How many times have you shrunk something?
The average British adult ruins 1-2 pieces of clothing each year whilst doing their laundry, with more than 600,000 estimated to have spoiled a staggering nine items in just 12 months.
The most common laundry mishap? Shrinking clothes, of course. Almost tro-thirds of people admit to damaging garments this way, demonstrating our lack of understanding and attention when it comes to caring for our clothing.
Men come off worse in the survey results, tending to ruin more pricey clothes than women and likely to do just one wash each week, showing less care for maintaining their wardrobes.
Men are also less likely than women to be put off buying certain items because of the care instructions, found the research from LG Electronics who have once again teamed up with London Fashion Week to provide garment care for the leading designers.
LG is encouraging the nation to take better care of their own wardrobes to ensure clothing lasts longer. The rate at which fashion is consumed in the UK contributes to today’s sustainability challenges in a number of ways, an issue being addressed by the growing ‘slow fashion’ movement.
So, it’s time to pay attention and reduce your fashion waste. Here we have some tips
Tips to reduce clothing waste:
Read garment care tags carefully – it sounds basic, but it’s worth taking extra time to properly read and understand garment care instructions. If in any doubt, look the icons up online to make sure you’re totally clear on how the fabric should be cleaned
Take time to read your washing machine manual – most people aren’t aware of the full range of features and washes available. Delicate wash settings can save you time and money at the dry cleaners and minimise the risk of a laundry mishap
Sort through your washing – we found that men are most likely to do just one wash per week, which means everything is going in together. For best results, and to avoid colour running or shrinkage, it’s important to sort your wasing not just by colour, but also fabric type and wash temperature
Don’t overstuff your washing machine – it’s important to fill the drum so that you’re economic on water use and energy consumption, but stuffing it full will prevent your clothes being cleaning properly. A pretty universal measure is to fill your washing machine drum three quarters full
Keep wools in shape – sometimes people are nervous about washing wools in the machine, but as long as you set the wash temperature correctly (and follow specific garment care tag instructions) there’s no reason to be. What’s important is the drying phase: make sure you dry wools flat and keep them in their natural shape. Hang them upright and there’s a chance they’ll stretch with the weight of water
Tagged in fashion fashion tips