The economics of repairing

Short answer: A repair costs time and a length of thread. Whether it pays off depends on how many months it gives the garment, not on what the garment originally cost. Small repairs on otherwise intact garments are almost always worth it.

The arithmetic

Put a value on your time. If the repair takes twenty minutes and gives the garment another year, you have bought a year for twenty minutes. Compare that with what a new garment of the same quality costs. It is the simplest way to decide whether the needle is worth taking out.

It is about the months

The price of the original garment does not matter for the arithmetic. What counts is how many extra months the repair gives and what those months would cost to buy another way. A cheap garment can be worth repairing if the damage is small and the rest of it is in good condition.

When it clearly pays off

A loose elastic in an otherwise intact sock or pair of underpants. A few stitches in a seam that has just started to open. Both take a few minutes and give many months. Those are the kinds of damage where a repair is almost always the best solution. See our bamboo dressing gowns for men.

Small stitches in time

A seam edge that is starting to come loose can be repaired in a few minutes if you spot it early. If you wait, the damage spreads and more is needed. Make it a habit to look the garment over before putting it in the wardrobe, so you catch the small things before they become large.

When it does not

When the fabric around the damage is also thin, the repair will not hold and the time is wasted. It simply tears somewhere else next to it. Here it is wiser to give the garment a new job as a cleaning rag and buy a new one. See inner shorts and bamboo tank tops for men.

How to judge the fabric

Hold the garment up to the light and feel the fabric around the damage. If it is thin, see-through or worn away, a repair will only move the problem. If it is still firm and even, you have a good chance that the fix will hold. Five seconds of inspection can save a repair that leads nowhere.

What a repair costs in materials

Just a few pennies. Thread and a needle are enough for many repairs, and you may already have both at home. If you need to buy a small sewing kit, it is still a very small expense compared with buying a new garment. Materials rarely decide the arithmetic.

When to visit a tailor

When the task requires a machine you do not have and the garment is worth saving. A local tailor can, for example, replace a zip or sew a long raw edge. Ask about the price first, so you can compare it with a new garment, and then decide whether it makes sense.