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Project 333 contributor, Erin Verena wrote this for you …
One of the great things about having a capsule wardrobe is that you get to wear your favorite garments more often; unfortunately this can also mean that they wear out faster, but some simple changes to how you care for your clothes can drastically extend their life.
Good clothing care doesn’t require anything complex or fancy. The two biggest and easiest things most people can do are use less heat and wash items less often. Now you might think this is gross or unsanitary, but a lot of clothing doesn’t need to be washed after every wear. I conducted my own little experiment after learning more about raw denim enthusiasts and hearing that people like the CEO of Levi’s don’t wash their denim for anywhere from 6 months to more than a year! I ended up not washing a new pair jeans for 11 months (they were part of 3 capsules, so I wore them pretty regularly for a good 9 months) and I was incredibly surprised at how not-gross they were. Now this is not for everyone and a year was pushing it for me, but as someone who would generally wear things once, maybe twice before washing it definitely made me reevaluate how frequently I wash different items of clothing.
Heat is also a big one, both from an environmental perspective and for longevity. Heats fades, shrinks, generally wears down clothing fibres, and in particular can be very damaging to elastic fibres which help garments keep their shape. Unless you have very dirty or smelly items, washing with heat is often unnecessary. Also air drying is very simple to do and I noticed an improvement in the general wear and fading of my clothes since I stopped using a dryer.
Different materials also really benefit from special care and even very delicate items can last decades if cared for properly. If you’re wondering how to care for a specific item, I recommend checking out this article with lots of great tips for different fabrics.
For me and I know for a lot of you, a huge benefit of Project 333 is having a wardrobe of clothing that you love and enjoy wearing. So it’s important to keep that wardrobe in good shape and looking its best! 🙂
Is there anything I missed or do you have other clothing care tips to add?
Erin is a fashion designer, illustrator, and eco fashion blogger who is trying to live a simpler and slower life. She creates videos about ethical fashion, green beauty, and capsule wardrobes on her YouTube channel and can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
