Learn today about the incredible laundry secrets of astronauts and build yourself a habit around those to minimize the wear on your clothing. Today we’ll discuss how washing machines, detergents and your fabric type play havoc with the longevity of our wardrobe – and what you can do to save some of our best outfits.
The Wash Cycle Conundrum
Top-loading or front-loading? Short or long program? High or low temperature? But how we use our washing machines can matter a great deal when it comes to the length of wear we squeeze out of our clothes.
Vertical buckets and aggressive agitation of the top-loading machines mean they are tougher on fabrics compared to front-loaders. This is because the horizontal design of front loader and how it moves uses gravity to gently move the laundry around. Choose shorter, colder wash cycles for removing regular, light soil from clothing and go with longer, hotter programs when you have pieces that are very dirty or must be extremely sanitized – think healthcare uniforms or baby cloth diapers.
Washing machine programs are designed based on the type of fabric as well as how dirty your clothes are, so follow these recommendations to keep from ruining your favourite shirt or pair of shorts by accident. Choose the wrong program and you could be setting your machine up for an early demise to wear and tear so get to know the settings of your machine, and choose with caution.
Fabric Matters: Choosing Wisely
The actual construction and material makeup of your fabric is essential to consider in how it will hold up in the wash.
More open-knit structures and looser yarn constructions will lose fibres in the wash more rapidly than tighter, more compact fabrics. This is specifically important for the sports clothes that are usually made from continuous filament yarns because those keep well together while cotton, being a short fibre staple and rather fragile, can lose fibres.
Wool fibres offer a particular problem, as their cover-like formation can prompt tangles and shrinkage because of warmth and unsettling influence. Following the care instructions and changing your laundry habits can help keep your wool clothing intact.
Knowing the types of fabrics in your wardrobe can help you identify how and when to wash them so they stay pretty a lot longer.
Conclusion
If we all took a little care over how we wash our clothes — and did so less frequently — it would go a long way to saving energy, water and deleterious impacts on the planet… lessons learned from astronauts on Earth can help us do just that. These few basic changes can keep our best dresses appearing and feeling their finest in future years, from finding the right cleaning washing machine functions to selecting stronger components that are a little kinder on washing.
