Little Kidogo Merchandise — How to Care for & Store Vintage Clothing Properly

Its all about maintaining value

1) Cleaning

Any stains left on clothing will only darken and become worse during storage. Cleaning the clothes also means that insects will be less likely to take up residence in your sweaters. It’s always best to take a bit of effort to make sure everything is really clean before you pack it away. Body oils and particles attract insects and cause clothes to smell over time.

See here steps to take for cleaning the clothes before storage:

• Launder or dryclean before storing because stains and dirt which may not be visible now, can show up over time and be really difficult to remove
• Follow any instructions listed on the care tag because fabrics such as cottons, acrylics, and polyesters should be hand washed with mild cleansers; wools, silks, delicate or embroidered pieces, suits, and gowns should only be cleaned by trusted professionals.
• To avoid shrinkage and fading, air or drip-dry your vintage clothing instead of using a dryer.

2) Protecting

When storing clothes it is important to keep them in a good shape, smelling nice and protected from fading, mildew and insects. It is important to use products that does not promote chemical staining or damage from acids/chemicals present in plastic, cardboard glue or insect deterrents. Let’s see which protective measures and products to use when packing clothes away for storage.

• Remove your garments from the plastic dry cleaning bags before storing.
• Individually wrap the clothing in something breathable like acid free tissue paper or cotton garment bags before storage.
• Avoid using mothballs, a good natural option is cedar balls and shavings, there are also various chemical products available but be careful to read and follow the directions carefully as some of these products can be quite harsh if used incorrectly.
• Plastic storage containers can be used for storing clothes, although if any bug larvae are in the clothing, they will have a feast, also trapped moisture can be an issue depending on the storage conditions, so it’s best to line containers with acid-free tissue paper.
• If the items are heavy and older, keep them in acid-free paper and boxes.
• To prevent damage from moisture/mildew throw in some of those silica desiccants (the things that come in a new bag or pair of shoes), but make sure these are kept out of contact with clothing.
• Stack your folded items from the lightest items on top to the heaviest items on the bottom, stacking items loosely will allow air to keep circulating, even during a long storage.
• If you do choose to hang items, utilize all of the extra hanging loops to keep the clothing from becoming misshapen.
• Never use metal hangers for any type of vintage clothing.

2) Storage Space:

It’s all about keeping down the risk of mildew and mold, it will also keep the clothing from wrinkling and creasing during storage.

• Clean area thoroughly before storing. Choose a place that is not likely to be exposed to heat.
• Avoid areas near heating sources.
• Clean, Cool, Dark, and Dry, your storage area must be all 4 of these in order to protect your clothing.
• Also keep clothes away from smoke, and animal hair.
• Make sure the clothing has enough room to have air circulate,

3) Storing

Some things should be hung, others need to be folded, it is a case-by-case decision.

Wool and Silk:

• Freezing your woollen items before storage will help prevent moths, the cold will kill any larvae hidden in the fabric. We suggest you put your woollens in the freezer for a few days before you give them a final clean.
• Silk, like wool, is very prone to attack by moths. It can be treated in much the same way as wool, freezing for several days before cleaning thoroughly.
• Never hang knits or delicate fabrics as they will stretch and become misshapen, instead carefully fold the items and place into the storage container, making sure to wrap each item and label the box correctly.
• For home storage of wool items, place them in a cool, dry place with mothballs and cedar.
• Silk is a delicate fabric that should be stored flat and it is important to make sure no moisture can come into contact with the fabric as this will cause a lot of damage very quickly.

Skirts and Pants:

• Skirts and pants can be hung using skirt hangers (the ones with clips) which will help them to maintain their shape, pad the area where the clips sit, to prevent discolouration or stretching of the item over time.

Jackets and Dresses:

• Jackets and dresses are best hung using broad, padded hangers which spread the weight of the item across a wider area, as wire hangers can disfigure the clothing over time.

Linen and leather:

• Linen should be rolled, rather than folded. This prevents the item from developing permanent creases.
• Leather should be stuffed with acid free tissue paper to help maintain its shape and prevent creasing.

4) Check on Your Storage

Don’t abandon your stored clothing into oblivion. Regularly check on items to make sure that there are no issues. When you are ready to pull clothing out of storage, clean all items before wearing them. Inspect your storage containers to make sure that they are free from cracks, stains, or damage as well. Before you store items again, some storage containers may need to be replaced.

• DIY Tip: Instead of buying cedar balls you can arrange to have small meranti blocks cut at your local hardware store. At the top of each block insert a hanger that is large enough to hang on the closet rail. Sprinkle drops of essential oils: lavender, clove, and rosemary onto the blocks on a weekly basis.

You can read more about how we care for our merchandise here.

More about the author:

Carla Inez Espost currently consults, trains, produces, manages and creates Immersive content for Little Kidogo.

Little Kidogo is a distributed collective of world-class professionals on an ambitious mission to enhance lives through enabling African artisans to live off their work.

“We spend our time building bleeding-edge products that we believe will enrich our lives and the lives of the communities we live in. We are working to enable more Africans to become producers of digital content rather than consumers. We believe we can achieve this goal by actively sharing our learnings and the methods we utilize day by day to build great products.”