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Wondering how to make your clothes last longer? This can be great from a budgetary perspective as well as an environmental perspective… so here are some tips on caring for your clothes to help them last longer, including laundry tips to make your clothes last longer!
1. Give your clothing a new life by upcycling things you no longer wear. Dye a dress, cut up an old shirt for rags (I’ve done this with old tees made from thicker 100% cotton) turn a too-small item into a tote bag, and so on. Check out YouTube, Pinterest, and Reddit for inspiration.
2. Learn to mend your clothing. Again, YouTube tutorials are great for this if you don’t have someone to show you in person. While it may not fly in a lot of offices, visible mending is a fun technique — Better Homes & Gardens has tips, and r/visiblemending has 200,000+ members sharing ideas and advice.
3. Use care techniques that are gentler on your clothes. This Cosmo article lists 25 tips on doing just that, from treating stains ASAP to washing jeans inside out to steaming clothes rather than ironing. (Here are our tips for ironing less!)
4. Remove pilling from sweaters rather than ditching them. You don’t always have to get rid of clothes that are pilling — use a battery-operated fabric shaver, or a reusable or disposable razor. (Need tips to prevent pilling in the first place? Good Housekeeping has them.)
{related: how often do you wash your workwear and other clothes?}
Make Laundry Day Greener
1. Wash clothes at home rather than taking them to the dry cleaner (even some “dry clean only” clothing!) — and in cases when it’s feasible and not, you know, gross, consider washing clothing less often in general. (Also a thing, apparently: “washless clothes.” Hmmm.)
(The last time we discussed dry cleaning at home, readers really liked these products:)
2. Don’t overuse detergent. This Real Simple article tells you how to know whether you’re using the correct amount.
3. Reduce microplastics released from your laundry by adding a washing machine filter or special laundry bags/balls. Wirecutter delved into this a couple of years ago, and the National Park Service has tips for reducing laundry microfiber shedding.
Readers, what are your favorite ways to make your clothing last longer? Do you regularly do any of the above?
