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6 Tips to Reduce Your Fashion Footprint

We asked the lovely team at BLANC – the UK’s leading eco friendly dry cleaners – to share their expertise to extend the life of our clothes – one of the best things you can do to create a more sustainable wardrobe. Read on for 6 of BLANC’s best tips to reduce your fashion footprint on the planet.

Did you know that 70% of clothes we throw away have irreversible damage such as colour fading, stubborn stains or shrinking? According to a recent report by McKinsey, 20% of our fashion impact happens at the consumer user stage – which means we can have a direct positive impact by simply caring for clothes properly and keeping them in use for longer.

One: Buy less, choose well.

The most sustainable fashion pieces are the clothes we already own. As Vivienne Westwood advocates: buy less, choose well and most importantly, make it last. Avoiding trend based fashion can seem difficult. Ask yourself ‘how many times will I wear this?’ If it’s under 30 then it’s worth avoiding. Build a capsule wardrobe of timeless quality items.

Two: Wash your clothes less and on lower temperatures.

Washing less often and at 30 degrees benefits your clothes and the planet. Less energy is consumed by minimising washing machine cycles and heating water to a lower temperature. Washing your clothes too much and at high temperatures damages clothes quicker so, when you wash less you save money on clothes and energy bills – win win!

3. Mend and repair your clothes

At BLANC, we are strong believers that clothes that are worth buying and wearing are worth repairing too! If we doubled the amount of time we kept clothes in use for, we would cut our fashion emissions by 44%. So if something no longer fits or has a hole or tear, consider mending or altering it instead. Dig out a needle and thread yourself or opt for a professional service. We offer alterations and repair at BLANC. It is a great way to extend the life of your favourite items and to fall back in love with clothes you already own.

Four: Use environmentally friendly laundry detergents

Everyday, our skin is in contact with our clothes which makes the detergents we use really important. We rarely think about it, but the chemicals in laundry detergents touch our skin every day. Conventional detergents often use chemicals that cause skin irritations and can negatively impact our health, as well as the planet. Our range of eco-friendly detergents are chosen from carefully selected brands that are environmentally friendly and perfect for sensitive skin.

Five: Use environmentally-friendly dry cleaning!

For delicate items you can’t wash at home, use eco-cleaning over traditional dry cleaning to care for them and the environment. Conventional dry cleaning is neither dry nor clean: instead dry cleaners soak your clothes in a highly toxic solvent called PERC which is banned in many countries including France, Denmark and many states in the US. Instead, BLANC’s cleaning technologies are wet cleaning and liquid CO2 cleaning – better for your health, your clothes and the planet. It works beautifully on everything from work shirts to all items labelled ‘dry clean only.’

Six: Buy second-hand & donate.

If you’re reading this, the chances are that you are already love buying second-hand and charity shopping. Sourcing more clothes second-hand rather than new is key to creating a circular economy and reducing our carbon footprint. As BLANC’s charity partner, we support TRAID by encouraging all our customers to donate unwanted clothes with their laundry, and we’ll pass them on to TRAID to reuse and resell in their fabulous charity shops, so they can carry on being worn and loved for many years to come.

We hope this has inspired you to take action to love your clothes for longer. For specialist garment care advice, take a look at BLANC’s blog for Denim, Cashmere, Silk and Wool care guides.

For eco drying and repairs, drop your clothes off at a BLANC store or book a collection and delivery online. And remember, you can pass on quality clothes you no longer wear to TRAID.