It’s been widely reported in the news lately how the fashion industry is depleting the planet of valuable resources and how we really shouldn’t buy so many clothes. But how can we give our clothes a longer life? Here’s a few tips…
- Sponge out a stain as soon as it happens and check items carefully before they go into the washing machine. Use a stain remover on a fresh stain. Once a garment with a stain has gone through the wash and maybe even been ironed it can become almost impossible to get it out.
- Read the label! Sounds obvious but clothes can shrink by washing them at the wrong temperature or not hand washing them when required. This goes for ironing too. Choose the wrong temperature and you can shrink your clothes!
- Sort your washing. Coloureds from whites, of course, but also don’t put delicates or knitted fabrics in with clothes with heavy embellishments as they can cause rips and pulls.
- Always do up your zips and, if possible, washing those garments inside out that have buttons.
- Use a mesh bag (or a pillowcase) for delicates and to avoid them being damaged by garments with embellishments.
- Don’t wash your clothes so often. Each time a garment goes through the washing machine, it is being faded and worn. If they don’t look dirty and pass the sniff test they are good to go for another day 😉
- Avoid dry cleaning until absolutely necessary. Not only do they use harsh chemicals that are harmful to the environment but those chemicals do also harm the garments.
- Cramming too many clothes into the washing machine not only causes more wear, due to the friction between the clothes, but may also mean that the clothes aren’t rinsed properly, leaving laundry detergent within the fibres, making the clothes hard and causing further wear. A full load is when the laundry takes up 3/4 of the drum.
- Fold rather than hang. If it’s not a shirt or blouse chances are that it might loose it’s shape if it goes on a hanger. Try and fold them to put them away instead. Invest in some wooden hangers. Wire hangers or the plastic ones that come home with your purchase can leave the clothes misshapen.
- Air dry rather than using the tumble drier. The lint that you find on the filter after each load is your clothes being worn away. That doesn’t happen when you hang them to dry.
- Don’t buy white! A garment of any other colour will generally last longer than the same garment in white, due to the white item becoming stained and unwearable.
- Shut your wardrobe door. Leaving the door open for the light to get in can seriously fade your clothes!
