Laundry, Clothing Quality, and How to Make Cheap Items Last Longer With These Tips

Let’s talk laundry, the quality of clothing, and how to make those cheap items last longer and still look new. 

This is really a no brainer but I didn’t think of this on my own and I have no idea why. My DIL actually turned me on to what we are about to discuss. 

I am a homebody so that doesn’t require me to wear expensive fancy things. I tend to buy $10 t-shirts, $12 sweatshirts, and $10 joggers for winter. My summer wardrobe is different though. I’ll get back to that.

TIP #1

I asked her one day why her cheap sweatshirts never appear to pill, mind you these are the same sweatshirts I have and mine have pill. Well are you ready for this? She said wash them on the delicate setting or whatever setting isn’t heavy duty on your machine. BRILLIANT! And it works. Yes, that is the secret sauce.

I’m so used to washing all of Hubby’s dirty clothing on the heavy duty cycle and I never move the dial on my machine, hence my clothes are always washed on the same setting.

Now I guess if I was to get them terribly soiled I’d wash them more vigorously but I just don’t. If I know I’m going out to the coop or garden to work I always change into old clothing that I don’t mind staining and getting grimy. We all have those chore clothes in our closet.  

TIP #2

Quit beating up your items in the dryer. When clothing is cheaply made the dryer will shrink that stuff to toddler size in a heartbeat. If you have the ability to line dry do that if not you can always hang things over a shower curtain rod, or get a folding laundry rack and use that. 

I haven’t used a dryer in years, I line dry everything and I get more mileage out of items.

Now as mentioned above: I purchase my summer clothing from Duluth Trading Co. I am obsessed with their “Dry on the Fly Line” I keep 4 pair of shorts and 3 pair of pants in my rotation and get years of wear out of them. 

I fish several times a week in the summer and being on the water there’s always a good chance of getting wet and this line of clothing dries in minutes. It’s a huge bonus for me. They are expensive, but once again I will wash them on delicate and dry them on the line. The wardrobe I have now is 3 years old and looks the same as the day I purchased it. 

I also do a fast drying T from Amazon, and these hold up for years too. Both the T’s, shorts, and pants are perfect for traveling. I can hand wash them out in the sink at night and they are dry an hour later. Ready to wear again! 

With things costing more every day I think we all need tips for preserving what we have for longer than we ordinary may have in the past.