Earlier this year, an agency backed by the French government threw people into a tizzy by suggesting we should only wash our activewear every one to three wears.
While hot yoga exponents squirmed at the idea, it posed a worthwhile question: how often should we actually be washing our clothes? Locally, RMIT University and Sustainability Victoria have developed guidelines for how often we should wear clothes between washes.
Published in Sustainability Victoria’s collaborative open-source circular design guide, the research found that we’re over-washing our garments. Rebecca Bliss, social impact manager at Sustainability Victoria, tells Broadsheet that our washing standards have been influenced by a myriad of factors, like advertising and upbringing.
She points to how detergent companies promote “fresh-smelling, fluffy clothes” which, in turn, promotes more frequent washing and buying of detergent. “The key is to be mindful of whether we really need to wash something or if we’re just doing it because we think we’re meant to,” she says.
“Washing clothes only when needed is great for the environment in many ways. As well as your clothes lasting longer, it can also reduce water and energy use, detergent use and reduce the tiny microplastics that spread into waterways when washing synthetic clothing.”
The study also encouraged consumers to recognise that reasonable wear and tear is normal, and that a clothing’s durability shouldn’t be measured by its ability to look brand new. In fact, embracing “patina” is one way to be more sustainable with our fashion choices.
The original meaning of patina refers to the aged surface discolouration of metals (like that teal layer you get on tarnished copper). But when it’s applied to fashion, patina in garments results from everyday wear and tear, discolouration from sunlight, contact from human bodies and washing.
RMIT University and Sustainability Victoria investigated the optimal wears between washes for knitwear, shirts, jeans, socks and T-shirts. For knitwear, they believe we should be wearing a knit item for 150 days or more over its five-year lifespan, washing it only after at least five days of wear.
Shirts are expected to also last us five years, worn a minimum of 80 times in their lifespan. It’s recommended to wash them after two days of wear. According to the research, jeans should last us four years, with 300 days of wear in them. They should be washed after at least 10 days of wear (though Levi’s CEO Charles Bergh never washes his jeans in a washing machine).
When it comes to socks, the researchers suggest washing them every second day, with a target lifetime of two and a half years. T-shirts should last us four and a half years, wearing them for at least two days before throwing them into the washing machine.
Naturally, everybody is different and these guidelines are just that: guidelines. If these numbers fail, the old sniff test has stood the test of time for a reason.
