levetid
When a garment should be discarded
Short answer: A garment should be discarded when the fabric is worn thin, when there are holes in several places, or ...
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The arithmetic behind a garment's lifespan
Short answer: Lifespan is about the number of uses, not the number of years. A garment used a hundred times is worn o...
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When new clothes are worse than the old ones
Short answer: A new garment can be thinner, more loosely knitted and worse sewn than the five year old one it was mea...
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When old clothes are still the best
Short answer: A garment that has lasted five years has proved something new clothes cannot. Do not throw it out becau...
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When to replace rather than rescue
Short answer: Replace a garment when the repair will not hold, when the fabric is thin over a larger area, or when it...
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Three measures that extend the life most
Short answer: Wash at 40 degrees, skip the tumble dryer, and keep enough in rotation that you only wash each piece ab...
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Signs that a garment is halfway
Short answer: The first pills, a neckline that does not quite spring back, and a colour that has started to go dull a...
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The five places wear always starts
Short answer: Armhole, hip height, neckline, crotch and heel are the five places where wear almost always starts. Loo...
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How much of the wear happens in the machine
Short answer: Around half of the total wear on a basic garment happens in washing and drying, not while you wear it. ...
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Wear from a zip against neighbouring fabric
Short answer: An open zip in the washing machine tears at everything else in the drum. Close it before washing and th...
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Wear from an office chair over a year
Short answer: Eight hours a day against a fabric cover adds up to around two thousand hours of friction a year. It is...
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Wear from the car seat over a year
Short answer: If you commute an hour a day, your back and seat rub against the car seat for around five hundred hours...
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