionality. It therefore becomes very important that these characteristics are retained for the expected life of the material. Care and maintenance may thus include:
- keeping the material free of physical damage;
- retaining its appearance:
- Removal of stains and dirt without damaging its colour
- Retaining or refurbishing its brightness and textural characteristics such as softness, stiffness or crispness
- Keeping it free of wrinkles or retaining creases or removing wrinkles and adding creases where required

Mending is the general term we use when we try to keep the material free of damage occurring in normal use or due to accident. It includes the following:
- Repairing cuts, tears, holes
- Replacing buttons/fasteners, ribbons, laces or fancy attachments
- Restitching seams and hems if they open up
These are best taken care of as and when they occur. It is absolutely essential that they be attended to before laundering as the strain of washing may lead to greater loss to the fabric.

Every day care of the fabrics generally consists of washing to keep it clean and ironing to get a smooth wrinkle-free appearance. Many materials often require special treatments to get rid of accidental stains, overcoming the grayness or yellowness that occurs due to repeated washings and adding stiffness or crispness. Laundering includes: stain removal, preparation of fabrics for washing, removing dirt from clothes by washing, finishing for its appearance (blueing and starching) and finally pressing or ironing for a neat appearance so that they can be stored ready for use.

A stain is an unwanted mark or colouration on a fabric caused by contact and absorption of foreign matter, which cannot be removed by normal washing process and requires special treatment. To use the right procedure for removing the stain, it is important to identify the stain first. Identification may be done on the basis of colour, smell, and feel. The stains can be classified as:
(i) Vegetable stains: tea, coffee, fruits, and vegetables. These stains are acidic by nature and can be removed by alkaline medium.
(ii) Animal stains: blood, milk, meat, eggs, etc. These are protein in nature and removed by detergents in cold water only.
(iii) Oil stains: oils, ghee, butter, etc. These are removed by the use of grease solvents and absorbents.
(iv) Mineral stains: ink, rust, coal tar, medicine, etc. These stains should be washed first in acidic medium and then in alkaline medium.
(v) Dye bleeding: colour from other fabrics. These stains can be removed either by dilute alkalies or acids depending on the fabric type.

y Stain is best removed when fresh.
y Identify the stain and use the right procedure for its removal.
y For unknown stains, start with a simple process and move to a complex one.
y Repeated use of milder reagents is better than one-time use of a strong agent.
y Wash all fabrics with soapy solution after stain removal to remove all traces of chemicals from it.
y Dry fabrics in the sun as sunlight acts as natural bleach.
y For delicate fabrics try out the chemicals on a small portion of fabric; if they damage the fabric, do not use them.

Water is the most valuable agent used for laundry work. There is a certain adhesion between fabrics and water. During steeping, water penetrates into the fabric and causes wetting. Pedesis or the movement of water particles helps to remove the non-greasy dirt from the fabric. Washing in water alone, with agitation provided by hand or machine, will remove some loose dirt and particulate soils. Increase in temperature of the water increases its pedesis and its penetrating power. It is further beneficial when the dirt is greasy. However, water alone cannot remove the dirt that is not soluble in water. It also does not have the ability to keep the dirt suspended resulting in the removed dirt getting redeposited on the fabric. Redeposition of dirt is the major cause of fabric graying over repeated launderings.

Once the soap or detergent has emulsified the grease holding the dirt, it has to be held in suspension till it is rinsed out. Some parts of the fabric may have dirt which is closely adhering to the fabric. The methods employed for washing assist in these two tasks – disassociating the dirt adhering to the fabric and holding it in suspension. The method selected depends on the fibre content, the type of yarn and fabric construction and the size and weight of the article being washed. The methods of washing are classified as follows:
- Friction washing
- Kneading and squeezing
- Suction
- Washing by machines

After the clothes have been washed, blued and starched, they have to be dried, before they can be ironed or stored. The best way of drying is to hang the fabrics outside in the sun with the wrong side facing out. Sun not only dries the clothes faster but also acts as an antiseptic, and also as a bleaching agent for white fabrics. Delicate fabrics like silk and woolens cannot be hung for too long in the sun, as strong sunlight damages these fabrics. Synthetic fibres lose their strength when exposed to sunlight. These fabrics also tend to turn yellow, which is irreversible. So, it is best to dry these fabrics indoors.

Dry-cleaning can be defined as the cleaning of fabrics in a non-aqueous liquid medium. The important difference between dry and wet solvents is that while water is absorbed by the fibres, which causes shrinkage, wrinkle formation and colour bleeding; the dry solvents do not cause fibre swelling. Hence dry-cleaning is a safe method for cleaning delicate textiles. For dry-cleaning, the most common solvents used are perchloro-ethylene, a petroleum solvent, or a fluorocarbon solvent. Dry-cleaning is generally done in industrial establishments and not at the domestic level. The items are brought to the cleaner’s and identified with a tag that includes special instructions.