10 ECO CLOTHING CARE TIPS (GRANDMA’S EDITION)

Ok so, after thinking a lot about eco clothing tips, about how to take care of the environment when its clothes related, we figure out that our grandparents ways were the best to be fully eco and sustainable. So… we asked our Grandmas which ways did they use to wash their clothes when they were younger and we have the best eco clothing tips we could ever ask!

1. Hand wash your intimates and your delicate clothes. Also you can hand wash all of your clothes, but start with the small pieces if you’re not used to it, to be aware of how much it costs to wash your clothes by hand. That will also prevent you from washing the clothes after just one use, which is not necessary if we haven’t really soiled them. Remember! All clothes have more than one use.
2. Try to dry all your clothes without the dryer machine. You can always hang them outside when the weather lets us do it, and you’ll have your clothes dried in 1h! Rainy or cold days? Hang them inside your house, preferably in a big room, close to any stream of air.
3. Bring any small clothes with you while you’re having a shower and wash them there! It’s the best way to save water! 2 in 1!
4. Bleach your clothes with natural products. All you have to do is put the clothes in hot water and a few tablespoons of baking soda or a few drops of hydrogen peroxide (it will depend on the white level you need to recover) and let it soak until the water cools. Another option is to dilute the juice of half a lemon in a glass of water and apply it. Let it act and wash it again.
5. Wash less your clothes and if you think they stink a bit, just spray the clothes with a diffuser of water and two teaspoons of softener. Leave the clothes hanging for a few moments to dry until the smell sticks on them and… voilà! Clothes almost like freshly washed.
6. I really love this tip. Do you want your clothes to dry faster and be softer? Easy. Put a couple wool balls in the washing machine and freak out with the result of your clothes! (Thanks Grandma for this tip!)
7. I bet you anything that you have heard about Marseilles or Castile soap. Ok so,  they are the best to wash your clothes ecologically, since they are bars of soap and have much more durability. Apart from that, they do not contain as many chemicals as conventional detergents. Do you want to use them in the washing machine? Grate some and put it in the drum.
8. Fully load the washing machine, don’t do half loads. To be totally sustainable with machine washes, we have to leave enough space for the clothes to spin, so more or less leave the space of your hand on top of the drum and wash, babe!
9. Cold water and short programs if your clothes aren’t completely dirty and stinky!
10. Scrub the stains before you wash your clothes. You will avoid having to wash them more than once, because the stains are not completely gone. You can do it with different things that you have at home (soap, homemade stain remover, baking soda…).

Here are some tips that my grandma gave me for different types of stains:

• Oil - sprinkle talcum powder on the stain for a day and hand wash the piece after.
• Blood - Hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes and wash with water and Marseille soap.
• Makeup - Dilute some vinegar with water and rub a little on the stains. If the stain is huge, let the piece soak. After two hours, wash by hand!
• Gum - Take an ice cube and scrub it over the gum until it’s hard so you can tear it off. Don't pull on it, just wait a bit. If it doesn’t work, put the piece in the freezer for a couple of days and you will see you can remove the gum without any problem. Then wash normal!

Last but not least, I want to thank all the grandmas around the world who are still teaching us incredible and necessary things for our daily lives. You will always be our angel guards. YOU ARE AMAZING! We love you!

In memory of my dearest Grandmother, Esperança. I miss you.