With cold weather approaching, it’s time to unpack sweaters, pants, and jackets. Since stored clothes may naturally emit odors, it’s crucial to schedule laundry and dry cleaning services to preserve your garments. These practical tips will help solve problems that occur when unpacking winter clothes.

What to Do When Unpacking Stored Winter Clothes 

1. Eliminate Musty Odors

Clothing stored in an area with excessive moisture, or items that were damp when packed away, might smell musty when taken out. As soon as you unpack your clothes, hanging them outdoors helps freshen them. If that is not enough, run washable items through the washer and dryer once. This will eliminate all odors and freshen up your garments.  

Some garments can't be washed, such as leather, suede, and silk. The best way to care for those garments is taking them to a dry cleaner for professional odor removal. This will help preserve the material.

2. Check for Stains

Your clothes may not have had perspiration stains or yellowing before you stored them. If these stains emerge in washable light-colored or white items, such as polyester or cotton, mix oxygen bleach and warm water in a sink or basin according to the bleach directions. Soak the garments in the solution overnight, and then send them through a normal wash cycle in the hottest water suitable for the garments.

If you see spots on non-washable items, take them to a dry cleaner without delay. Don’t use the bleach solution on cashmere, wool, silk, or leather because it will strip away the color and damage the garment’s fabric. A dry cleaner can help remove stains on a cashmere sweater and other delicate fabrics.

3. Look for Moth Damage

During the summer, moths and their larvae feed on natural fabrics, such as wool, cashmere, and silk, leaving moth holes in your favorite sweaters or jackets. Before making minor clothing repairs to garments with holes, and to eliminate any insects or eggs remaining on undamaged ones, pack your items in sealable plastic bags.

Placing the sealed bags in a freezer at zero degrees for three days will kill any remaining critters. An alternative treatment is placing the sweaters on a rack in a clothes dryer and let the heat kill the insects. When it’s time to store them next season, take them to a laundry or dry cleaners first to remove stains and odors that attract these pests.        

For high-quality laundry services from a family-owned and -operated dry cleaners in Ontario County, NY, take your clothes to Tenax Town Cleaners. For nearly 60 years, they’ve been cleaning suits, dresses, drapes, and delicate fabrics. They offer minor clothing repair, professional alterations, and drop-off laundry service. Call (585) 394-9885 to make a cleaning request or learn more about their services online.