An expert on cleaning shares his top tips for maintaining your clothes, while keeping costs down

Lipstick, make-up and wine can all cause damage to wardrobe favorites. However, Martin TerBekke suggests that you put the item in the freezer first before putting it in the washer.

Washing clothes ‘zipped up’ to avoid them causing damage to other items and turning jeans inside out during the wash, which will prevent the seams from turning white, are also among the tips.

Other suggestions included buttoning up blouses to prevent stretching, and leaving a fist-sized space at the top of your machine to allow for clothes to be washed properly.

Martin, a scientist at Ariel laundry and fabric care giant, said: “It might seem strange, however, next time you get that favourite lippy onto your jumper whack it into sub-zero temperatures inside your freezer.

“It clumps lipstick together so you’ll be able to easily scrape it off after it’s hardened.

“And when it comes to those stubborn stains, don’t be afraid to put your clothes through a cold wash.

“Washing at cooler temperatures can save you up to 60 per cent on your washing machine energy bills and can be better for clothes – even washing at 40 degrees can put up to double the amount of stress on fabrics.

“Protecting the quality of clothes helps keep them out of landfills and stop us needing to buy more.”

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Here are some tips and tricks to help you save money

It was based on research that Ariel conducted among 2,000 adults who did laundry. It found that 35% of those who wear jeans five times before they put them in the washer.

And 43 per cent admit to re-wearing underwear because they’re holding out from using the washing machine.

Only 14% of adults change their bedspreads every month, while 32% do their laundry on a Saturday.

To combat the cost of living, 62% are cutting down on how much they wash.

According to OnePoll, 57% are more likely to run their laundry on a cold cycle in order to save money and energy.

Respondents believe that the main benefits of lowering the wash temperature are saving money (46%), energy (52%), and the environment (41%).

Martin added: “Putting your clothes through a cold wash is a great way to help protect the fabrics from being discoloured.

“When it comes to those stubborn stains, don’t automatically think you need to revert to a hotter wash.

“Other tricks to keep your clothes looking their best includes turning them inside out during the wash.”

Top laundry tips

• It will protect your clothes during washing by turning them inside out. This prevents them from rubbing against eachother and helps preserve fabrics.
• To ensure that zippers don’t catch on other clothes or cause damage to the fibres, zip all zippers before you put garments into the wash.
• Button blouses to stop stretching and mismatched sides.
• First, remove any lipstick stains by gently scraping off the excess. You can use waxy makeup stains to remove stains by placing the garment in the freezer for 20 mins. Then, gently scrape any frozen stains.
• Clear tape can be used to remove glue residue from gluey areas. To dissolve any glue remaining, rinse the fabric with cold water.
• Fill the machine to the top, but leave a fist-sized gap so water can evenly distribute.
• Wash on cold to save up to 60% on your washing machine’s energy consumption