How To Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash

One of the most sustainable ways to clothes shop is to wear what you already own, so in effect to not shop at all. Knowing how to make our clothes last longer is not only more sustainable, it's also very useful; we all have wardrobe favourites that we wear to death and want to last forever! I haven't shopped fast fashion for over two years now, yet I still have old fast fashion items that have stood the test of time.

Back when I was a fast fashion fiend, my grandma would often comment about how she has items in her wardrobe that have been in there for over thirty years. The reason being? She's looked after them properly. There are some really basic things we can do, plus some simple skills we can learn, to make our clothes last longer (and I can't claim to be a saint myself quite yet).

Wash them less // Your first thought might be that this is really gross, and it obviously depends on what you've been doing/how much you sweat, but rather than immediately throwing your clothes in the wash basket at the end of the day, consider whether they need to be in there first. Jeans are an example of something that can be worn multiple times before washing; there's not a hard and fast answer as to how many times exactly, but I'd say I wear mine between five and ten times before washing. Anything else can be subjected to a simple sniff test; if it doesn't smell and you haven't spilt on it then it's a no brainer that it doesn't need washing! 

Wash & dry wisely // When you do wash your clothes wash them on lower temperatures, which will prevent clothes from shrinking or fading and spin them at lower speeds for the same reason. The best place to dry your clothes is outside or over a clothes horse in winter as tumble drying can also cause clothes to shrink and fabrics to degrade.

Store them correctly // Something that I cannot claim to do at all is store my clothes correctly. It is a bit of a minefield (with lots of rules), but it will apparently make your clothes last longer if you store them better than I do. You should use the right sized hangers for different items, shouldn't hang knitwear or it runs the risk of becoming misshapen, and should hang clothes away in a wardrobe rather than on clothes rails (oopsie) to keep them clear of dust.

Learn some simple mending skills // Things such as sewing on buttons, stitching up a split hem and patching up holes are really useful skills to have and can save an item of clothing you love from going in the bin! You don't need anything fancy like a sewing machine, literally just a needle and thread and there are so many free tutorials on YouTube these days that there's no excuse not to learn!