Even if you have a high-efficiency washer and dryer, it’s still important to cut down on the loads of laundry you’re doing.

“Every time we put that garment in the washing machine, part of it is gone down the drain,” Cosette Joyner Martinez, an associate professor in the department of design, housing and merchandising at Oklahoma State University, previously told The Washington Post. “Then we lose another piece of it in the dryer in the lint trap, so we’re disintegrating our garments.”

As your clothes and linens churn in the washing machine and tumble around in the dryer, they’re often shedding tiny fibers — many of which are small bits of plastic from synthetic fabrics such as polyester. Washing a single load of synthetic clothes can release millions of these minuscule fibers.

Aside from noticeable odors or visible stains, when your clothes need to be laundered largely depends on how the garments are worn and the type of material. Clothes that you exercise and sweat in, for example, should be washed more frequently than the outfit you wear to work a desk job. Ask yourself if you really need to wash something after only wearing it once.

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