Preserve this

As I've grown older and wiser I've started to invest more money in my clothes and have tried to stop buying so much disposable clothing. Don't get me wrong' I'll still drop my extra cash on a trendy skirt or ridiculous shoe but I'm also starting to invest in more of the classics. And from a basic cotton dress to a good quality T-shirt I want to hold on to my favourite pieces for as long as I can. Even something as simple as my beloved grey Gap tee can start to look ragged from regular wear and washing.  But Tide and Downy have heard our calls for lasting quality. They now have Tide Total Care and Downy Total Care that can help protect the fabric's colour using a protective fibre complex. They showed me lab tests of shirts, pants and dresses washed and dried repeatedly with regular detergent and fabric softener and then they showed me the same clothing washed and dried using their product. The difference was obvious. The ones washed without Total Care were crunchy, discoloured and had more pilling' not the way you want your beloved clothes to end up. Tide Total Care was also recently awarded the Good Housekeeping Research Institute's Very Innovative Product Award.

So for those of us pack rats and penny pinchers who long to hold on to that great black tee or simple cotton dress for just a little bit longer, give it a shot.  Tide Total Care, $9.99, 20 uses. Downy Total Care, $6.99, 48 uses.

- Kate Daley