Classic cardigan? 5 tips for caring for your vintage wardrobe

(BPT) - As environmentally aware Americans join the movement to reduce, reuse and recycle, many are turning to the past to find unique, well-made vintage pieces to complement their wardrobes.

The hunt for great vintage wear has become so popular that we're spending some $4 billion annually on such fun finds, reports the Huffington Post.

'For many it offers individuality, affordability, and that feel-good moment of rescuing an item from the landfill and reducing the environmental footprint,' writes Kate Black in that article. 'This also makes it the retail unicorn, that rare occasion when a single store can appeal to stylish fashionistas, value-conscious consumers and passionate environmentalists.'

Building a distinctive, one-of-a-kind vintage wardrobe can be fun and easy once you learn a few guidelines for finding and caring for your collection. LG Electronics and luxury vintage clothing purveyor What Goes Around Comes Around recently partnered to bring the LG LaundROO Lounge and Vintage Clothing Swap to Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee. Festival-goers were invited to peruse 3,000 pieces of vintage gear and exchanged their own clothes for a new look. The swapped pieces were then washed in LG washers and dryers onsite and put back into the closet for another attendee to choose. If LG and What Goes Around Comes Around can handle the danced-in duds of 60,000 festival-goers, they can definitely help you take care of your vintage finds! Co-founder and chief creative officer at What Goes Around Comes Around, Gerard Maione, shares these tips to best maintain your vintage and hard-to-care-for pieces so you can keep festival style season going all year round:

1. Aim for versatility with fabrics such as cashmere and silk that can be easily layered to work well through every season. Look for well-cut pieces that can transition from day to night with simple shifts in accessories.

2. Choose quality over quantity. Whether you're opting for vintage or new clothing, pieces featuring high-quality fabrics and construction will stand the test of time - as long as they're well treated.

3. Read and carefully follow cleaning recommendations, ensuring that you're using appropriately gentle wash cycle or steam options. Making that process easier than ever is the LG TWINWash washing machine with SideKick pedestal washer, dryer and LG Styler offered by LG Electronics, a package Maione calls 'the ultimate laundry room.' Its ultra-convenient design features a front loader stacked onto a pull-out wash compartment, allowing you to simultaneously run one cycle for your heavier items and one for your specialty items such as delicate vintage pieces.

4. Narrow wire hangers can create wrinkles, bumps and bulges in aged, delicate fabrics. Instead, choose wider and/or padded hanger styles that better distribute the weight of each garment. Vintage fashionistas often prefer heavy-duty wooden hangers, while others swear by the velvet-covered varieties that keep silky fabrics from slipping off. For pants and skirts, seek out specially designed hangers that ward off unnecessary creases.

5. Care for your treasured vintage items between wearings by folding sweaters onto shelves or in drawers, storing handbags and shoes in dust bags, then freshening items up between cleanings. The LG Styler steam clothing care system makes it effortless, using chemical-free steam-based cycles that can handle anything from sanitizing and removing allergens to eliminating odors and reducing wrinkles.

Vintage clothing can be a unique, environmentally friendly and cost-efficient means to add flair to your wardrobe. Know how to care for your vintage pieces so you will continue to enjoy the past far into the future.