The media is currently full of reports about water shortages. The Dutch water levels, for example, are at their lowest level in twenty years, which means that a national water shortage has officially been declared. Water is also an important issue in Germany and the federal government intends to adopt a national water strategy by the end of the year in order to ensure the long-term supply of drinking water despite the effects of climate change.
Given the calls from many governments to use water more sparingly in order to curb water scarcity, there are various approaches as to how this could be achieved. These range from traditional methods, such as watering the garden less or taking shorter showers, to innovative methods such as flushing with rainwater.
But how can people save water through their clothing choices? Some garments need to be washed a lot less (or sometimes not at all), and that makes a difference. According to the Dutch government, for example, one less wash per week would save around 200 liters of water per month. Also, washing clothes less often helps maintain the quality of the garments.
Then, of course, it’s a good idea to mainly wear clothes that don’t need as much washing during a drought. Denim and wool, for example, need little or no washing. But what is it all about, do these fabrics really stay clean? FashionUnited found out.
Denim: “Washing is no longer necessary to keep its shape”
Maarten Wols from Groningen denim shop Ebb18 explained to FashionUnited how often you really should wash your jeans. “We actually distinguish between two types of jeans: on the one hand there is “normal” denim and on the other hand there is denim made from the Japanese material selvedge. You buy unwashed trousers with the intention of leaving them unwashed so that they can adapt to your movement.
If you want to wash the selvedge jeans later, you can definitely do so, but it is advisable to leave them unwashed for at least the first hundred times you wear them. “You have to think carefully about when you wash pants like this, because they will keep the color they get after the first wash,” says Wols.
By the way, the trousers get dirty no less quickly than other types of denim. But according to Wols, denim doesn’t need to be washed as often as we do today. In the past, trousers were often made from pure cotton. “If you didn’t wash pants like that, they would leach out. A wash restored the shape of the item. This story actually stuck and has become a habit,” explains Wols.
Many denim pants are now sold with spandex added for a slight stretch, although a wash can also restore the shape. “However, many wearers don’t realize that modern spandex will snap back to its original shape after a day or two of not wearing it. This means that machine washing is no longer necessary, or at least not as often.”
Wool: Self-cleaning fibers do the work
Articles made of wool only need to be washed very little or not at all due to the self-cleaning power of the wool fibres. The exact process that triggers self-cleaning is explained on the websites of many wool manufacturers and clothing brands. For example, the clothing brand Woolpower, which specializes in wool, writes on its website: “The ability of wool fibers to absorb and neutralize unpleasant odors is far superior to other textile materials. Wool fibers have the ability to naturally break down bad smelling bacteria that can originate from the skin.”
According to the brand, the core of the wool fiber consists of two types of cells that absorb different amounts of moisture. “One guy swells up more than the other, creating constant friction between the two. This property causes a mechanical self-cleaning effect. Moisture on the surface of a fabric encourages bacterial growth while the outside of the wool fiber remains relatively dry. The surface of the wool fibers is water-repellent, which prevents the growth of bacteria and the resulting bad smell.”
If you want to freshen up your woolen garment, you can simply hang it up to air it – especially in times of drought.
Of course, especially with the currently hot weather, it is not necessarily possible to spend the next few days in unwashed wool and jeans. When washing is necessary, according to Milieucentraal, a simple reminder that requires less technical explanations than those above can make all the difference: only wash full loads.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.nl. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.