There’s a growing amount of people who believe in washing clothes less or not at all, even some well-known celebrities have announced that they don’t wash their clothes that frequently. Others are re-thinking their washing habits due to concerns for the environment when washing man-made fibres like polyester and the rising costs of energy bills.
I found this article (By Matilda Welin) last year which was very interesting and would like to share it with you. My mother has always said that people wash their clothes far too much and it shortens their life span. We had to change from our uniform when we came home from School so some items could be re-worn the next day. I still to a certain extent do this now. I always change my work clothes straightaway on coming home.
Wearing something for a few hours then washing it is a fairly modern concept. I remember when my teenage nieces wore 3 vests together with skinny jeans then would put them in the wash basket after one wear, my brother- in- law used to then take them out and put them back in the drawer. (Unbeknown to them) I suspect this is a familiar tale.
“One of the worst things that you can do to a garment, in terms of its durability, is wash it. During a wash garments can tear, shrink and lose colour”
Mark Sumner, a lecturer in sustainable fashion at the University of Leeds.
Sumner studies how microfibres from household laundry end up in marine animals. While he says reducing the frequency of our clothes washing is the right choice for the environment, he doesn’t advocate a complete washing machine ban. We don’t want people to think that they can’t wash stuff because they’re destroying the planet. It’s about trying to get the balance right. Washing clothes is important for medical and hygiene reasons, for example for people suffering from eczema who are trying to avoid irritation caused when our natural skin bacteria multiply inside our clothing. It’s also important for people’s self-esteem to not feel embarrassed about their clothes because they’re dirty or smelly”.
Not washing your clothes can be seen as poor hygiene. Certainly underwear, socks, tights and items worn close to the body would require more frequent washing than jeans or knitwear. But have we become too clean?
Designer Stella McCartney caused headlines in 2019 by detailing her low-clothes-cleaning habits. “Basically, in life, rule of thumb, if you don’t absolutely have to clean anything, don’t clean it. I wouldn’t change my bra every day and I don’t just chuck stuff into a washing machine because it’s been worn. I am incredibly hygienic myself, but I’m not a fan of dry cleaning or any cleaning, really.”
The Indigo Invitational invites people from across the world to wear the same pair of raw denim jeans for a year. This is the world’s largest and most-inclusive raw denim fading competition and has been going since 2019. Giving you the chance to connect with and compete against the world’s best denim faders. Since denim becomes softer when it’s soapy and wet, one of the keys to achieving high-contrast patterns is to avoid washing them. More than nine out of 10 participants delay the first wash of their trousers until they have been worn 150 or 200 times. A few of the raw denim wearers go even further, adopting a never-wash philosophy. Instead of using a washing machine, raw denim wearers learnt other ways to care for their garments, like exposing them to UV sun rays or just airing them overnight.
For Bryan Szabo, the organizer, the low-wash habit began when he bought his first pair of raw denim jeans in 2010. Travelling from his native Canada to Europe on a six-month trip. In part due to the lack of facilities, he never washed his jeans. ( Although he assures us he now does wash his jeans occasionally)
“It was a quirk about me that I had these stinky jeans, they smelled awful. My jeans would, be in, like, a pile on the floor at the end of the bed. You walked into the room and you could smell them”
Mac Bishop, founder of clothes company Wool & Prince when he started promoting his women’s brand, Wool &. He felt that centuries of sexist laundry advertising meant women would be less responsive to the idea of not washing their clothes and research backed him up, showing that, with women, environmentalism was a more effective reason to give for washing clothes less. The Wool& brand sells merino wool dresses with the help of a “challenge” where customers wear the same dress every day for 100 days. I am not too sure what I think about that, but I do know that pure wool garments particularly cashmere shouldn’t be washed too much. (The rails in Charity shops of over-washed knitwear backs this up) I always wear a washable layer under my sweaters and air the garment overnight. So far no one has commented on the smell!
This subject will always divide people. Some people will choose to wash clothes more than others and it is a personal choice. However, by all making some small changes in our washing patterns this could have a huge impact on the environment as well as clothing lasting longer.
So, it must be worth trying to make a small change!
Created Curated by Sara Brown 