To wash or not to wash?

I saw this interesting article on the BBC News site today, and it certainly gives us something to ponder.

You can read it all at your leisure - here - but below I will try and give you the gist of what it says.

It starts with an off-the-cuff remark by fashion designer, Stella McCartney, at the end of an interview she recently did with the Observer newspaper - "Basically, in life, rule of thumb: if you don't absolutely have to clean anything, don't clean it."

And so to the debate - should you always wash your clothes?

There are two reasons to bear with me on this, even if you are thinking the idea is not sound;

• Reduced washing improves the longevity of your clothes,
• It also reduces the impacts on the environment

Synthetic fibres, like acrylic and polyester, shed fibres by the million during every wash, so the more we wash, the more microfibres are washed down the drain and out into the wild. Laura Diaz Sanchez, from advocacy group Plastic Soup Foundation, told the BBC that the compromises to be made here are to;

• Set your washing machine to a lower temperature
• Use liquid, rather than granular, detergent - the powder causes friction and therefore, more fibres to be released
• Don't overload the machine - again, less clothes equals less friction equals less fibres released

McCartney's next revelation - she doesn't wash her bra after every use!

(photo: clipartguide,com)

Lingerie designer, Naomi De Haan, agrees; she suggest hand-washing bras in lukewarm water after every five wears, and using something mild like baby shampoo to clean them. Besides anything else, machine washing can destroy delicate fabrics like lace, and also cause the wiring to come out.







Dirty Jeans

(photo: welldresseddad.com)

Another, perhaps unthinkable to some, suggestion, is to not wash your jeans, merely hang them out to air between wearing, and spot-treat any stains individually, rather than washing the whole garment. This was backed up by none other than Chip Bergh! Who? Only the CEO of Levi's - so maybe he knows best.... 
He revealed in 2014, that the jeans he was wearing, had never been washed in five years!