before becoming a minimalist i never really noticed any of my clothes breaking or wearing
because i was always buying new stuff so my wardrobe was always growing but now i notice
the moment a garment is starting to wear tear or fade and i instantly do something about it
because i don't have that many clothes to choose from anymore if you want to see my entire wardrobe
i have made a wardrobe tour video before i link that in the description but first let me tell
you how to take care of your clothes so that they last longer something i for sure didn't know but
i've learned recently is that 9 out of 10 pieces of clothing end up in landfill before they should
and this is normally caused by over washing or not knowing how to care properly for our clothes
but luckily there are so many things we can do to prevent this and one of the most important things
is to care for different fabrics in different ways if you've never looked at the tiny label on your
clothes before now is the time to start doing so because this is what tells you what your clothes
are made from and how they should be cared for i always determine the fabric before i decide how
to care for a clothing item but that doesn't mean i always follow the washing instructions
and i'll get to that later it's really important that we look at the clothing label because for
example linen can handle pretty much everything whereas silk can barely be put in a washing
machine without breaking and this leads me on to the next tip which is wash only when needed
apart from underwear our clothes really don't need to be washed after everywhere over washing
is one of the main reasons our clothes will break fade or tear early but we still want our clothes
to be nice and fresh so there are a couple other things you can do now i like to air out my clothes
in between washes this goes especially for jeans or sweaters or any other heavy items and then also
i like to treat stains rather than washing the whole garment so if i get a stain on the top i
try to wash the stain off and let that air dry rather than washing the whole top this will keep
my clothes fresh but at the same time prevent them from breaking early by over washing them my next
tip is to sort your laundry the easiest way i've found to do this is to have two different laundry
baskets one for bright and lightly colored items and one for blacks darks and gray colors this way
of sorting laundry makes it so much easier and quicker when it comes to laundry time to just
separate the clothes in the different colors and it also then avoids stains or any fading that can
cause due to decoloring in the washing machine however i do always wash my whites separately to
avoid them getting stained or yellow and if i only have a few items that needs to be washed instead
of putting them in the washing machine i'll just hand wash them separately my fourth tip is colder
is better this is another washing tip and this is hopefully the last one but washing your clothes in
cold water is so much better than washing them in warm or hot water hot water can actually set
stains so that they get permanent in your clothing it can also cause wear and tear a bit quicker than
cold water and it can also cause shrinkage in some items so washing in cold is always
the better option the next tip is to remove stains immediately i wear white all the time and i always
spill food on my white clothes all the time but one of the best ways i found to sort of fix this
is to simply wash off the stain straight away and it works 9 out of 10 times so i'm usually lucky
and i just use soap and cold water remember to use cold water because hot water can set the stain
so i'm usually lucky and just use water and soap but you can also use sparkling water and you can
use a paste of baking soda and vinegar to get rid of tougher stains i don't think most people know
this but most stains actually can go away even if they're very old you just have to be persistent
and try different ways i've gotten rid of so many old stains and really revamped old clothing that
i thought was broken but i kept on to just because i really loved it one super easy way to remove old
stains is to soak the garment with two tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and two tablespoons of
laundry detergent you soak this overnight and then you rinse and wash it and then your clothes should
hopefully be as good as new i've never used any stain removals or any stained pens or anything
like that because first of all it clutters my home and second of all they often contain chemicals
but it can actually be a lot easier to remove stains than one might think try one of these
tips and see if it works and let me know because removing stains can be such a great way of keeping
our clothes lasting longer and preventing us from buying new clothes my next tip is to mend when
broken learning how to mend is very easy and it's one of those sewing projects where you barely need
anything and the best part about mending which i think most people forget is that because you've
done it and no one else and you know the whole process if you don't like it or if you learn
something better or better technique a few weeks later you just unstitch it and then you redo it
because this makes you in control of how you're sewing something which is why it's so empowering
to learn how to mend and if you wouldn't know how to mend something or if you don't have the tools
there are many services available where you can just hand your clothes in for example i have this
vintage denim skirt that i absolutely love but the zipper has broken twice which i haven't felt
confident and i also haven't had the tools to put it back on it only cost me five dollars and
i get to keep my skirt for many years to come my next tip is to always air dry when possible
now this will depend on what country you're in but your clothes will last so much longer if you air
dry them it also makes them cleaner and it makes them smells better and it saves on electricity
there are so many benefits of air drying your clothes so i think you should try it as
often as possible if you do have to use a dryer like in swedish winter make sure you put it
on a low to medium setting and only run it for the amount that is required and not any longer
the next tip with something i didn't learn until quite recently was to store my clothes correctly
if you've ever had a top or a jumper or any stretchy top that you've hung on a hanger and
then you found that the shoulders and the sleeves were sort of deformed when you tried to put it on
it's probably because it was a knitted garment and you hung it on a hanger this causes the fabrics to
stretch over time and your garment to misshape but this is super easy to prevent instead of hanging
any kneaded clothes you simply just fold them up and put them in a cupboard or in a drawer
this will prevent any pulling and i even take the extra care of putting my wool on tops or natural
fiber tops in a little bag with some lavender just to avoid any moths being able to get in there and
eat my clothes the next tip which i am absolutely obsessed with and have been probably overusing
this tip for a very long time and that is laundry or lingerie bags whenever i need to wash
pretty much anything and i don't want to hand wash it because i can't be bothered or whenever i wash
something i care about like my handmade items although they are super sturdy i always put them
in a washing bag because it just makes me feel a bit more confident about putting them in the
washing machine and i wash my bralettes in there i wash my bamboo yoga clothing because it's quite
sensitive i wash some of my tops and anything with like buttons or embroidery on it i'll wash
in a washing bag as well which also leads me on to the next tip which is hand washing if you're like
me and love flowy dresses and thin fabrics hand washing is your best friend i've been hand washing
from a very early age because my dad said that if you buy something that needs hand washing you'll
have to wash it yourself so that's why i did and i've hand washed most of my clothes for a very
long time most of my dresses are hand wash only or dry clean only but again this is what i said
about not listening to the labels i do not dry clean my clothes ever since dry cleaning contains
very very harsh chemicals and it's extremely bad for the environment so instead of just hand wash
these items for example this is a viscose vintage dress that said dry clean only i read a few horror
stories on the internet but i decided to give it a try i washed it in ice cold water with my hands
and i kept an eye on the entire process and it's completely fine and clean one thing to be careful
though about when hand washing especially when items like that that are a bit longer is that when
they become wet they become extremely heavy so if you hang them up to drip dry this might cause the
seams to break so instead what you can do is just roll it up in a towel and let it dry like that
for a while and then once it's pretty much dry you can let it air dry hanging for the last bit
the next tip is to use the sun we can use the sun to wash our clothes and kill bacteria and remove
stains but the sun can also fade our clothing so it's important to know how to utilize the sun i
try when the weather allows me so not right now in winter in new zealand but i try to always dry any
whites in the sun because it is so powerful at moving stains i've even heard of people putting
their cloth diapers in the sun and that is enough to remove the stains so it works exceptionally
well but unfortunately especially in a country like new zealand where the sun is so harsh
it also fades my black clothes so i try my best to wash or dry anything black in the shade just to
make sure the color stays for longer the next tip might be a bit of a difficult one but that is to
get a front loading washing machine we're renting so i have no way of getting a front loading
washing machine but if you're in the market for a washing machine i thought i'd include this tip
because i highly highly highly recommend that you get a front loading washing machine i actually
have no idea why they still make top loading washing machines in sweden literally everyone
has a front loading washing machine and i've never in my entire life have anything break my underwear
also always super clean even when washing on a cold or delicate cycle and everything just seems
to be working great but when i moved to japan and also here in new zealand pretty much everywhere
has a top loading washing machine now here you just put the laundry detergent straight into the
washing machine which i find a bit strange and it can lead to stains on the clothes from the
detergent my clothes are also not nearly as clean enough if i put them on a delicate cycle and my
clothes have broken several times from the washing machine so if you're buying a new washing machine
get a front loading one i promise you'll be better and in the meantime if you have a top loading one
like i do laundry bags is one of the best ways to prevent any breakage and sometimes i'll just put
it on an extra rinse to just make sure colder or delicate cycles get thoroughly cleaned my next tip
is to remove pilling from sweaters to make them look beautiful for longer so to keep my sweaters
looking nicely i use a pilling tool to just remove any pilling on the sweaters this makes them look
as new and it makes me feel so much more confident wearing them i used to use an electric one for
about eight years i still have it because it still works so it makes no sense throwing away but now
i've actually swapped over to a comb which takes a little bit longer but it's a bit more gentle on
my clothes removing pilling will remove fabric from your garment so we'll wear it over time
but we don't want to have clothes with pilling right so it is one of the best ways to keep your
garments especially knitted garments looking nicer for longer i also find it quite cozy to do in the
evenings another tip which i didn't really realize until very late in my life i thought and that is
to wear clothes even when they're broken now of course you can always mend your clothes and this
will keep them looking great for longer but if you have broken clothes and you have the need or
possibility to use them i highly suggest to keep using them because clothes like these can't be
given to charity and no one really wants them so the best way to use them is actually to use them
until they're absolutely falling to pieces now this is actually something i learned from youtube
and the new zealand culture because in sweden we're so worried about being whole and clean
that the moment something breaks we will throw it out most people not even look at mending it
because we are so scared that anyone will see that we've mended it because our culture
and i guess our status depends so highly on the way we look but i've tried my best to let that
go so i actually keep all my broken clothes even the ones that aren't fit for mending
so this is for example yoga clothes or old tops that are just falling to pieces
i just mend them as much as i can and i meant them visibly so i don't even care about doing it
properly and then i will wear them where for example exercise because no one will really see me
or i'll wear them when i'm hiking or when i'm painting or anything like that
where i don't really need to use clothes that are very fancy so if you can you should really really
try to not throw away even your broken clothes but to use them for as long as you possibly can
and my last step i just thought i'd include this i think most people know this by now but that is to
use a natural laundry detergent and not use any fabric softener or any drying sheets there are
lots of different natural laundry detergents on the market i just buy mine from the refill store
here in new zealand and there are many different brands i would just suggest you find a brand in
your country that works for you there are many good blog posts and resources on how to find a
natural one now i think we all know by now that fabric softeners are terrible for the environment
and terrible for a health often very toxic and we actually don't need them your clothes will be
plenty of soft stuff anyway same goes for drying sheets and they are not good for the environment
if you want an eco-friendly option there are these sort of wool balls i think that you can use
however we want to avoid using the washing machine anyway so i think air drying is the best way to go
so those are all the tips from me on how to care for your clothing i will link some resources down
below if you want to check them out and let me know in the comments what you think and if you
have any tips that you've picked up along the way i think often times we have to look at our
older generations for these tips and ideas because they were better at conserving energy and knowing
the value of clothing and obviously their clothing was also more expensive compared to the clothes we
have today so i highly encourage you to keep your order blasting for as long as possible and not
buy any new pieces unless they're second hand and it will be so so much better for the environment
and for our health so thank you so much for watching and i'll see you guys next week bye
you