G’day. How are things? At this moment I am in Rome, Italy, having brunch at home with a fantastic view from the window of the room where I and my boyfriend live. The purpose of my visit here is not relatable to the FMP as it is connected to my personal life. In this blog post, we gonna finally touch the clothes care topic which I have been encouraging for two weeks and a little record I’ve scribbled down at the beginning of the week in Italy.
Metting a family of a person who you love is a unique and delightful moment, and the main rules about it are acting like yourself, smiling all the time and forgetting about the arguments with your second half. Honestly, it was a troublesome experience to keep up with experimenting on my lifestyle and adopting brand-new habits when I was surrounded by distinct people of diverse interests and verdicts, not my close ones who could accept all my contemporary and forthcoming ‘updates’.
Opportunely, I’ve got sufficient time and words remaining to share with you my new strategy to clothes’ care as it is an indispensable topic for minimalistic living. The way it is linked is that minimalists aspire to leave things in life which are essential, so there’s nothing that can spread out their focus. The wardrobe of humans can simply identify a personality, some character traces and even a job. However, the clothes you spend money on while shopping isn’t always the clothes you need for real. It can also be the replacement for damaged clothes, which could be in good condition though. If you expect to read the life-changing tips from a fashion business teenage student, I’ll call you from another life where I am a scientist who found a unique formula for clothes material which doesn’t deteriorate ever. Back to reality, I am learning daily and comparing my experience to my mum’s one, mine loses significantly and critically.
One of the most essential—yet underrated—steps to have a longer lasting and more sustainable closet is to care for our clothes more consciously. Of course, by being mindful in the way we clean and treat our garments keeps them in better shape for longer and means we’ll demand to purchase fewer clothes over our lifetimes. But, something that’s not as apparent is that an estimated 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions from clothing takes place in the consumer use stage. Crazy huh? This implies that no matter what piece of clothing we own in our closet or that we choose to buy, we have control over a considerable amount of the environmental repercussions of our wardrobes.
To begin with the advice, I’d like to commence with this manageable and understandable one; the first step to diminishing our impact on the use stage of clothing is to wash less. Don’t worry, I’m not recommending that we must wear dirty, smelly and filthy clothes to be sustainable and eco-friendly—but I do desire to share some alternatives I’ve discovered over the latest weeks. If you are purely washing a piece because of a bad odour, machineless options exist like air the garment, put in the freezer, spray with vodka (I wouldn’t recommend using this method on more fragile fabrics like silk) or any other ones which you might have found out yourself.
Another uncomplicated switch is going from conventional to natural laundry detergent. Two difficulties that may come up with ecological soap are one: the perception that natural detergents don’t clean your clothes so thoroughly and two: that it’s more expensive. After using both conventional and natural soap, I must assume I don’t notice any discrepancy in the cleanliness of my clothes. Anyways, I favour the natural ones because they smell so much fresher to me and of course I like appreciating it’s better for my skin and our earth!
If your garment has a stain, here is an adorable natural remover white vinegar which operates as a master! White vinegar is especially useful for yellow stains and brightening up white clothing.
While doing a little bit of research, I ascertained that in many households, a dryer consumes the equivalent amount of energy as a refrigerator, dishwasher and washing machine combined! So to diminish your energy bills hang-dry and line-dry your clothes whenever possible. Your clothes will also likely last longer without being put in the dryer. If you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, patio, or balcony and have warm, sunny weather, line-drying is an excellent option. In case you have to dry inside, a drying rack is pretty useful.
And there you have it! With these tips, tricks, and tools of the trade, you should be well on your way to caring for your clothes consciously for a more sustainable and long-lasting wardrobe.
The words count I’ve set up says I have to finish my incredible, inspiring writing about minimalistic lifestyle which people consider strange. However, I will not deprecate spending a few more words with my regular (and not) readers for saying goodbye.
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” —Will Rogers
Julia Savchenko CSVPA 