Touchpoint of View: The right size and care increases the lifespan of workwear
Extending the lifespan of clothing is the best possible act of sustainability that each one of us can influence. If we can extend the lifespan of clothes, we can avoid the need for new materials and production. Each stage of textile production creates emissions, so the longer the garment is used, the less need there is to produce new ones.
The size of clothing often goes under people's skin because clothes are literally on our skin throughout the workday. We try to get people to forget the size label and focus on the fit of the product, so that workwear supports work tasks as well as possible. When a garment is the right size, the overall appearance is tidy, and working is seamless. A garment that is too small makes the wearer look bigger than they really are, and too large clothing may pose a safety risk.
Workwear consists of many fabric products, such as basic shirts and trousers. These materials need to have some looseness added to the body measurements, so that the garment feels comfortable on. For example, in a basic shirt, the proper looseness at the chest is an additional 10 cm to your body measurement. This looseness means that you can pinch about 2 cm of folded fabric between both of your armpits. When it comes to pants and skirts, it is always worth trying them on by squatting. Our large gluteal muscles need surprisingly more space when they are put to work.
In the past, when elastane fiber had not yet been invented, clothes were made comfortable to wear just by adding looseness, which was visible in different folds under the waistband of work pants. In knitwear or fabric products containing elastane, the user wears a product that is smaller in circumference than the wearer, which is referred to as minus looseness. In everyday life, there are many tight-fitting garments, especially in sports, and people have begun to like the feeling of tight clothing, because the garment is always tight on you. These products also have a place in the wardrobe, and we recommend using such a form-fitting layer under workwear. At the same time, this intermediate layer extends the washing and service life of workwear, as skin secretions attach to this intermediate layer instead of the work clothes.
When we think about the life cycle of a garment, this continuous tightness significantly shortens the service life of the fibers. Even the seams of the clothes do not withstand tightness for long, and they begin to break. We could almost argue that choosing a garment that is too small has a more significant negative impact on the life cycle of the garment than choosing a garment that is too large.
In addition to choosing the right size, proper care of the garment also extends its use. Everyone has probably ruined a textile product in the washing machine at some point. The most common problem is too hot a temperature for a wool product or washing a light-colored product with dark or dyeing products. Without taking a stance on the energy or water use of washing machines, clothes washing, and maintenance should at least consider the separation of white laundry and colored laundry, regular cleaning of the washing machine, and proper use of detergents and fabric softeners.
