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There’s another axis of quality, which is ethical: how is a given piece of clothing sourced and manufactured? I sometimes end up with clothing that fits poorly

There’s another axis of quality, which is ethical: how is a given piece of clothing sourced and manufactured? I sometimes end up with clothing that fits poorly – especially in t-shirts – that I chose because of the sourcing story, even though I’m dubious about the impact of voting with my meager few dollars. On a completely different topic, I have discovered that the clothes dryer has a similar impact on the lifespan of clothes that smoking does on people. If you can manage, hanging your clothes to dry – for example, over the back of a chair or whatever – will make them last longer, though I’m not sure if it’s the heat or the spinning that does the damage. (I’ve been trying to dry things on low heat for longer, but I’m not sure if that helps and I’m too lazy to put together a spreadsheet like this person.)

KozmoNau7 6y ago
I harbor no illusions that my limited purchases are going to change the world, but I do try to stick to only buying locally (Europe, in my case) produced clothing, and I prefer non-synthetic materials, preferably organic if possible. I'm not fanatic about it, but I do prefer to know that some care was taken and that worker conditions are at least somewhat decent, and that my clothes didn't come from halfway around the globe for no reason. Ideally I would get all my clothes from thrift stores, but I've only really had any luck with shirts. Pants in my size are rare as hen's teeth in thrift stores. > "the clothes dryer has a similar impact on the lifespan of clothes that smoking does on people" It's the combination of heat and agitation, especially if you let the dryer run until the clothes are completely bone dry. Look at how much fluff collects in the filter, that is fabric that has been beaten out of your clothes. With that sort of treatment, it's no wonder clothes start to look threadbare after a while. If you're the camping/hiking/bushcraft type, dryer lint is absolutely amazing tinder, so at least it has some practical use :-)

KozmoNau7 6y ago

I harbor no illusions that my limited purchases are going to change the world, but I do try to stick to only buying locally (Europe, in my case) produced clothing, and I prefer non-synthetic materials, preferably organic if possible. I'm not fanatic about it, but I do prefer to know that some care was taken and that worker conditions are at least somewhat decent, and that my clothes didn't come from halfway around the globe for no reason. Ideally I would get all my clothes from thrift stores, but I've only really had any luck with shirts. Pants in my size are rare as hen's teeth in thrift stores. > "the clothes dryer has a similar impact on the lifespan of clothes that smoking does on people" It's the combination of heat and agitation, especially if you let the dryer run until the clothes are completely bone dry. Look at how much fluff collects in the filter, that is fabric that has been beaten out of your clothes. With that sort of treatment, it's no wonder clothes start to look threadbare after a while. If you're the camping/hiking/bushcraft type, dryer lint is absolutely amazing tinder, so at least it has some practical use :-)