One of my very first posts was a brief guide on how to care for your clothing and I wanted to revisit this important topic. According to Treehugger 75-80% of clothing's impact happens after items are purchased. How we wash and dry our clothes can actually make a huge difference! This week's post is filled with updated tips on how you can do just that. It can seem overwhelming but try to take baby steps- one small change at a time.
Washing
Wash on cold! This not only saves energy but helps to keep colors from bleeding and extends the life of your clothes.
Wash full loads and limit the amount of loads you do per week. Try one full load a week!
Get the right detergent. Castile soap is fantastic for many things including hand washing. There's also The Simply Co. and Roux Maison.
Speaking of hand washing- do it! It's simple and effective. The Simply Co. has a great video to get you newbies started: here.
Stain Removal
Don't use bleach or regular stain removal. These are incredibly harmful to the environment and there are alternatives.
Check out Bead and Reel's amazing break down of how you can get ride of different types of stains using natural products like white vinegar, lemon, and the sun. Yup, you heard me right, see for yourself!
Drying
Hang dry when possible! If you have the time, hang dry everything. This prolongs the life of your clothes, avoids shrinking, and saves energy at the same time.
Dry on low heat. If you are machine drying try the lowest heat possible.
Get a drying rack here.
Dry Cleaning
Find a green dry cleaner. There are incredibly harmful chemicals used at most dry cleaning shops which hurt the environment and our health. Not to mention all the plastic wasted!
Read the care label! Read labels carefully and discern if you can hand wash something rather than send it to the dry cleaners.
In the Spotlight:
A relevant read for this week is Whitney Bauck's piece for Fashionista about a recent climate change panel discussion in New York City. A few brands and fashion industry professionals came together to discuss fashion's role in all of this. Read all about it!