Sustainable Clothing Care: How to Wash, Dry, and Iron Smarter to Make Your Clothes Last

Learn eco-friendly laundry habits and smart garment care tips - from drying safely in the sun to protecting prints from heat - so your clothes last longer and stay out of landfill.

While drying clothing in the sun rather than a hot tumble dryer is better for the environment, your pocket, and quite often the clothing item itself, experts have warned to be cautious of keeping garments in direct sunlight for long periods. 

Nothing beats the feeling of fresh, air-dried clothing, but regular and extended exposure to UV rays can cause some fabrics to fade and weaken. 

Instead, try drying your clothing in direct sunlight for a smaller period of time, maybe an hour or so, then move the clothing into a more shaded area. The warmer air and spring breeze will be enough to dry your garments without too much exposure to the sun. 

Key points to remember:

Caring for your clothing, especially personalised clothing, is easy with the right washing routine. 

Washing your clothing in lower temperatures, or on an eco-wash, is not only cheaper, but better for the environment and your clothing. Quite often, the clothing we wash isn’t actually dirty enough to need a high-temperature wash, and a 30-degree wash will do just fine. 

For tougher stains, vinegar is renowned for its eco-friendly nature and powerful cleaning properties. Plus, when you can buy white vinegar in major supermarkets for as little as 35p, it’s good to know you’re saving money and helping the planet. Vinegar also softens clothing, which is great for cotton and linen, but be careful when using vinegar with certain materials like elastic, as it can break it down over time. 

A top tip for protecting clothing with embroidery, screen printing, or digital printing is to always wash these items inside out to preserve personalisation and never overload the washing machine. Overloading the washing machine can cause excess friction between garments, which could damage the pattern or print and cause it to crack.

When washing any items with zips, make sure they’re zipped up before they go into the wash. Leaving them unzipped could damage the zip itself and other clothing in the drum, as the metallic teeth could catch other garments or scratch vinyl print.  

Key points to remember:

Of course, caution must always be taken when ironing, but extra care is needed if your item includes vinyl or a design-to-garment print. Always avoid direct heat on printed designs; you can either iron the item inside out on the lowest setting or place a sheet of parchment paper over the designs to keep them safe. This hack is also renowned for saving clothes from water droplet stains! 

However, the best way to tackle creases is before the clothing dries. Before hanging your clothes on a drying rack, make sure to shake them to loosen the fibres and spread them out as much as you can, keeping the garments as flat as possible to reduce the chance of creases drying into the fabric. Also, avoid overloading the drying rack, as this could result in a slower drying time.  

If your clothing was caught in the rain when drying outside, bring it inside as soon as possible. Leaving it out could lead to mildew, odour, and damage to the fibres and any print or embroidery. 

Key points to remember: