Winter Accessory Care

When you live in the kind of place that considers freezing temperatures a nice reprieve from -15, you are well-versed in winter accessories. In fact, you probably have an entire basket filled with toques, scarves, and mitts by your door so that you never forget to leave your house without these winter essentials.

To be honest, we don’t really mind this reality. Hats have saved many a bad hair day, and we’re still as in love with blanket scarves as we were two years ago. Because when you’re covering your outfit with a giant coat for at least five months out of the year, you want a little something extra to show some personality.

We don’t want to gross you out, but winter accessories are probably some of the most overlooked laundry items in your closet. You toque sits right against your head and your gloves touch railings on the TTC, but do you wash them regularly? As your friendly neighbourhood clothing care specialists, we’re here to tell you that you need to clean these items on a regular basis. Thankfully, many of these items are easy washes!

Tips for Washing Winter Accessories

Hand Wash Knits

Knitted mittens, toques, and scarves are best washed by hand in cold water to avoid any shrinking or colour bleeding. As long as you’ve checked the item’s washing instructions tag and have the green light to hand wash instead of dry clean, follow these steps:

1. Fill a sink with cold water.
2. Add a small amount (1-2 tsp.) of liquid laundry detergent.
3. Submerge item and squeeze gently for about a minute.
4. Drain the sink and rinse out any soap from the sink.
5. Fill the sink again with clean water.
6. Repeat #3.
7. Continue doing this until the water runs clear. 1-2 times should do it!

Lay Flat to Dry

Regardless of whether you’ve just washed an item or it’s wet from the snow, make sure you lay your items flat to ensure that they don’t lose their shape. Balling up your gloves and shoving them into your coat pockets will result in an unpleasant mildewy smell (even though we’ve all been guilty of this at one time or another).

Clean Leather Gloves Professionally

Leather gloves are wonderful for driving, as well as general warmth and style. In fact, we’re sure that a beautiful pair of leather gloves is at the top of many holiday wish lists this year. Leather does require special cleaning, so while you can get away with hand washing your knits, make sure you bring your leather gloves to us at Parkers Custom Clothing Care and we’ll make sure they are clean and ready for your next winter adventure.