11. Care and Maintenance of Fabrics

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

Fabrics play a crucial role in our everyday lives, providing protection and enhancing our surroundings. To ensure these fabrics last and maintain their original appeal over time, it is important to care for them properly. This involves several strategies: preventing physical damage, maintaining their visual appeal, and addressing issues like stains and wrinkles. Stains, dirt, and wrinkles can diminish the look and feel of fabrics, so regular maintenance is essential to keep them looking good and functioning well.

Think of fabric care like taking care of a car. Just as regular maintenance like washing, polishing, and checking oil keeps the car looking and running smoothly, regular care for fabrics — like washing, ironing, and treating stains — helps to keep them in good condition and prolong their life.

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.

Mending refers to fixing any damage to fabrics that can occur during regular use or due to accidents. This includes repairing cuts and tears or replacing lost buttons and other embellishments. It is crucial to address these issues promptly, ideally before washing, as washing can worsen the condition of damaged fabrics. Mending helps to prolong the life of clothing and other fabric items, making them look better and function better.

Imagine a small tear in your favorite shirt. If you notice it and fix it right away, it’s quick and easy. However, if you ignore it and wash the shirt, the tear might get larger or lead to a hole, making it much harder to fix later. Just like getting a small safety pin to hold the fabric together until you can sew it properly!

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.

Daily fabric care typically involves washing and ironing to maintain cleanliness and appearance. Stains must be treated based on their type to ensure effective removal without damaging the fabric. Additionally, the laundry process includes a series of steps: treating stains, washing to remove dirt, possibly treating fabrics with blueing agents to enhance whiteness, and ironing for a crisp, neat look. This overall process is essential to restore fabrics to a presentable state.

Think of laundering as a mini workout for your clothes. Just as you need to warm up and stretch before exercising (stain treatment), then do the workout (washing), finishing with a good cool-down (ironing), you need to take your clothing through a similar routine to keep it in top shape.

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.

Stains can be categorized based on their origins, and knowing the type can guide you to the correct removal technique. For example, vegetable stains are typically treated with alkaline solutions because they are acidic, while animal-based stains require cold water and detergents for effective removal. Understanding the nature of the stain is crucial, as using the wrong method can set the stain further into the fabric rather than removing it.

Think of stain removal like using the right key for a lock. Just as a specific key fits a lock a certain way, each stain type has a particular removal method that works best. If you tried using the wrong key, the door wouldn’t open (the stain wouldn’t come out). So, it’s important to identify the right method to tackle each unique stain.

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.

When dealing with stains, certain principles should guide your actions for the best results. For instance, it’s most effective to treat stains immediately after they occur, and using milder methods usually prevents further damage. If you cannot identify the stain, start with gentle cleaning methods and adapt as necessary. Remember to rinse thoroughly afterward to remove any remaining chemicals, and sun-drying can naturally lighten many stains without harsh bleaching agents.

Consider how you might handle a spill on your shirt at a dinner table. If you act quickly with a napkin to blot it, you might prevent it from setting in. Just like how you would carefully test a cleaning solution on a small, hidden area of your furniture before treating a visible spot, treating stains with caution prevents damage.

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.

Water plays a critical role in the cleaning process. It helps to relax fabric fibers, allowing dirt and stains to be loosened and removed. While warm water enhances this process, it does not work alone; soaps and detergents are added to help emulsify oils and hold dirt in suspension so they can be rinsed away without returning to the fabric. Without these agents, fabric graying can occur from redeposited dirt.

Think of how dish soap works when cleaning greasy pots. Just water alone can’t cut through the greasy residue, but when you add soap, it helps to lift the grease off the surfaces much more effectively, allowing it to be washed away. Similarly, in laundry, detergents are like the soap for your fabrics!

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

Washing methods are chosen based on the fabric type and the nature of the dirt. Friction washing, which involves rubbing the fabric, works best on sturdy materials, while other methods like kneading are gentle and suitable for delicate fabrics. Each method has its own purpose in agitating the dirt away and ensuring it doesn't stick back to the fabric once it's been loosened. Understanding these methods allows for effective washing tailored to specific laundry needs.

Just as you wouldn’t use a hammer to fix a delicate watch, you wouldn’t use a heavy-duty washing method on something fragile like silk. It’s important to choose the right washing approach according to the fabric being cleaned for the best results.

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.

Drying fabrics properly is just as crucial as washing. Sunlight helps to disinfect and can brighten white fabrics naturally. However, great care must be taken with delicate fabrics, as prolonged sun exposure can cause damage. For synthetic fabrics, it’s usually best to avoid sunlight altogether. Proper drying methods help prevent additional wear and tear, setting up the fabric for a successful ironing process afterward.

Imagine hanging your laundry out to dry, just like a flower in a garden that needs the right amount of sunlight and water. Some flowers, like soft petals, might wilt in the harsh sun while others thrive. Similarly, knowing how to dry your fabrics properly — by protecting sensitive items and giving robust materials a good sunbath — helps retain their quality.

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.

Dry-cleaning offers a method for cleaning fabrics that may be too delicate for traditional washing. Instead of using water, which can cause damage, dry-cleaning employs solvents to gently lift stains and dirt. This is ideal for fabrics that could shrink, wrinkle, or bleed colors if washed in water. It’s especially beneficial for suits, silks, or garments with intricate embellishments, as the method preserves their texture and color.

Think of dry-cleaning like taking a well-cared-for vintage car to a professional for maintenance. Just as the car can be damaged if not handled properly, delicate fabrics require professional dry-cleaning to keep them looking pristine without the risk of harm.

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