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Fashion

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

January 16, 2019

How to Make Your Clothes Last LongerI’ve been talking a lot about sustainable fashion choices, wearing vintage and shopping my own wardrobe. But when making slower fashion choices one of the absolute most important things to do, is take care of what you have and make it last as long as possible. Here are a few things I do to keep my clothes lasting as long as possible.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Follow the washing instructions

The simplest way to keep your clothes nice is to wash them correctly. It’s amazing how much longer your clothes will last if you use the right temperature, detergent and type of wash. When it comes to vintage clothes, I do almost everything on the hand wash setting of my washing machine. I also hang everything to dry rather than using the dryer, this prevents shrinking and is much better for the environment.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Avoid Colour Runs and Stains

There’s nothing worse than getting your clothes out of the wash and releasing you’ve ruined them! I’m always really careful to divide my colours properly and I always put a colour catcher in each wash to avoid colour runs. I also make sure I treat stains as quickly as possible. I swear by Oxy cleaners to remove stains and keep my whites white. I usually use whichever brand is on offer.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Know how to do basic repairs

Knowing how to re-hem a dress, sew on a button or patch up a small hole, will add years to the life of your clothes. I love seeing the little repairs on vintage dresses I own. Back in the days where people only had a few items of clothing, they really looked after them and it’s something we can all think about.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Dye clothes to give them new life

I love dying clothes that have faded, I do this a lot with jeans and the girls school uniforms. Stuff that is regularly washed will lose it’s colour long before the actual garment has worn out. I usually use Dylon machine dye to quickly add a new lease of life to tired looking clothes. I also sometimes dye garments a different colour, just for a change. The possibilities are endless! I use these Brilliant Black sheets to keep my blacks looking brand new.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Store clothing correctly

It’s amazing how easy it is to damage clothing by not taking enough care over storage. Be sure to store delicate clothing on padded hangers to stop the shoulders warping. Keep everything away from sunlight, as it fades clothes very quickly. It’s also important to avoid damp, keeping a few sachets of silica gel near clothes can help prevent damp problems.

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Keep moths away

Moths absolutely love to eat your favourite knits, there are lots of ways to prevent moths from becoming a problem. Firstly I wash any vintage items was soon as they enter the house. I will often bag them up and put them in the freezer for a while to kill off any moth eggs. Other than that there are plenty of moth traps and repentants available in shops, although lavender bags are also supposed to keep them away. Every six months I take everything out of my wardrobe and give it a good clean, this is a great way to make sure there are no moths or eggs hiding away in there.

Repurpose old clothes

It’s always with looking into ways to rework clothes that you’re no longer in love with, whether it’s cropping an old t-shirt or turning a dress into a skirt, it’s. a great chance to get creative.

I hope this gives you some idea to put a new lease of life into your clothes and make the most of what you have. If you have any good tips, please share them in the comments as I’d love to hear.


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  • Reply
    Emily Kitsch
    January 16, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    Excellent post, these tips are wonderful and so helpful!

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