Why buy new when you can easily make those beloved garments in your wardrobe last a lifetime?
Grab my simple tips and discover how to keep your clothing in top condition:
Don’t launder your garments so often. It’s completely unnecessary to put clothes through the rigors of washing machines when they really only need a good airing out to freshen them up before the next wearing. You can also spot wash stains and skip the laundry altogether for clothes that aren’t visibly dirty or odorous. Not only will you save on laundry costs but your clothes will last a lot longer too.
Wash in cold and line dry. Heating the water accounts for over 90% of the energy used for laundry. Washing in cold water is just as effective as washing in hot AND it saves energy + your garments won’t shrink and will even last longer, yay! Hanging clothes to dry (indoors or out) is a convenient and sustainable alternative to energy wasting dryers. There’s also zero chance of high temperature heat damage to clothing. Tip: Hang dark or dyed garments in shaded areas to avoid fading.
Mend. Learning the very easy basics of hand sewing means you’ll always be able to reattach a button, stitch up a rip, add a funky patch and even shorten (or lengthen) + take in (or out) less than stellar fitting clothing!
What are your tips for making loved clothes last?
Grab all of my sustainable lifestyle tricks right here!
ALWAYS REMEMBER NEW TO YOU IS STILL NEW!
For loads of sustainable style goodness check out my Confessions of a Refashionista e-book series for less than a latte!
Simply download & get started creating your own, unique, ethical, DIY eco-style!
Sheri, I don’t think I have commented before, but here goes, I have follwed you for years and love your thrift 🙂
Here in Oz, in summertime you really do need to wash your clothing after one wear, it gets very hot, sweaty and smelly, winters are mild and you need to wash less often. I use a front loader washing machine and have noticed that clothing looks better than when I have inherited it/bought it secondhand; top loaders are very rough. Also, I always hang knits and dark coloured clothing inside out, the fading happens on the inside not the right side 🙂
Cheers for the groovy first comment! 😀 Sweaty, stinky summer is definitely the time when clothing should be laundered more often! 😉 Since moving to Canada I’ve dearly missed my front loader in Europe, I’ve now been having to use a top loading agitator machine & my clothes are definitely suffering 😭 I try to only machine wash for heavy/sturdy fabrics & sheets/towels now – anything remotely delicate is handwashed.