10 Ways to Make Your Kids' Clothes Last Longer #stylebymethod #clevermethod

I’m a mom of three boys. As any parent of two or more same gender kids knows, it is important to make clothes last so they can be handed down. Having to hand down to not one younger sibling, but 2 has taught me a few important tricks to help my boys clothes last longer.

10 Ways to Make your Kids’ Clothes Last Longer

Treat stains as soon as possible: Carrying around a stain pen is usually a good idea. That way you can treat stains as soon as they happen. Once you’re home, treat the stain with a stain pre-treat, or the detergent itself.
Wash pants inside out: Turn your pants inside out and then zip and button them. This will help prevent colors from fading (and getting on your other clothes). Zipping and snapping them will help prevent unnecessary snags or wear to the other clothes they are washed with.
Reinforce the knees of pants with patches: This is best done before your child wears holes in the knees. If your kids play anything like my kids do, holes in the knees are your nemesis. Reinforcing school or play pants with patches will reduce the amount of pants that meet an early demise.
Don’t store clothes in extreme heat: When you’re handing down clothes you’ll often have to store clothes in between children. When we moved to San Antonio we had a few boxes of kids and baby clothes stored in our garage. During the summer it was frequently over 105° F outside. Our garage was sweltering. The extreme heat caused the elastic in a few of my kids pants to break down.
Wash according to the directions on the tag: If the tag says to wash on gentle, wash on gentle. If it says to wash in cold water, wash in cold. Following the washing directions on the tag will help lengthen the life of your clothes. If clothes call for warm or hot water you can get away with using cold water if you’re using a detergent like method 4x laundry detergent that is formulated for cold water use.
Separate colors and darks: Sounds obvious, but I lost so many clothes as a teenager because my dad didn’t realize the importance of separating dark colors from light colors. (It did teach me, however, to keep up with my laundry so my dad didn’t feel like he had to do it. :P) In our house I wash whites, light colors, and dark colors. In my own laundry I also wash a load of light delicates and dark delicates.
Do not overload your washing machine: Never push your clothes down to try to fit more in. Clothes should be loosely arranged in the washing machine. If you have a low agitator like we have on our top loader HE machine, be sure to arrange the clothes around (not on top of) the agitator.
Wash with an effective laundry detergent: Wash your clothes with detergent like the new method 4x laundry detergent. It’s naturally derived cleaning power is proven to remove tough dirt and stains. You can even use the detergent to pre-treat stains. It is also formulated to keep colors bright and whites white.
Use the correct amount of detergent: Concentrated detergents are a wonderful step forward because not only does it reduce the amount of packaging we throw away, but it also reduces the energy and packaging used to ship the product. method 4x laundry detergent gives you a lot of cleaning power in a little package; more cleaning power, less waste. When you’re using a concentrated detergent be careful not to go overboard because you are used to using more. Too much detergent can leave a residue on your clothes. Be careful to follow the instructions on the package.
Check clothes for stains before putting them in the dryer: If the stain wasn’t fully removed in the wash, treat and wash again. Stains that are set by dryer heat are much more difficult to remove.

What other laundry tips would you add for helping your kids’ clothes last longer?

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