Better, more intentional care for your clothes guarantees they will last longer.
Whether you’re caring for organic cotton shirts, sustainable dresses, natural cotton clothing, and honestly, anything and everything other than that, these tips ensure your pieces stay with you for years.
But before we get to that, let’s start with why it’s so important to care better for your clothes…
Better Care = Cleaner Planet
As a global community, we don't value our pieces enough and end up throwing away too much–these are the key facts:
-
The average lifespan of clothing owned by consumers is just over three years–in America, the average person throws away just over 30kg of clothing every year.
-
Of all the clothing thrown away across the world, 57% is sent to landfill, and 25% of global clothing waste is incinerated.
-
Every year across the world, we produce 92 million tonnes of textile waste.
With these in mind, it shows how our approach to clothing is not only incredibly wasteful, it also ends up polluting our natural ecosystems and keeps carbon emissions high:
-
Textile and fashion waste in landfills takes decades to decompose, all the while releasing harmful greenhouse gases, creating toxic environments for natural wildlife, and leeching chemicals that can harm human health too.
-
Due to consumer demand and the energy it takes to rapidly create tonnes of clothing each year, the fashion industry produces 8–10% of global CO2 emissions (4–5 billion tonnes annually), making it one of the largest contributors.
Overall, this all paints a picture that urges us to individually make more conscious decisions with our clothing, not only in what you introduce to your closet, but how you treat it while it’s there.
Best Basic Care
Before we get into of how you should treat specific natural fabrics or conscious clothing, there are some tips that can apply to any piece of clothing to increase it’s life in your closet while also impacting out planet positively!
1.Wash your clothing only when needed–of course, if you’ve spent the day out in your outfit and embarked on a long day of activities, definitely wash your clothing. What we mean is for cases where, for example, you spent the day indoors or had a relaxed, casual day, where it’s possible to rewear clothing.
The Green Outcome: less water consumed; less wear on your clothing from being in a washing machine too often.
2.Wait to wash–when you’re doing your laundry, try to wait for a good amount of dirty clothing/sheets/etc to accumulate so you can wash in bulk.
The Green Outcome: less water consumed; less wear on your clothing from being in a washing machine too often.
3.Hand wash or machine wash on a gentle cycle whenever possible–once again, this ultimately helps lessen the wear on your clothes, ensure colour doesn’t fade too fast, and prevent stretching or tearing.
The Green Outcome: less wear on your clothing which means less waste created and sent to landfills.
4.Line dry whenever possible–and if you’re clothing is in direct sunlight, turn your pieces inside out!
The Green Outcome: less carbon emissions/energy consumed from avoiding tumble drying; less wear on your clothing which means less waste created and sent to landfills.
5.Store your clothing properly–it’s best to keep your clothes in a cool, dry environment with proper aeration to avoid bacteria and mold. Using wooden or fabric-padded hangers will also help avoid stretching the shoulders of garments.
The Green Outcome: less waste created and sent to landfills.
6.Repair and reuse, don’t throw away–even if you end up tearing a piece of clothing, you can still find ways to keep wearing it by either mending it yourself at home, or taking it to a tailor. Moreover, if you love to craft, a piece of clothing can definitely be remade into something new (like a bag, a hair scarf, or a fabric keyring charm) to prolong it’s life.
The Green Outcome: less waste created and sent to landfills.
How To Care For Conscious Fabrics
Now, we come to the specifics!
Each natural fabric may have it’s particular ways to be cared for, and most sustainable clothing brands will let you know how to do so, but there are also some general ways you can make sure you’re properly caring for your conscious clothing.
Organic Cotton
This can include a variety of different types or natural cotton clothing such as poplin, double gauze, and even denim. Here are the main things you should remember to do to care well for these pieces:
-
use mild detergents only
-
avoid bleaching or scrubbing
-
Iron warm in reverse
Hemp & Linen
Both fabrics are similarly resilient so you don’t need to take special care like some of these. Like organic cotton, general good care is best so these pieces last:
-
use mild detergents only
-
avoid bleaching or scrubbing
-
Iron warm in reverse
Handwoven Fabrics
Whether it’s organic cotton, Kala cotton or Twill, these steps ensure the pieces’ craftsmanship stands the test of time.
Like organic cotton, remember to:
-
use mild detergents only
-
avoid bleaching or scrubbing
-
iron warm in reverse
-
most importantly, dry clean only if necessary!
Crochet
This craft definitely requires extra care and love. With any piece that is crocheted or is partially crocheted, you should:
-
hand wash separately in cold water
-
use mild or wool-friendly detergent only
-
do not soak for long periods!
Lyocell/Tencel
Being a lighter, often sheerer, fabric, a gentle hand is best to that it keeps its shine and soft feel.
So, remember to:
-
hand wash separately at room temperature or machine wash in gentle cycle
-
use mild detergents only
-
do not bleach or scrub
-
dry clean only if necessary
Sustainable clothing brands will always let you know what’s best for their fabrics but it’s always good to remember these tips for your pieces–conscious or not.
Whether it’s you’re caring for sustainable dresses or organic cotton shirts, we hope this helps you keep your conscious clothing for years and years.