Plastic clothes actually get stronger as they age
While cotton fibers literally dissolve after twenty washes, synthetic threads remain nearly indestructible, creating a secondary market where old clothes are often tougher than new ones.
A high-quality cotton shirt begins its slow death the moment it touches water. Through a process called cellulose hydrolysis, the water and detergent break down the natural fibers, causing the garment to lose half its strength after just twenty trips through the laundry. Synthetic polyesters, however, are built with stable chemical bonds that ignore these forces, retaining up to 90% of their original toughness even after years of heavy wear.
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