Context: I noticed I have some clothes from 10 years ago that are still good to wear, and some newer things I have barely worn yet. I wondered if I reached a point where all the clothes I own would be enough to last for the rest of my life. There is a dresser and a closet worth of things.
For the sake of this question, let’s say you can’t buy, borrow, steal, receive as a gift, find, or make anything new to wear. All you get is what you have now. Is it enough?
Considering I buy clothes every few years at most, still have clothes from middle school and I’m almost 40, generally don’t throw stuff out when it starts getting worn just repurpose it, and recently started buying almost exclusively athletic clothing due to build and material quality, probably a really long time tbh.
I also don’t usually wear clothes at home, which helps. Bathrobe. I have five of those.
I’d bet I could survive the bulk of my remaining life without getting new clothes, but they’d be in rough shape by then.
You sound like me. Shirts at the end of their life go for sleeping. Is went the athletic route, but have switched back after realizing the plastic materials start smelling and get discolored easily (deodorant culprit likely).
I guess I haven’t really had the smelly problem (or at least nobody has mentioned it…). I have to use unscented detergents due to fragrance allergy, and I think thats a big part of why I don’t have that problem. The scented detergents leave so many residues to hold the scent that your own scent tends to stick more. Or maybe you just notice it more as it mingles with a scent you are used to. Not sure, but the unscented stuff at worst smells a bit musty.
When I get deodorant buildup or the musty smell, I do a warm cycle with enzyme detergent (usually wash on tap cold, but when I do a warm cycle I use dirty labs unscented enzyme detergent. I’ve tried others, including scented, before I found that and they worked decently too) and it clears right up.
If you have the smelly problem with bedsheets or towels or anything, look into laundry stripping. You can do it with natural cotton and whatever clothing as well, but it requires super hot water so it does cause some damage to the fabric.