Homesteader Depot

Tag: clothing

  • Best Clothing for Gardening

    Best Clothing for Gardening

    If you spend a lot of time out in the garden, you’ll know how important good quality, functional clothing is.

    You don’t need just any old pair of jeans and t-shirt that you don’t mind getting dirty, although that might be your outfit of choice. Your gardening clothes will need to not only be able to withstand dirt stains, sun, sweat, and rain.

    Here are some pointers for choosing functional, comfortable, and sturdy gardening clothes.

    Covering 

    Most seasoned gardeners opt for long sleeves and pants when spending time in the garden. This provides a nice barrier against the sun, as well as dirt or potentially itchy plants and grass. Covering clothing can actually keep you cooler than short sleeves and pants, in many cases, so long clothes are great for both cool, damp morning harvests, and hot, mid-summer weed pulling sessions.

    Breathability 

    A very important factor of good gardening clothes is that they are breathable, especially if you choose clothing that covers your skin. Light colors might show dirt, but they’ll reflect the sun and heat well also, so white, beige, and tan clothing are ideal. Natural fibers or shirts and pants specifically designed for breathability are great for letting your body heat vent out and cool air in.

    Function

    Clothing with lots of pockets or loops for tools are very nice as well, although you can also opt for a garden belt or apron. There are many available on the market, and plenty of designs you can make for yourself as well. If you’d prefer to use your clothing to store seed packets, tools, twist-ties, and other gardening paraphernalia, clothing items like cargo shorts or vests with lots of pockets can be very handy.

    Sturdiness 

    While old jeans or dress shirts are great for cheap garden clothes that you won’t mind getting beat up and dirty, but you might want to invest in some quality pants and breathable, functional tops that will last. Being out in the hot sun all day, worn down by dirt, and washed frequently, can wear away at clothing, so if you’re recycling old clothes for garden clothes, they’ll probably be in tatters pretty soon. This might be just fine for you, especially if you go through clothes quickly anyway, but just something to keep in mind. If you garden frequently, it might be a very worthy investment to get some well-made, quality clothing to withstand a few seasons out in the garden.

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  • Storing and Protecting Summer Clothes

    Storing and Protecting Summer Clothes

    Getting ready for the winter doesn’t just require getting out your warm clothes, but also packing up your summer ones.  Depending on where you live, this might mean that your clothes will be packed up for 4 to 5 months.  Improperly storing clothing for that period of time could result in damaged or ruined summer wear by the time it gets warm again.  The biggest threats are typically mold and moths.  Here are a few tips on how to fight these threats and keep your summer clothes safe all winter long.

     

    Combating Mold

    Nobody wants to wear moldy clothes.  Aside from the way they smell, mold can cause health problems.  The main way to combat mold is to eliminate moisture.  The first and most important thing to do is to get your clothes as dry as possible before storing them away.  Line drying is probably not going to be good enough if you live in a humid area.  If you do not have access to a dryer, bring your clothes in off the line and hang them near your wood stove.  When they are completely dry, let them cool, fold them up, and pack them away in a container that will not allow moisture in.  If you don’t have a sturdy airtight container you can use trash bags.  To help keep the clothing from absorbing moisture, put some dry rice or baking soda in a sachet or an old sock without a mate and store that with your clothes.

     

    Repelling Moths

    You could use traditional moth balls, but they smell horrible, are toxic, and cost money.  Hopefully, you have some lavender in your herb garden or some cedar chips, if not you can buy some and at least avoid the toxins and the smell of conventional moth balls. As with the rice, put the lavender or cedar chips in a sachet or an old sock and store this with your clothes.  Not only will this keep bugs out, but your clothes will smell fresh instead of toxic when you get them out next year.

     

    It might seem like a needless time-consuming step right now, when you have plenty of other winter preparations to see too, but taking these steps to properly store your clothing could save you from spending plenty of money next year replacing moth-eaten or moldy clothes that were stored improperly.

     

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