How to Launder Your Reusable Bags

Reusable bags from various companies come with different washing instructions. Some say to use the dishwasher, some to spot clean, some even say not to wash at all. Everything from Dancing Threads RI can be easily cleaned in your washing machine! Let me show you some handy tips for getting the longest life possible from your new reusable bags (or crayon roll, or baby shoes, or cosmetic bag, or shopping tote, or knitting bag, or crochet hook organizer...you get the idea).

Toss your bag in with a regular load of laundry on a COLD cycle. When it's finished, hang it on a drying rack or the laundry line to dry. Pretty easy, right? What if it's not all that dirty?

For cracker crumbs, I turn the bag inside out and shake out the crumbs. Done.

Sometimes I will give the inside a quick rinse under the kitchen faucet, then let the bag dry overnight in the dish drain.

If it's really messy, say, after peanut butter that oozed while bumping around a lunch bag, I will turn it inside out and put it in the regular cold wash cycle. Works like a charm.

What if, during a regular wash cycle, the snack baggie gets disguised inside another item being washed? What if that snack baggie is completely invisible to you and it goes into the dryer with the rest of the wash? Basically, nothing. None of my linings will melt in the dryer (in fact the Eco-PUL is rated to withstand the high heat of an autoclave, though I do not advise cleaning your snack baggies in an autoclave!!!).

I do not recommend drying your Dancing Threads bags in the hot dryer because it will cause the fabrics and linings to wear out more quickly. Heat is a stressor to fabric, and we all know what stress can do to a person, right? Line drying is the absolute best way to maintain your bags and ensure a very long life. That's the point of all this, right? Not throwing bags away? In order to re-use them to maximum capacity, try to keep them out of the dryer. But if they end up there every once in a while, that's ok too. We have a snack baggie on year four of elementary school, and I know it's been in the dryer on several occasions. And it's still kicking.

What about other Dancing Threads RI products? Wash them. Wash them all. And do it conveniently in the washing machine! The only 2 products that shouldn't go in the washer are the large knitting project bag, the Boxy Tote, and the clutch handbags. They both have some interfacing to provide extra sturdy structure that will need serious ironing if washed. So, again, they won't melt or anything, but they might look extremely wrinkly after a machine wash.

If you ever have questions about a product purchased from my shop, please don't hesitate to email me. I want to make sure that all of my customers are completely thrilled with their products. Even if that means you can't buy new products from me because your original purchases are still doing their jobs perfectly. That makes me love doing what I do! Though, please give some as gifts and tell all your friends and family where you got your awesome reusable bags...