Over 40 years ago, when we bought our house, one of the things I loved about it was its main floor laundry. The older I get, the more I appreciate not having to carry laundry up and down the stairs! Laundry has been part of history since humans started wearing clothes and it’s one of those household tasks that never seems to be finished! 

Here’s an interesting bit of laundry trivia… astronauts on the International Space Station wear their clothes until they can’t stand the stench then throw them in the trash. Along with other garbage, the discarded clothing is loaded onto cargo ships that generally burn up on reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. That might sound like a great solution to the never-ending laundry problem, but most of us actually want our clothes to last. Thankfully, how we do our laundry can ensure that our clothing lasts longer, help protect the environment, and even save us money!

Read the labels.

The first step in doing the laundry should happen in the clothing store. Read the labels and only buy if you’re prepared to follow the washing instructions. Personally, I very rarely buy anything that requires dry cleaning. I developed that habit in my early days of teaching school when chalk dust was the bane of every teacher’s existence. I also wanted to be able to teach a messy art class, kneel beside a student’s desk, or play with the children on the playground without having to send my clothes to the dry cleaners. With experience, however, you learn that in spite of what the labels say, some fabrics don’t actually require dry cleaning. For example, the label on this polyester top from Calvin Klein says that it should be dry cleaned, but synthetic fabrics like polyester actually wash very well. I simply launder the top using the hand wash cycle and hang it to dry to ensure that it keeps its shape.

Treat stains.

The first rule in treating stains is to do it as quickly as possible. Stain removal pens are a great innovation. You might even want to  carry one in your purse or keep it in your desk drawer to deal with mishaps when they happen. Additional stain removal treatment might also be required before tossing the item into the laundry. This stain removal guide includes a comprehensive list of stain makers and how to deal with each of them. Once you’ve washed the item, recheck to ensure that the stain is gone. It will be much harder to remove once it’s gone through the dryer.

Wash less often.

No one wants to stink, but overwashing clothes wears them out and causes them to fade more quickly. It also wastes water and electricity. With the exception of socks, underwear and workout wear, you can likely wear an item at least 3 times before putting it in the laundry.

Don’t overload the washer.

Washing a full load rather than just a few items definitely helps conserve water, but cramming the washer full of clothes is actually detrimental. Not only do the clothes not get as clean as they ought to, but they rub together so much that it can actually be harmful to the fabric.

Turn the temperature down.

90% of the energy used to wash a load of clothes goes into heating the water! Not only does washing in cold water save electricity but it helps prevent the fibres from breaking down. It also prevents shrinkage or stretching and helps keep colours from running and fading. Don’t worry about your clothes not getting clean. Most modern detergents are designed to work well in cold water.

Extremely high dryer heat can also be damaging to clothes.

Skip the softener. 

Fabric conditioners add a lot of unnecessary chemicals and fragrances to your clothes and also coat the fibres with a waxy residue that can lead to fading and fibre breakdown. I haven’t used fabric softener or dryer sheets for years and my laundry hasn’t suffered for it.

Wash inside out.

Keep jeans and strong colours from fading and printed t-shirts from cracking by washing them inside out.

Hand wash delicate items.

Hand washing delicate garments helps them last longer. This is especially easy if your washer has a hand wash cycle! Simply place the items in mesh bags to keep them from rubbing against one another and being damaged, then let the machine do the work.

Air dry.

When we lived in Asia, we did as all our neighbours did and hung our laundry to dry. Here in Canada, I’m happy to have and use a dryer, but I still hang a lot of my clothes. Heat breaks down the elasticity in garments, causing unwanted stretching, and also contributes to shrinkage. Since pant length has always been an issue for me and I don’t want to lose even a cm, I hang all my pants to dry.

Sustainable fashion addresses the entire process by which clothing is produced, consumed, cared for and disposed of. We can all do our part to reduce the impact of the clothing industry on the environment by not only purchasing sustainably produced clothing, but by following good laundry practices.

Do you have any tips to add to the ones given here?