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Extending the lifespan of your clothes is a simple yet effective practice that can reduce emissions by keeping clothes out of landfills, while saving you money in the long run. Although mending your clothes on time and storing them with care are important to keep your clothes for longer, there is more that you can do to extend the lifespan of your clothes.
It’s time to rethink the way you do your laundry and note down some of our expert tips. Implementing these laundry care tips can help dramatically extend the lifespan of your clothes.
9 Laundry Care Tips to Preserve Your Clothes for Longer
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Read Wash Care Instructions
How many times have we thrown a silk blouse into the dryer only to deal with the damage later, or been met with a shrunken pair of pants after hurriedly throwing them into the wash.
Most laundry related damage can be prevented by taking the time to read and follow the wash care instructions of your garments. Doing so will allow you to preserve garments for longer, and can save you money that would otherwise be spent replacing damaged items.
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Wash Less
Frequent washing can wear down the fibers of your clothes, causing them to rip and damage quite early in their life cycle. While towels and workout clothes require regular washes to maintain hygiene, your everyday clothing should be washed after at least 2-3 wears. This applies to most clothes barring underwear and socks.
Of course, if you’re spending all day running errands or sweating through hectic meetings at work, you’ll probably want to give your shirt a wash. But if you’re wearing a delicate blouse for only a couple of hours at dinner, think twice before throwing it in the laundry basket right away.
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Cold is Gold
Washing clothes with extremely hot water is a shortcut to damaging delicate fibers and wearing down the fabric quickly. This is why it’s always best to do your laundry with cold water. Using cold water also prevents the fading of colors from fabrics.
Warmer water can be used for clothes that you wear close to your skin, or are sweating into. But as always, make sure you’re checking all wash care labels first.
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Proper Storage
Do you often start your wash cycle by picking clothes up off the floor? Does your clean laundry always end up sitting in the dryer long after it’s stopped running? If this sounds like you, you may want to consider getting laundromat baskets to store your clean and dirty clothes properly.
Often, leaving your clothes on your floor can lead to stains and might even cause preventable wear and tear. This is why proper storage for your laundry is a crucial aspect of extending the lifespan of your clothing. Doing this ensures that not only are all garments protected from damage, but your laundry routine becomes much easier and efficient.
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Separate by Color
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While it’s already a common laundry practice to separate lights from darks, you can extend the lifespan of your garments by further separating pure white clothes from colored clothes. This will prevent possible damage to white garments from color bleeding in the wash.
Make it a point to never wash any pure white garments with other clothes that aren’t completely white. Additionally, using a color catcher while washing multicolored clothes will ensure that any dye that does bleed will not find its way to other clothes.
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Wash Inside Out
Doing laundry inside out is a common wash care instruction you’ll find on several clothes you own. By washing inside out, the less visible side of your garments will feel the brunt of the agitation. Even if the fading of colors occurs, it will be the inside of your clothes that lose their vibrance.
This is a great tip to extend the lifespan of your garments, and to avoid any externally visible damage that prevents the wearing of those clothes.
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Detergent 101
The kind of detergent and washing fluid you use also has a big impact on the wear and tear of your clothes. Additionally, how much detergent you use per wash, along with where you put it, are all key factors to evaluate for extending the lifespan of your clothes.
Most people tend to overuse detergent, which ends up leaving their clothes as dirty as before. Since soap is designed to trap dirt, an overuse of cleaning agents can make it hard to wash away the detergent. This leaves the trapped dirt, along with the detergent, still in your clothes after the wash. This is why we recommend using only around two tablespoons of detergent for a full load.
If you’re using a powder detergent, drop it in the specific detergent drawer of your machine to avoid clumping. Liquid detergents can be poured right on top of the clothes. And lastly, laundry detergent pods should always be placed right at the bottom, under the clothes, so that the pod can burst and the detergent can circulate quickly.
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Air Dry Your Clothes
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Most households run their dryers to the point of overusing them. But in the same way that hot water can damage the fibers of your clothes, the hot air of your dryer is also damaging your garments over time.
Air drying your clothes is an ages-old method that wreaks the least amount of damage on your garments. You can mount clothes lines in your backyard or use collapsible clothing stands for convenient indoor drying. While this is a much gentler technique for drying your clothes than using a dryer, it is also a great way to save costs on electric bills.
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Machine Maintenance
Maintaining your machines is an essential aspect of ensuring that your laundry cycles are smooth and damage free. With the build up of lint in your dryer or mold in washer pipes, your clothes may not receive a thorough cleaning. In fact, poorly maintained machines can damage the fabric or even cause the spread of bacteria.
This is why it’s necessary to conduct regular maintenance checks on your laundry equipment and repair any damage as soon as you notice it.
These wash care tips can help you enjoy your clothes for longer and prevent any avoidable damage as you go about your laundry routine.
