Rethinking washing habits can allow, for followers of “no wash”, to preserve the environment.
It is a rising planetary movement. The “no wash” or the “low wash” encourages more and more people to stop washing their clothes or to clean them less often. The followers who are the subject of many articles in the Anglo-Saxon press highlight the impact on the environment, the cost of water and electricity, but that’s not all. There is also debate on the notion of hygiene.
Limit the frequency of washing
For or against washing? Cons of course if you are one of the emulators of the “no wash” and “low wash” movement, and especially if you are a real opponent of washing who has a pet peeve in life: the washing machine. Do you know that in Western countries, a washing machine is launched more than 180 times on average each year! Last May, our colleagues at the BBC interviewed expert Marc Sumner from the University of Leeds in Britain who called for limiting the frequency of washing.
There are many reasons to rethink washing habits. The first is the protection of the environment and the management of natural resources. The use of the washing machine weighs heavily on the water and electricity bill when it is also combined with a dryer. And, underlines the British professor who has worked in the field of textiles for 30 years, we must also be concerned about the release of microfibers into the oceans, to know how microfibers from laundry washed at home can also end up in the marine animal organism.
Wear the same dress every day
This development is even integrated into the company’s strategy for certain specialists in the clothing sector. Fashion designers like Stella McCartney made the front page of the British daily on Guardian to say roughly, “The rule of thumb in life is ‘If you don’t need to clean something, don’t clean it!’ With this detail, the designer pointed out: “I won’t change my bra every day!”
An American brand has also launched a challenge to wear the same dress every day for 100 days. Another has released a line of underwear that can be worn for several days in a row without being washed. The question that arises is of course that of hygiene. Followers of the “no wash” movement use many solutions. The BBC listed exposure to ultraviolet rays, UV, airing your jeans or socks out in the open?
Some, for the most extremists, carry out a machine every six months for the most extremists, less washed they would last longer. Reduction or a moratorium on machine washing, it is the debate provoked by this movement which is developing. The best approach, advises Professor Sumner of the University of Leeds, is a fine balance. If, he says, your clothes don’t smell, there’s no need to wash them!