Making what you have last longer is not only great for preventing waste, but also for your wallet as you won’t have to buy new clothing items as frequently. By preventing damage before it happens, you also will have to spend less time repairing your clothing. With that in mind, here are some ways you can extend the life of your clothing.
Washing clothes less both saves you time spent over-washing your clothes, and helps clothes last longer as they don’t have to go through the damaging washing machine. Here’s a guide from the American Cleaning Institute on how long you can go between washes for most items.
Repair instead of buying new.
Instead of buying new clothes when your clothing tears, try your hand at repairing it. You can also add preventative repairs. For example, if you frequently experience worn down spots on the inner thigh of your pants you can add a patch to help protect the fabric.
When washing your clothes, sort them properly–delicate from normal clothes, and anything that needs an extra good wash separate. Obviously you should also separate light and dark.
Purchase bags for washing bras and other delicate clothes.
These delicate bags can prevent bras from being damaged, and can prevent their hooks from catching other fabrics in the wash. I also use mine for garments with lace since they are more likely to get snagged in the wash.
Close zippers before you wash to prevent them from snagging other clothes.
The zippers snagging fabrics can damage other fabrics in the wash.
Wash dark clothes inside out to prevent fading.
When your clothes are in the wash, they rub against each other which can lead to fading in dark fabrics. To prevent this, wash dark clothes inside out.
Wash full loads, but not overfull.
You should always wash full loads when possible to save energy, but you should never overfill the washing machine. Aside from reduced efficacy, the amount of clothes in the wash increases the friction the clothing experienced in the wash. This speeds the wearing on the fabric.
Not only does washing with cool water save energy, but it also may damage clothes less.
Wash any clothes you can on the delicate setting. Sometimes, laundry such as underwear must be washed on a higher setting. However, when possible the delicate setting will result in less friction, and therefore less damage to the fabric.
Drying clothes outdoors rather than using a dryer spares clothes a lot of wear, as well as being kinder to the planet.
If air drying clothes in the sun, dry them inside out to prevent them from fading.
Being in the sun can cause fading–which is why you can sun bleach clothing–so turning your clothes inside out will protect them from these effects.
Switch to wool dryer balls.
Aside from the benefit of no longer requiring dryer sheets, wool dryer balls decrease drying time and irritate skin less.
Clean the lint trap every load
If you must use the dryer for something, make sure you clean the lint trap after each load for a more effective dryer. This way, your clothes will dry more quickly and spend less time being damaged by it.
Hopefully these methods of making clothes last longer were helpful for you. Do you have any tips that I missed?
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