I wash my clothes once a year – people assume I smell but it’s so satisfying to see the colour of the water
A WOMAN has explained why she only washes her clothes once a year, insisting the items do not have an unpleasant aroma.
Wildlife conservationist Cydney, from Surrey, the UK, took to TikTok where she spoke more about her reasoning behind the decision to wash her jumpers only after a whole year’s worth of wearing.
The vintage style enthusiast, who is all about sustainable fashion and helping the environment, noted the the once-a-year washing rule only applied to wool clothing.
”Yes, I only wash my wool items once a year,” she said in her video.
”Some people are gonna be thinking ‘That is absolutely vile that you only wash your clothes that often, especially if you wear them a lot’.
”But wool is such an amazing fibre and has a lot of qualities which allow me to do this.”
According to the slow fashion fan, whose TikTok page has won her more than 20k followers, the popular material is both ”naturally anti-microbial and anti-fungal”.
Due to its structure, Cydney noted in the video, wool will also wick ”sweat and heat away from the skin during exercise”.
This, in turn, prevents any nasty odours, and not only is the surface of wool stain-resistant, it also repels water, the whizz added.
”I’ve had this vintage jumper for about two years now and this is the second time I am washing it.
”I can honestly say it doesn’t smell,” said Cydney, who used the viral burrito method to dry the garment.
”The reason for me washing it is that I wanna try and block it because it is slightly too narrow at the bottom.”
Cydney, who also wacks her denim bottoms in the freezer instead of the washing machine, was aware that ”this life isn’t for all of us” – however, she did urge fellow fashionistas to invest ”in some really good quality wool”.
”Up to 500,000 tons of microplastic ends up in the ocean in a year from laundering synthetic materials.
”Wool just doesn’t need washing as regularly as synthetic,” said Cydney, who explained that she washed ”other clothes like normal”.
”Is it not so satisfying though to see the colour of the water!
”It’s so easy to damage wool and cashmere through washing too so why risk it!”
Hundreds of social media users raced to comments to share their thoughts and praise the slow fashion fan for sharing the message.
One said: ”I just washed one of my most worn cardigans (vintage Shetland Norwegian style) for the first time after like 5 years, it was pretty grim.”
Someone else chimed in: ”This is fantastic to share and promote, we definitely need to live slower and use less resources.”
A third penned: ”My mum taught me to air my jumpers, wear a cotton vest underneath and not wash them unless you have to!
”Listen to the older folks, they know stuff.”
”We wash clothes too often. Underwear and nightwear is the only clothing that needs washing very regularly,” someone else reckoned.