Nothing quite beats the feeling of buying a new shirt or a great pair of jeans at an unbelievable sale price. However, my wife and I have realized that the best way to save money on clothing is to make clothes last longer.
Sew your clothes
We can do a bit of maintenance with a needle and thread. If a button falls off, we can sew it back on. If the bottom of a pair of pants is becoming worn from my shoes, there may be enough room to hem them up a quarter inch to make them look like new again.
Remove stains
One of the fastest ways to ruin a favorite outfit is to spill something on it that causes a stain. If we’re at home, there are many great products such as OxiClean or Spray & Wash to stop the stain from setting in. But if we’re out of the house, the Tide To Go stick is a lifesaver.
Wash your clothes
The biggest threat to our wardrobe is not while we’re wearing our clothes, but when we wash them. Top loading washers can twist and pull the fabric while the hot dryer can wear it down even more. To see how much your clothing breaks down while washing and drying, have a look at your dryer’s filter. All that lint was fibres from your clothes!
For added longevity, we use a front-loading washer which doesn’t agitate the clothes in the same way as top loaders. We use cold water and turn our clothes inside out to protect the colours from fading. Skipping the dryer for certain items saves them from heat and shrinkage, plus reduces our power bill.
Whenever we can get more than one wear out of our shirts, pants or dresses before washing them, we increase their lifespan. A lint roller is a great way to remove pet hair, stray pieces of thread and whatever else we come in contact with.
Do you have any more tips to help make clothes last longer?
Tom Drake writes for Financial Highway and MapleMoney. Whenever he’s not working on his online endeavors, he’s either doing his “real job” as a financial analyst or spending time with his two boys.