Why garment care matters long after the sale 

By Garry Knox, Sustainability Director, GreenEarth

Sustainability in fashion is no longer focused solely on how garments are made. Increasingly, attention is turning to what happens after a product is purchased. As brands invest in resale, repair, rental and take-back programs, garment care is becoming an important part of extending product life and reducing environmental impact.

The numbers help explain why: 

• Research conducted by Cheminfo Inc. for the Government of Canada reveals that roughly 1.1 million tonnes of clothing and textiles were sent to landfills in 2021.
   
• According to ThredUp’s 2026 Resale Report, compiled by GlobalData, the global second-hand apparel market is projected to reach US$393 billion by 2030.
  
  
• The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that circular business models (including resale, rental, repair and remaking) could grow from a US$73 billion market in 2021 to a US$700 billion opportunity by 2030.

For these initiatives to succeed, garments must remain in good condition through multiple owners and cleaning cycles. according to the Fashion on Climate report by McKinsey & Company and the Global Fashion Agenda.up to 30% of a garment’s lifetime carbon footprint can be attributed to aftercare, including cleaning, drying and pressing.

According to Tara Clark, Partnerships Director at GreenEarth Cleaning, this is changing how fashion brands approach garment care. Through GreenEarth’s work with apparel companies on textile testing, care labelling and product development, Clark says she has seen brands place greater emphasis on ensuring garments maintain their appearance, performance and longevity after repeated cleaning.

“Brands are no longer thinking only about how a garment looks on the day it’s sold,” says Clark. “They’re asking how it will perform after dozens of cleaning cycles, whether it can be repaired or resold, and how care can help extend its useful life. Garment care has become an important part of designing for circularity.”

As part of this work, GreenEarth collaborates with independent testing laboratories, including SGS and Bureau Veritas, to evaluate how fabrics and finished garments respond to dry cleaning in perc, hydrocarbon and GreenEarth. The results help brands develop care instructions that support garment longevity. In some cases, brands have chosen to recommend GreenEarth cleaning on garment care labels, packaging and websites based on the results of this testing.

This reflects a broader shift across the fashion industry. Garment care is increasingly being recognised as an integral part of product design and sustainability strategy. Clothing that maintains its quality through repeated cleaning is more likely to be repaired, rented, resold or passed on instead of discarded.

“The most sustainable garment is the one that stays in use the longest,” says Clark. “When brands, textile care professionals and consumers all play their part, we can dramatically extend the life of clothing, reduce waste and support the transition to a truly circular fashion economy. Sustainability isn’t the responsibility of one part of the supply chain; it’s a shared responsibility across the entire lifecycle of a garment.”

Editor’s Note: Every garment kept looking good and functioning as intended for another season, another owner or another round of wear is one less garment that needs to be replaced. In a circular fashion economy, extending garment life isn’t an afterthought. It’s part of the process. And so are you.

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