Care and Maintenance of Fabrics

The different aspects of care and maintenance of fabrics are:

- Keeping the material free of physical damage by doing mending such as repairing cuts, tears and holes, replacing buttons/fasteners, and restitching seams and hems.
- Retaining appearance, which includes:
- removal of stains and dirt without damaging colour,
- retaining or improving brightness and texture such as softness, stiffness or crispness,
- keeping fabrics free of wrinkles or adding/removing creases where needed.
- Laundry, which includes stain removal, preparation for washing, washing, finishing like blueing and starching, and pressing or ironing.
- Drying and storage, so that fabrics remain clean, dry and in good condition.
- Using care according to fibre and fabric properties, because different fabrics need different treatment in washing, ironing and storage.

A stain is an unwanted mark or colouration on a fabric caused by contact and absorption of foreign matter, which cannot be removed by normal washing and needs special treatment.

The different types of stains are:

- Vegetable stains: tea, coffee, fruits, vegetables. These are acidic and can be removed by an alkaline medium.
- Animal stains: blood, milk, meat, eggs. These are protein stains and are removed by detergents in cold water only.
- Oil stains: oils, ghee, butter. These are removed by grease solvents and absorbents.
- Mineral stains: ink, rust, coal tar, medicine. These should be washed first in an acidic medium and then in an alkaline medium.
- Dye bleeding: colour from other fabrics. These may be removed by dilute alkalies or acids depending on the fabric type.

Techniques used for stain removal are:

- Scraping: lightly scraping built-up surface stains with a blunt knife.
- Dipping: dipping the stained material into the reagent and scrubbing.
- Sponging: applying the reagent with a sponge and absorbing it with blotting paper underneath.
- Drop method: stretching the cloth over a bowl and applying the reagent with a dropper.

The steps in removing unknown stains from fabrics are:

- First, try a simple process.
- If the stain is not removed, move to a more complex process.
- Use repeated mild reagents rather than a strong chemical at once.
- After stain removal, wash the fabric with a soapy solution to remove all traces of chemicals.
- Dry the fabric in the sun, because sunlight acts as a natural bleach.
- If the fabric is delicate, test the chemical on a small portion first and avoid using it if it damages the fabric.