Yeah, hearing stats about the average amount of times an article of clothing is worn in the west (which is somewhere between 7 and 10 times) is insane to me. I usually wear things until the fabric is too tired and fragile to be patched up, which is typically hundreds of times and many dozens of washes. My favorite pair of trousers has been going strong for definitely more than a thousand days of intense use, including hiking and other sports; they are close to giving up but still not quite there yet.
The mindset of buying clothes (or boots) to wear them less than a hundred times before discarding is just beyond me, and I’m way above the poverty line. From what I hear there are people who never wash some of their clothing categories (e.g. underwear), just throwing them out when they get dirty, and it drives me mad.
Like, some poor person was paid $2 per day or so to saw this in the heat of SE Asian summer, then it was shipped half way across the planet to you, and you throw all this effort away because “it’s out of fashion” or “it has a small hole in it”? Really?
High-quality untreated denim is basically self-cleaning, like high-quality untreated wool as well. I really don’t ever need to wash denim like that, at most spot clean it occasionally. With woolen sweaters, it’s the same deal: spot-clean and hang in fresh air.
I wear a uniform to work & I’m out of it within 5 minutes of walking in the door when I get home. The jeans are only there for if I have to leave the house, and usually don’t stay on more than an hour or two. Twelve or so hours of wear seems like a normal amount before washing.
Heavily depends on the person and activity. Loose jeans, cold weather and low activity means about a month of use for me. At the same time 2 days in the office in meetings will feel disgusting.
My take: Pretty much all clothing is outrageously cheap. Temu etc are just doubly so.
We all own pretty crazy amounts of clothing, and don’t even think about how excessive that is because it costs us barely anything.
Yeah, hearing stats about the average amount of times an article of clothing is worn in the west (which is somewhere between 7 and 10 times) is insane to me. I usually wear things until the fabric is too tired and fragile to be patched up, which is typically hundreds of times and many dozens of washes. My favorite pair of trousers has been going strong for definitely more than a thousand days of intense use, including hiking and other sports; they are close to giving up but still not quite there yet.
The mindset of buying clothes (or boots) to wear them less than a hundred times before discarding is just beyond me, and I’m way above the poverty line. From what I hear there are people who never wash some of their clothing categories (e.g. underwear), just throwing them out when they get dirty, and it drives me mad.
Like, some poor person was paid $2 per day or so to saw this in the heat of SE Asian summer, then it was shipped half way across the planet to you, and you throw all this effort away because “it’s out of fashion” or “it has a small hole in it”? Really?
Lol, I wear my jeans 7 to 10 times before I wash them…
same pair all week :stinky:
High-quality untreated denim is basically self-cleaning, like high-quality untreated wool as well. I really don’t ever need to wash denim like that, at most spot clean it occasionally. With woolen sweaters, it’s the same deal: spot-clean and hang in fresh air.
I wear a uniform to work & I’m out of it within 5 minutes of walking in the door when I get home. The jeans are only there for if I have to leave the house, and usually don’t stay on more than an hour or two. Twelve or so hours of wear seems like a normal amount before washing.
Heavily depends on the person and activity. Loose jeans, cold weather and low activity means about a month of use for me. At the same time 2 days in the office in meetings will feel disgusting.
The majorty of my pants and shirts are the same since I was 15-17 I’m now in my mid 30s they still are going strong.
Almost all of my clothing that’s fallen apart is stuff I bought after I left high school.