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Clothes: - How to look after your Garments' Raiment, Togs Apparel, Gear etc. etc

Starch In Shirts. Commercial laundries can make shirts excessively starchy. A way to get rid of it is as follows: I used a large pot (canning) with one gallon milk and water to cover for every two men's button down cotton shirts. Bring to boil simmer for one hour rest for one hour. Pulled the shirts rinsed in sink put in washer. -- Valerie P.  Jan 13 2006

Body Odor Smells  I have found that to remove body odor from the armpits of my husband's long sleeve running shirts and Under Armor winter athletic wear, I pre-soak the armpits in vinegar before washing normally. Doesn't seem to discolor them, and they do smell much better!  Loved your site! Great ideas. J Marcum --    28 Aug 2005

Subject: Removing Rust Stains on Clothing. Hey, I just found a great new stain remover...ZAP (tile/grout restorer). I tried to get a rust stain off of a white fairly new/expensive dress shirt of Jamie's (cotton/poly). I tried bleach, dishwasher detergent, lemon juice/salt, the usual...but NOTHING would budge that stain. ZAP claims to remove rust stains from showers so I thought what did I have to lose? I was going to toss the shirt anyway so if it ate a hole or stained it more it wouldn't matter. I sprayed some on, worked it into the stain, waited about 30 secs and then rinsed. Whah-lah...no more stain and no hole! -- Jamie and Wendy Reynolds - Granite Bay, California USA 28 Nov 2007

When replacing a button on an article of clothing, use dental floss to sew it on. Dental floss is almost impossible to break and I guarantee that button will never come off again. -- Jeannie Gabriel 28 Jan 2005

Wash jeans inside out. The first wash should be without detergent. – Vanessa Echols

Cleaning Leather. Small spots of dirt on glossy leather can be removed with a damp sponge. Scuff marks can be removed with a shoe polish of the correct color. - Jane King

This follow-up is in answer to the question about how to get an angora sweater not to shed on dark clothes. Answer: Put the angora sweater in a plastic bag and then put it into the freezer for several hours before wearing it. I really don't know why this works but it does -- Nancy Abu-Ayyash

Remove cats hairs from clothes and furniture by rubbing with wetted rubber gloves -- Wendel Quinn Kuala Lumpur

Shoes

SILICON FLUID. Make your shoes last much longer and enjoy better foot comfort than most people by softening the leather with products containing silicon fluid. There are many shoe care products but in my opinion none are better than the ones containing a high proportion of silicon polymers.

DRYING WET LEATHER OR SUEDE SHOES. They should be dried slowly at room temperature. Stuff with newspaper to soak up the excess moisture and help to keep them in shape. Never be tempted to dry shoes on a radiator or in front of a fire.

DIFFERENT SHOES EVERY DAY. Alternate them daily, this will allow them to dry out completely helping prevent foot infections. This is especially important with new shoes. I am not sure why but for some reason it does give them a longer life.

You can significantly extend the life of leather shoes by applying silicone fluid, buy it by the bottle or get some from a chemist friend, Dow the chemical giant is the main manufacturer. Medium viscosity is best -- Steve Jones Pittsburgh

MAINTENANCE. Your local shoemaker can save you money and discomfort if you get your shoes to him before the small problem gets serious.

Bootlace ferrules: If your shoe laces are too long put heatshrink sleeving over them at the right length and cut.-- Mark Bartlett  Nissan Technology Center UK

If you need to convert between American, British and European clothes and shoe sizes use our clothes conversion chart 

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