You know the one. That favourite T-shirt that fit perfectly in spring and by autumn was faded, a bit baggy at the neck and weirdly twisted at the side seams. Sometimes it was just badly made. More often than we’d like to admit, it was the washing machine.
Keeping clothes going longer saves money, obviously. It’s also about the easiest way there is to cut back on waste, and you don’t have to change your style or buy anything new to do it.
A few numbers worth knowing
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s report A New Textiles Economy found that clothing production roughly doubled over the 15 years before it came out. In that same stretch, the average number of times something got worn before being ditched fell by 36%.
It gets worse. Under 1% of the material that goes into clothing ends up recycled into new clothing. A garbage truck’s worth of textiles gets landfilled or burned every single second. And people around the world throw away an estimated US$460 billion of value each year in clothes they could have kept wearing.
Small changes do add up, though. UK charity WRAP found that keeping clothes in use just nine months longer could cut their carbon, water and waste footprints by up to 20%.
Nine months! Totally doable.
Wash them less
Good news, if you hate laundry. Most clothes don’t need a wash every time you wear them.
Jeans, jumpers, jackets, trousers. They’ll usually go a few wears. Hang them somewhere airy overnight and dab small marks with a damp cloth. (Undies, gym gear and anything you sweated through on a 35-degree day are a different story, obviously.) Every wash wears clothes down a little. Fibres loosen. Colours fade. Elastic gives up.
It helps the ocean too. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, washing synthetic clothes sends roughly half a million tonnes of plastic microfibres into the sea every year. Fewer washes, fewer fibres.
When you do wash
Use cold water. Heat is rough on fabric, fades colours and shrinks things. It also chews through power. energy.gov.au says a cold wash over a warm one can save up to ten times the energy.
Turn stuff inside out, especially printed tees, dark denim and anything with a textured surface. That way the outside isn’t getting scrubbed against everything else in the drum.
Do up the zips. An open zip is basically a little row of teeth, and it will snag your knits the first chance it gets. Fasten bra hooks too, and chuck delicates into a mesh bag on a gentle cycle.
Also, actually read the care label. I know. But it’s the maker telling you what the fabric can survive, and wool in particular can be wrecked by one wrong wash.
Go easy on the dryer
Dryers are convenient. They’re also hard on clothes, with all that heat and tumbling. Ever wondered what the fluff in the lint filter is? It’s your clothes. Tiny bits of them.
A clothes line is gentler and free to run. Just watch the harsh sun, which fades darks and brights pretty quickly, so turn coloured things inside out or hang them in the shade. Whites don’t mind a bit of sunshine.
Heavy knits need to dry flat, on a towel or a flat rack. Hang a soaking wet jumper and the weight of the water will stretch it into a dress.
How you store them matters
Fold your knits. Jumpers and cardigans left on hangers get those pointy shoulder bumps and slowly stretch out. Shirts, blazers and dresses are the ones that belong on hangers.
Ditch the wire hangers while you’re at it. They leave marks and warp shoulders over time. Wooden or padded ones are worth it for anything you care about.
And give things a bit of room. If you have to yank clothes out of a jammed wardrobe, they crease and rub. (Also, maybe a sign there’s more in there than you wear?)
Learn two repairs
You don’t need a sewing machine. Sewing on a button and fixing a dropped hem will save a surprising number of clothes from the op shop bag.
A fabric shaver for pilling is another cheap little tool that makes an old jumper look almost new. Bigger jobs like a busted zip or a split seam on a good coat? Take it to an alterations place. It’s usually way cheaper than buying a replacement.
Buy stuff that’ll last
Caring for clothes works best when they’re decent to start with. A quick check in the shop helps.
Are the seams straight and even, not puckering or pulling? Stretch the fabric gently. Does it bounce back? Are the buttons sewn on properly? Do patterns line up where the seams meet?
Price isn’t a great guide, by the way. Some cheap basics go for years. Some expensive pieces fall apart after a season. The way something’s made tells you a lot more than the tag does.
Honestly, it’s simpler than it sounds
The most sustainable piece of clothing is the one already hanging in your wardrobe. Wash it a bit less, wash it colder, and fix it when something goes. It’ll look better for longer and you’ll be shopping a lot less.
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