Wanted: Tips for making clothes last longer

[soyvanillalatte]

I seem to never be able to keep clothes staples as I seem to wear them literally "to death". All of the wardrobe and styling tips I find mention long term wardrobe staples - the white shirt, the pencil skirt, tanks and tees, various trousers etc. Mine really probably last around a year.

Does anyone have any tips for keeping clothes well?

Just as an aside, I do recall seeing an article, recently, that was talking about how modern day clothing has much shorter life spans than clothes from previous years. I must try to find it...

If you buy good quality it should last longer, but it also relates to use.
A good white shirt worn almost every day won't last that long.

Always wash on the lowest possible temperature and with similar colours, preferably inside out.
I wouldn't use the drier too often.
Don't hang strong colours under direct sunlight but do hang whites.

Don't tumble dry your clothes

Wash on a low temperature as possible. Use hand wash cycles on your machine for items that may need to be handled with care. A quick wash is good for freshening up items rather than a full wash.

Keep some clothes that you don't mind getting trashed for cleaning, gardening or anything which may damage your clothes. Lounge wear for when you are at home.

Layer your nicer jumpers and tops with a vest in the winter. If the clothes aren't in direct contact with your skin, you may be able to wear then more than once before they need washing.

Buy two of everything and wear alternately. Might cut down on washing too as airing itself freshens. Sniff test!

Yes costs more but you do keep things you like for longer.

Wash as little as possible! And dry clean what you can afford to. I have a couple of posh shirts- one is very delicate so it gets 2/3 careful wears then DC. The other one is a thick cotton Ralph Lauren preppy one. With proper pressing it's good for 3/4 wears before it looks tired.

And yy to layering/ vests to avoid skin contact and not cooking/ gardening in precious stuff.

And cold washes and no tumble drying!

I find putting delicate tops in a wash bag (get in the poundshops - they are like a net) helps

I use dark woolite for jeggings to get more wear out of them

What are you doing to things to wear them out in a year?? I seem to have the opposite problem - can't justify replacing things that still have plenty of wear in them but possibly went out of fashion a decade ago.

Actually, I think I just answered my own question. Buy unfashionable clothes. They last longer.

Ah, great tips, thanks!

I think the problem is that I just "over-wear" and buy too cheap. (Clothes I had a decade ago wouldn't fit me now, although I have one or two items from 20-30 years ago I can't part with that are in good condition).

I only have a few wearable items and tend to wear them down and buy when I run out of clothes. I probably have 3-4 tops, for example, that I circulate. Currently 2 are knackered.

My jeans wear down at the tight, shirts get those little holes at the tummy or just don't hang well anymore.

jeans wear down at the thigh. that was...

Oh yes, the mysterious little holes in the tummy. Is it jeans waistbands that do that to clothes, or does my washing machine attack everything in just that random spot?

I've just moved to jeggins to see if it was my jeans. The fit my bum so much better than jeans do as well (always baggy arse with jeans).