Winter coats are an essential part of keeping warm during the colder months, but they can become dirty and stained from regular wear. Using Whole Naturals Castile Soap, as part of your laundry routine, is a great way to keep your coat clean and fresh all winter long!
Before cleaning any garment, check the care instructions first. If you can just throw it in the washing machine, fantastic! But some coats need additional TLC or special care instructions. So, without further ado, let’s clean some coats!
Care and Keeping of Synthetic Fibers
Fleece is a purely synthetic fabric, meaning it’s entirely manufactured with polyester plastic fibers. A fleece jacket is soft, insulating, and breathable, which makes it a common choice for a winter jacket. When it comes to cleaning coats made of fleece, turn your fleece jackets inside out to keep the fleece fresh.
Polyester
Polyester is a very common material for outwear wear. Because it's soft, water resistant, and lightweight, polyester jackets are machine washable.
Faux fur
It’s best to dry clean coats with faux fur, but you can wash most of them at home. Faux fur is a synthetic blend that you can wash with a very small amount of gentle detergent in a washer. After drying on a gentle cycle, use a clean, dry brush to gently separate the fibers.
Here is our favorite recipe for washing your favorite winter jacket:
Ingredients
4 cups very hot water
1 cup baking soda
1/3 cup salt
1 cup Whole Naturals Castile Soap
Gallon-sized jug
Water
Instructions
In a large spouted measuring cup, stir together the hot water and baking soda until the soda is dissolved.
Add the salt and stir until it is dissolved.
Add in Whole Naturals Castile Soap and stir gently to combine.
Pour the mixture into the one-gallon jug.
Slowly fill the gallon jug to the top with water. The soap will foam, but just keep filling until you have mostly liquid.
Gently shake before use.
Each load uses about 1/3-½ c. . For top loading washers, add while filling.
Note:
This recipe has NOT been tested with a high-efficiency washer; however because it
is low on soap, it does not create a lot of suds, so it just might work!
Natural Fabrics
Wool, Leather, and suede
Unless stated otherwise, most wool, leather, and suede will need to be professionally dry-cleaned. However, good maintenance should not be overlooked! Leather lotions help keep it soft and supple, and a good suede brush will remove loose dirt.
Down
Down is probably the best filling for staying warm. Down coats could use TLC too! However, don’t wash them too often, as it causes the feathers to break down. Use cold water, on the delicate cycle to prevent the feathers from flattening. But I think that the drying process is equally important, and here’s my tip: To fluff the feathers, tumble dry (on low heat) with some tennis balls! It will be noisy and may take a few cycles.
And one last tip….make sure to check the pockets! Last year one of my beloved offspring had a full pack of tissues in their pocket. You can only imagine the mess it made when we had to pull flakes of tissues off of nearly every surface in our laundry room.
Happy Cleaning!
