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4 ways to get the most out of your clothing
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Clothes can be so expensive. Here are some tips on how to shop smart for them and get the most mileage out of the ones you do own. - photo by Sarah Anderson
Sarah Anderson
Deseret News
Published: Aug 2, 2016, 1:04 PM
Clothes we all need them, but frequently, its a matter of wanting them. And either way, they often dont come cheap.

So what are some ways to get the most out of your wardrobe without breaking the bank? Well, here are three tips:

1. Shop smartly

Shopping smartly isnt necessarily the same as shopping cheaply. Quartz invited shoppers to consider rather than just price how often theyll wear a garment, in a formula to determine its value: Amount paid for clothing/ number of times it is worn = cost per wear.

An example was given by Quartz of a $50 pair of jeans worn 10 times, to a $100 pair of jeans worn 50 times. The cost per wear for the first is $5 while the second is $2, making the more expensive pair of jeans a better deal for what youre getting out of it.

Smart shopping requires knowledge of not just what youd like to wear but what you actually do wear about 70 percent of your clothes should be basic items youll wear again and again, with 30 percent saved for special/luxury items or the clothes that dont really go with much, Quartz advised.

Lifehack.org also suggested that you be careful of clothes that come with a dry-cleaning only label, which means you will be paying for the initial purchase and (sometimes costly) upkeep. If you must buy something thats dry-clean only, invest in a home dry-cleaning kit or spot clean to stretch the time between visits to the cleaners, it added.

2. Take care of your clothes

Once youve settled on the clothes you want, learn how to take care of them.

Stylecaster.com has 101 tips divided into fabric types and the miscellaneous, such as:

Always read labels.

Jeans should be given room to breathe, so dont store them too tightly packed together.

Cotton is extra durable and for best results should be machine-washed on a normal wash cycle and tumble dried on low setting.

A swimsuit should almost never be put through the washer (only exception is at the end of the season after multiple wears, and then in a lingerie bag on the gentle cycle), and you should never leave it to dry in the sun.

Dawn dish detergent is recommended for grease and oil stains on clothes.

Never put on clothing after its just been ironed, as this can cause new wrinkles.

3. Instead of buying, revitalize

Why pay for new clothes when you can give your current ones a makeover?

Lifehack.org said a clothing makeover can be as simple as sewing on a button or a hem. A button-up cardigan can be transformed by replacing the buttons and a new hem can change a pair of trousers into a pair of shorts.

Allforfashiondesign.com has some simple do-it-yourself ideas as well, such as using stencils and paint to turn an old pair of pants into a pair of print pants, or dressing up shirts with pearl beads, strategic cuts or even old CDs (chopped up and used to make an iridescent mosaic on a shirt collar).

4. Dont overwash your clothes

Clothes dont always need to be washed after one wear. And as wisebread.com noted, overwashing clothes means water costs, electricity costs, the costs of your detergent, as well as overwashing just naturally wearing out your clothes so you get less use out of them.

GQ has an itemized list of clothes and suggested wash frequencies:

Undergarments and socks after every wear

T-shirts and Henleys one or two wears

Button-down shirts after three to four wears

Pajamas and robes after four wears

Suits four to five wears

Pants and sweaters after five wears

Jackets and coats once or twice a season

Jeans Can go a whole season without washing, unless they smell

Let clothes youve worn hang to let air circulate through the fibers and prevent smell, wisebread.com recommended.
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
Herb Scribner
Deseret News
Published: Aug 13, 2018, 1:39 PM
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.