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Article: Most common causes of garment breakdowns

Most common causes of garment breakdowns

The following are the most common causes of garment breakdowns: 

  • Garments are washed frequently.
  • Improper care and using harsh chemicals such as bleach or fabric softener.
  • Zipper damage.
  • Damage caused by keys and other items in pockets.
  • The quality of the clothing can also play a factor in how long they last, so it is important to consider the material and where it is coming from before buying new clothes. 
  • Overdoing it.

Fabric is a fragile thing. And if you’re not careful, it will quickly come apart at the seams easily.

A garment seam coming apart is one of the causes of the garment breakdown.

Seam Coming Apart Is One Of The Causes Of The Garment Breakdown

1. Washing your clothes too often:

It might seem like a good idea to wash your clothes whenever they get dirty, but it’s not always necessary. Sometimes all you need is a little light spot treatment or a few minutes throwing the garment in the dryer on low heat with a wet towel. The occasional “dry clean only” item can benefit from following this as well – since those types of garments do best when they are aired out and allowed to hang for days or weeks at a time instead of being machine washed right away.

2. Using harsh chemicals such as bleach or fabric softener:

Bleach and other harsh chemicals will break down the fibers and cause lasting damage to your clothing – so be very careful! If you must use bleach, only add a small amount and test it out in an out-of-the-way place on your garments first to make sure it won’t cause any lasting damage or discoloration.

Avoid products like fabric softener and dryer sheets as well, they coat the fibers of your clothing with chemicals that can break down the fibers over time and leave them feeling rough and stiff. Try using vinegar in your rinse cycle instead – it is much more natural than bleach or fabric softener, yet will still get rid of stains just as well if not better! Refer to our at-home Felted Cashmere Care guide to know what chemical you can use in your cashmere scarves.

3. Zipper damage:

Have you ever caught your zipper halfway up one day? Or pulled too hard on your pants while sitting down and torn the stitching right off? This happens because zippers are usually either cheaply made or too small for the pants they were attached to in the first place. And if you’re stuffing your pockets with things like flash drives or change or pens then that can cut into them even faster! So be very careful when putting on jeans and other pants, especially with expandable style zippers – since they are more easily misaligned by putting pressure on them while you sit down.

4. Pocket damage:

Another common cause of clothing breakdown is damage caused by items in your pockets! Keys, coins, phones, and other items can often tear holes into your clothes or even loosen stitches enough to cause lasting problems over time. For this reason, it is best to take out all objects from your pockets before putting on or removing any clothing item. Also, avoid putting articles of clothing in the dryer with anything else – since high heat can damage fabric fibers and cause lingering smells that are hard to get rid of.

5. Quality finally does matter:

It goes without saying that the quality of the clothing you purchase will have an effect on how long it lasts. Low-quality garments are often made using sub-par materials, which will break down over time just as quickly as they were put together! So if you’re looking for something that is built to last then be prepared to spend a little more initially – but you can save money in the long run since quality clothes won’t need to be replaced as often! If you must buy a lower quality item then do some research on what brand names are actually of good quality and reputable – otherwise, you might end up with something that falls apart before its time!

6. Overdoing it:

Sometimes the most common cause of clothing breakdown is simply your own mistake or accident! If you’re not careful while washing them, for example, then they can easily get torn from the inside out if too much pressure is put on buttons or zippers. And if you wash them at settings higher than necessary this can also cause lasting damage over time.

Other common mistakes include putting velcro clothes in the dryer without removing all traces of velcro first (which will cause your dryer to become clogged with fluff quickly) and putting items in the wash that are extremely dirty or haven’t been properly rinsed before (which can cause stains along with damage inside fabrics). So always be sure you know what you’re doing to your clothes!

Over time, your clothing will get holes, fade, pill up, shrink, rip at the seams. (It happened to me!) I mean, even if they don’t look like it at first glance. It happens to every piece of clothing eventually… And when one thing goes wrong on a single garment then generally other pieces follow. This is why prevention is key: by caring for your garments each day you can ensure that they last much longer.

Sometimes we just don’t know what we did and other times we forget to do something simple that can save our clothes: read the label! Remembering to always look at the labels is so important. Look out for warnings about certain materials rubbing together, washing colors separately, dry cleaning, whether or not you should iron them- anything like that. The label has a lot of information on it and if you aren’t caring for your clothes correctly, they won’t last long at all. 

Finally, the most common causes of garment breakdowns are our own mistakes! Be sure you know what you’re doing so that it doesn’t happen again.