- Buy mindfully, have a list, go through the list of questions (link) and learn to take care of what we already have.
2. Don’t wash too often. On the micro level, the clothes remain as dirty as before. With normal use, where there are no stains, but we would only wash for the feeling of cleanliness, don’t. By washing too often we only do harm to the clothes and to water. Do this instead:
- remove stains locally;
- hang the clothes outside to freshen them (if you have this option).
3. Be very careful with the amounts and types of detergents. Follow the care instructions on the label thoroughly. Possibly wash on even lower temperatures than it says on the label. Wash silk by hand, rarely wash wool, much better to just air it. Turn clothes inside out before washing to prevent colours and prints from fading. Close zippers and buttons to prevent them from getting caught in other pieces and damaging them. Select a gentler wash and spin cycle. Always use less detergent than it says on the box or bottle, about half of the amount is enough (I use even less). Use washing soda or alcohol vinegar (never both at the same time). At least every few cycles, say every fifth cycle only use either vinegar or the washing soda. Use the same amount as you would with any detergents (liquid or powder).
And the obvious, don’t use softeners. Not only is there no need, they also damage textiles more, not to mention their chemichals and their harmfulness to environment and our health.
4. Washing is problematic from several aspects: water and electricity consumption, fiber damage, water pollution by detergents, chemical flushing and release of microplastics from the textiles. The latter can be partially avoided by using washable bags, in which we put the laundry, or by installing special filters on the washing machine that catch microplastic, which otherwise goes down the drain.
5. Air dry. If you only have the option to. Much more friendly to both clothes and the environment. Drying machines especially shorten the useful life of clothes.
6. When ironing, carefully follow the instructions of the garment. Either way, it’s safest not to iron with too high temperature, or only iron with steam. I would highly recommend steam ironing, specially for more delicate textiles. It does the job perfectly and practically cannot do any damage to garments when used correctly. The steam iron also enables to just refresh the clothes already worn, also making them more clean. This decreases the amount of washing cycles a piece goes through and thus increases the clothing’s life cycle. I use this one.
7. Remove fuzz. Use razor or debobbler (be very careful with the razor not to damage the fabric, start with some older clothes, just to get the feeling). We all have clothes we don’t wear anymore only because of their surface damage – meaning fuzz balls or bobbles. Those mostly cannot be removed by hand, at least not all of them. This is easily solvable by a little device. The garment is almost as good as new when all the bobbles are removed. I use this one.
8. Do you know what attracts you into clothing stores? The order on racks and shelves. It’s important to maintain order in our wardrobe. Keeping the clothes properly tidy is also a very important aspect of the clothing life, knowing how to store them.
10. Protection against harmful animals: neem, cinnamon sticks, lavender bags smell good to us, but not to them – double benefit! Have such protection always present in the closets. If we see insects, freeze the clothes. If possible, leave them outside for 10 days when cold, because low temperature disable the clothing insects and their eggs to survive. This step also acts as »quarantine« for the infested clothes, even if there are no freezing temperatures. Thoroughly clean all the closet space as well, leave no corner untouched.
11. Once a year (or more often if you feel like it) go through all, really all, of your clothes – from coats, hats to underwear and everything in between. Inspect each piece carefully, repair what is necessary. If you store in bags, don’t use plastic ones, especially those from the dry cleaners, because they can cause clothes to turn yellow. Store in special clothing bags that protect the clothes and at the same time allow air to pass through or in plastic containers to keep the pests out.
To summarise:
- remove stains wile fresh
- patch any holes
- sew the buttons
- remove loose threads
- sew if any seems fall apart
- protect you garments, shoes and bags with protective spray. Yes, these sprays are bad for the environment, but such protections can prolong some of the items usefulness for years.
There are going to be reviews on the maintenance devices mentioned here in some of the following posts, stay tuned!
*This post is not sponsored.
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