Wearing White Items and Tips to Keep Them White
White items do provide more of a challenge in keeping them clean and white. So sure, if you’re around kids all day, then white might not be your clothing of choice.
Quote of the day: “Life does not consist in thinking, it consists in acting.” Woodrow Wilson
And in response to the quote above, you may think you can’t wear white because you’re messy, but then again you may be surprised. That’s why I wanted to include some fabulous ideas and tips about keeping our white items white.
Our Series
While this week’s theme was more about white shoes, I figured this was as good a time as any to also talk about how to keep our other pieces stain free below. As a review, we all wore a different variety of white shoes with different summer dresses.
My mom wore a white maxi dress that she made many years ago. Her variety of shoes are a pair of white pumps that she’s had for ages.
Nancy wore a coral colored shift dress that she bought in Hawaii. She opted for a pair of white ballet flats to go with it.
I chose a darker dress with my white sneakers to try to lighten up the look. It ended up not being my favorite outfit and the dress got donated instead.
Mary Katherine and White Sandals
Mary Katherine has become a wonderful friend through the blog. While she lives many miles from me, we email, message through Instagram and share some of life’s wonderful events.
She loves fashion, gardening, cooking and entertaining, and living on her family farm with her husband Glenn. Her “day job ” is events director at a theological seminary.
Obviously white sandals are another perfect option for the summer and white footwear. So my friend Mary Katherine said she would join us for this concept. And her sandals?? They’ve been around for 15 years, so obviously a fabulous addition to her closet!
Her dress is actually a swim suit cover up from Land’s End a couple of years ago. The armholes are a tad large but she wears a black Shapeez bra underneath and no one ever notices. In fact, Mary Katherine is someone who told me that she only wears Shapeez bras since she discovered them. And after we tried them, I can see why. I’ve ordered many more and plan to do away with most of my other bras.
Tips to Clean your White Shoes
This winter all three of us wore our white booties and I discussed a great way to keep them white.
If your white footwear is leather or non textured, then the Magic Eraser works wonderful on scuffs and dirt.
Now it’s different if your pair is a suede or textured. You can still try the Magic Eraser and it might help somewhat. But I find prevention can be the key for many of my shoes. Like a spray protector that you use right after you buy the footwear. BEFORE you wear them!
Ways to Keep White Items White
1-First let’s start with the most obvious idea. (Well, the one after don’t spill). Buy no-stain white items. Chicos has come out with this concept recently, and I’ve worn my pair of jeans on the blog. Chicos also has tops with this technology that I’ve included in the widget below.
Now for the other tips, I asked my mom who is a expert stain remover. I think much of the skill is knowing all about materials and fabrics like she does.
2– Her first hack is to treat it/wash it the sooner the better. Even if you can’t take it off and take care of it, just brushing it off or wetting the fabric down can stop the spill from absorbing into the fabric. If you have access to a toothbrush, they work great to mechanically remove the stain once it’s wet.
3– Then once you’re at home, make sure to use a spot remover. My mom loves Spray & Wash before she puts white items in the wash. But another good one is Oxyclean.
4– Don’t forget that bleach can be a lifesaver. When you are washing your white items, you can always add in bleach to make them white again.
Worst Cases
Now there are times that these hacks can backfire. For example, if you bleach items over and over, it does gradually weaken the fibers. Which can cause the material to fray, get holes or distress. But just think, then you’ll be right in style right now, LOL!!
And for those times that the stain just won’t come out, there is always the option of dying the piece. Both my mom and I have done this many times with great success.
Of course, you may have even better ideas. If so, please share!
Photo credit: Rob Filogomo
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