Practical Sustainability: Caring For Our Clothes

One of the most accessible ways to be sustainable when engaging with fashion is by taking care of what we already own. Clothes that are well cared for last longer, which allows them to remain in use longer – and in circulation on the secondhand market if necessary – and, thus, out of landfills. Unfortunately, clothes care isn’t as familiar a topic these days as it used to be, or ought to be. Speaking for myself, it took me years to realize what I was doing wrong and figure out how to do better. I blame washing machines — they make you think you know what you’re doing when, in reality, it’s not quite as simple as it seems. I’m by no means an expert now, but I have a good enough handle on it to allow me to keep my clothes in “good nick” (as the English say). And, good enough is good enough; even small tweaks can help a lot.

Washing Clothes – How Often is Too Often?

Listen, I know; this is a hot button topic for people. Just like there are people who wash their hair every day and refuse to believe that a person can be clean otherwise, there are people who believe that every item of clothing must be washed after every wear. Experts (and I’m not talking about myself here) all agree this is not correct, but I expect that will not convince some of you. It’s fine; if you’re in that category, there are other ways to increase the longevity of your clothes, but know that your clothes will wear out comparatively faster (no matter what else you do) due to washing frequency.

For everyone else: what should we be doing?

The answer, as always, is “it depends”. It will depend on everything from the type of item in question, to fabric content, to lifestyle, to personal factors such as proneness to sweat. This Vogue article provides some general guidelines. You will see, for example, that Levi’s recommends that jeans be washed after every 10 wears. Other experts suggest that wool sweaters can be washed at the end of the season. Whether you follow these guidelines to the letter or come up with your own (shorter or longer ones) is up to you and your own comfort level.

I’ll share my general approach, not because I’m suggesting it’s what you should do, but because you might find my thought process helpful.

A few things you need to know about me: I don’t sweat a lot (unless in a highly stressful situation); I live in a cold climate and spend most of my time in climate-controlled environments; I don’t do a lot of highly physical and/or outdoors activities; I am 100% WFH. All of these things factor into my decision-making about clothes-washing frequency – your mileage may vary.

Perhaps the most important consideration for me is: am I wearing the item directly against the skin, particularly in areas prone to sweat? Wearing base layers – which I tend to do for both practical (weather-related) and style reasons – helps to minimize how often I have to wash certain items. So, for example, if I’m wearing a cotton sleeved tee underneath a blazer, I am going to need to launder that blazer less often than if I wore it with a sleeveless tank. A piece that’s more tight-fitting and more likely to rub against my skin will get more frequent washing than something that fits loosely.

It’s basically the same principle that people in Ye Olde Days applied. They used wool, linen, and cotton underclothing – from chemises to petticoats and assorted other things, which were all regularly laundered – to protect their nice, expensive (and hard to clean) silk and velvet outer garments from contact with the body, which in those days was subject to a LOT less cleaning itself.

There are certain things I wash very infrequently, unless they become stained or impregnated with smells like smoke, etc. Jeans, most sweaters, coats, and skirts fall into this category for me. In contrast, I wash base layers frequently, every 1-3 wears depending on the item and fabric. Dresses, tops and blazers are a case-by-case situation. Because blazers usually require dry cleaning, which I like to avoid for both financial and environmental reasons, I usually try to wear a (sleeved) base layer under them to defer the need for cleaning as long as possible.

Something else I do to extend the time between laundering is to steam my clothes and air them out after wearing them and before putting them back in the closet. Steam is a very efficient sanitizer (though, obviously, it won’t work on stains), especially for pieces that are hard to clean via regular laundry. It takes very little time, doesn’t put extra stress on the clothing, and it really makes a difference. I also steam clothes before wearing them if I need to get wrinkles out, but mostly because I find it more convenient than ironing.

Washing Clothes – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By now, I hope we all know that the dryer is the main culprit in shortening the lifecycle of our clothes. I use it sparingly for things that aren’t (a) underclothing, (b) athleisure, or (c) loungewear (aka “house clothes”). Using a drying rack can be annoying at times, especially in a small house, but once you’re not washing everything constantly, it’s manageable.

I know some folks are “throw everything in the washing machine” people, but I am not quite that adventurous. My rule of thumb is: cotton, linen, polyester, acrylic, and blends of any of the above can go in the washing machine. Wool, silk, and embellished materials are handwash only. I will also make exceptions for items that are super valuable to me, and handwash those just to be on the safe side.

The only things I regularly dry-clean are blazers and heavy coats.

Leather care is a whole other topic, which I’m still learning about, tbh. Currently, what I do is gently wipe down leather items as needed, and steam clean the interior lining. (I also do this with fully-sequined pieces – turn them inside out and steam clean the hell out of the lining.) I’ve been lucky to avoid staining my leather clothing but if I did, I would seek out specialized help.

One thing I recently started to pay more attention to is the spin cycle. Basically, the higher the speed, the higher the agitation and cleaning power. Agitation can be bad for certain materials like wool. Higher spin cycles are best for cleaning heavily soiled items on durable fabrics like cotton, linen, and polyester. If I’m washing a lot of knits or more “delicate” items (like dresses and tops that aren’t very dirty), I’ll use a lower spin cycle (and the delicate cycle). This Laundress article touches on this and other useful tips for washing machine use.

I don’t use bleach in my washing machine cycles. My family doesn’t wear a lot of pure white clothing, but if I need to get stains or yellowing out of a white item, I will pre-treat it with Oxyclean then throw it in a regular cycle with other light-coloured clothing (or hand-wash as the case may be). I also pre-treat heavy stains on all types of clothing, but that is a topic that could take up a whole other post. My advice is always: if in doubt, Google will tell you what you need to do to treat a particular type of stain.

Mending Clothes

I know my way around with an embroidery needle, but I am not handy at all when it comes to sewing. Still, I am able to do the basics, including sewing on buttons and fixing small holes in most fabrics (silk excepted). And if I can do that, anybody can! Anything more elaborate, like hemming or replacing zippers, I will usually outsource because it’s something I simply don’t have the mental bandwidth to tackle. And that’s okay! Know and respect your own boundaries. Of course, if you have the time and inclination, learning as many simple mending techniques as possible can save you money. But if you don’t, don’t beat yourself up. Just recognize that clothing that needs a little bit of work can still have a lot of life left in it and treat it accordingly. It’s more sustainable to pay a little bit to fix an old garment than to buy it new again.

Shoes deserve a special mention here. I am not as diligent about water-proofing and moisturizing my leather shoes as I should be, although I am careful about what shoes I wear in wet conditions to minimize wear and tear. What I am very strict about is replacing heel tips and re-soling. Doing so proactively, before the heel or sole is fully destroyed, is really important and can extend the life of leather shoes indefinitely. Good, comfortable shoes are worth their weight in gold, so this is an expense I will happily incur.  

I hope you’ll find some useful information in this post (and the links are even better, I promise) and feel free to share your tips in the comments.