Maintain The Color Of Your Clothes While Saving The Planet

We all want beautiful clothes, that look like new after the years have passed. We also want to save our planet and be more environmentally friendly. How can we have both without any hassling or over spending?

Because I was struggling with finding the answer to this question, it took me a while to research and experiment and now I have found 6 proven ways to maintain the color of your clothes while saving the planet. My promise: they work!

#1. Read the label

This sounds so obvious, but seriously, how many times do you actually do it? Some clothes cannot be washed in your washer – need to be dry cleaned – while others can only be washed in cold water – is your laundry detergent able to do this?

Before getting all upset that your clothes are stained or that they are a size too small, just read the label.

Pro Tip:

Before buying an item, check the label – if you do not like dry cleanings, make sure your clothing item does not require it. Do not fool yourself that it does not matter – cause it so does!

#2. Sort them out

Even if you read the label, but you do not sort them out correctly, you could still ruin your clothes big time. I know, I have done it many times when I was first starting out washing my clothes. Who knew there are so many ways to sort clothes out?

After years of experimenting, this is my sorting out routine:

whites go with whites ONLY
blacks or dark colors
colorful clothes
bedding and towels

Now, that I have 4 big piles, I look for texture. You cannot wash jeans – which have like a rough texture with a silky blue blouse – you will totally ruin your blouse, even though the colors are matching. What I do is take out all the jeans and everything that is not so delicate and wash them separately – still color coordinated, but separate.

Now, comes the temperature sorting. Some clothes, that are not stained and are not really dirty – just worn once or twice – do not need a high temperature – 30 degrees Celsius is perfect. I am obsessed with germs, so for bedding and towels, I use a high temperature because I want to make sure they are squeaky cleaned. I do the same thing with underwear and socks – but, this does destroy your underwear on the long term – I did warn you.

Also, make sure you read the label first, to see what temperature or washing cycle does your item requires. Usually, all clothes can be washed with the gentle cycle at 30 degrees Celsius, without any issues – if you already color sorted them and made sure there were no rough textures involved.

#3. Button and zip up

Another VERY important thing to keep in mind! If you do not want your clothes to get ruined by zippers, make sure you zip up everything, this way in the washer the zip will not snag another fabric or snap themselves.

Pro Tip:

Besides zipping, button everything up and turn all your clothes inside out. This way, in case of any damage, only your inside might get ruined. Also, after repeated washing, it is more likely that your color will fade a bit, but since the clothes are inside out, only the insides will show a slightly changed color.

#4. Do not overload the washer

We are all running out of time and I know you just want to be done with it, not run 5 cycles when you could do just 2 and be done with it. But, if you do this, not only you will break your washer, but also ruin your clothes because of too much friction.

In case you do not know how to weigh your clothes, to know how much to add into your washer, just use my idea:

Add clothes in your washer until it is 75% full. Then you stop!

Easy peasy!

#5. Use the RIGHT laundry detergent

Nowadays there are infinite options for laundry detergents, some just for black clothes, other just for whites, other just for colors, others just for low temperatures, others more expensive… the list is endless. How do you pick the right one and not spend your whole income on it?

This is where I had to do the most research of all because it was not easy finding the right product that DOES IT ALL and on top of it is environmentally friendly. For me it is very important, that everything that I use comes from a brand that is transparent, that stands for what I believe in, that uses ingredients that are not damaging to my body or my planet.

After long searches and a lot of money spend on laundry detergents (I wanted to use only the expensive ones, thinking they should be the best) I found my one and only: method 4x laundry detergent!

Get a discount:

method coupon code: use the code THREEFORME for $3 off your online purchase at http://clvr.li/1zM8KPj

Why am I so impressed by this product?

It is a small, fully transparent bottle, which is made with 100% post-consumer recycled materials and of course, it is fully recyclable. I just love that is colorful (you know I love colors!) and tiny – it does not need a lot of space in my bathroom. (I do not have a big bathroom, so every space counts)

You know how almost all detergents have a really strong smell? Or have none at all? I am a sucker for clothes smelling nice, but I want people to smell my perfume not my laundry detergent. What is the point of buying expensive perfume if no one can smell it because you smell like flowers?

method 4x laundry detergent is different, it still offers a variety of fragrances, like fruity (ginger mango), floral (spring garden), herbaceous-woody (beach sage and fresh clover), and free + clear (no fragrance), but the smell is soft and delicate. I actually have the beach sage and fresh clover and I love it!

And because, besides design and fragrance, what we really want from a laundry detergent is to be effective, here is what they say about it and what I notice to be true:

cleans really really well! It has a naturally derived cleaning power that is able to remove stains.
it is good for colorful clothes and for whites (no more having to buy different detergents!)
you can wash clothes in cold water – if you want to save energy, money and save the planet, this is a very good way to do it – without being scared that your clothes won’t be clean
it’s hypoallergenic. This is so good because most of the man-made products are usually full of chemicals that are bad for you.
the bottle has only 1.58 L, but it can wash up to 66 cycles. On average I wash 2-3 times a week, meaning up to 12 times a month. With only ONE BOTTLE of method 4x laundry detergent, I can wash my clothes up to 5 months and a half. How great is this?

If you do not believe me, check method’s collaboration with ASOS, where Lisa, Elizabeth, Preetma and Shioma share their story.

#6. Avoid the sun directly

If you do not use a dryer – which I love, but do not use, (I am all for energy saving and a natural way of doing things) you will air dry your clothes. You can air dry them in your apartment, of if you are lucky, you can do it outside – on your porch or in your yard. If the sunlight hits directly on the clothes, you want to be careful. In time, your colors will fade because the sunlight is very powerful.