Fellow human's question: white clothes
A fellow human asks: How do you keep your aged shirts so white? I have found white clothing loses its brightness over time and looks almost dirty. I have opted for darker clothing but have been learning about the negative impact of clothing dyes, so as my clothes wear out I would like them replaced with pieces made from natural and undyed fabrics.
Most of my clothes are white/off-white and beige. These are the colours I've gravitated towards most of my life. I think it's due to sensory processing sensitivity that I live with. These colours feel calming to me and I never get overstimulated by them, or tired of them.
Though I try my best, it is difficult to show my practice exactly as it is to my fellow humans via my autoethnography. It is hard to show the ageing process of things, especially when I take pictures from a distance (e.g., to capture my whole wardrobe). Many of my white clothes have imperfections, such as discolorations and small stains on them. I still wear these items. Very stained items I usually wear at home when I cook, but small stains are not an issue. At least, I don't think they are. I'm not becoming a worse human being, a worse teacher, a worse partner when I wear a stained t-shirt.
Having said that, acquiring new stains is not something I pursue. I try to keep my white clothes as white as possible, as long as possible. Because most of my clothes are this colour (or similar), I wash white clothes separately from black ones. In fact, we separate our clothes and other textiles into two piles: white and black. And this is the main thing that I do to preserve the colour. I use laundry sheets but no other chemicals when I do laundry. I also try to wear clothes that are not too close-fitting. This is because of the skin condition I live with, but I've noticed that it also prevents sweat stains.
When there is a new stain, I hand-wash the item immediately. I use whatever is nearby: dishwashing liquid or soap.
Over the years, white clothes lose their brightness though, as the fellow human said above. And that's ok. I continue to wear them until they can become, e.g., cloths for cleaning my home. I try to avoid buying bright white clothes though. Not only because very bright white loses its brightness faster, but it's also not my best colour. I find off-white more calming, serene, and look for colour names such as natural white, off-white, ecru, or even undyed cotton (which I find incredibly beautiful!). The t-shirt in the picture above might look bright, but in reality it's a calm and soft white colour. In the snow, it would probably look a little bit grey. In our home we have only two t-shirts that are bright white, but I never wear them (my partner does).