A huge part of sustainability in fashion is keeping your nice things nice; preserving them, so that they don’t become easily disposable. But how can we keep our clothing nice if we’re not sure where to begin?

Vaccum bags. I bought these when I was moving (to save space in my boxes), but since then I’ve been using them to store my off-season wardrobe. They’re great, in that they don’t collect dust, and being able to flatten so much clothing means that I’m able to stack much more. I also live in a place that’s prone to get moths, but with everything stored away, it’s one less thing to worry about (especially knits like Christmas sweaters and scarves). Also, top tip: you can take a small-sized vacuum bag and mini USB vaccum on vacation to bring more clothes on trips with airlines where they measure your luggage!

A fabric bobble shaver. Have you ever had a sweater that (slowly and over time) you saw getting worse and worse in photographs? Taking care of pilling can be annoying, but it’s vital for keeping sweaters nice. Many people use shaving razors for this task, but I was finding that the razor would get dull pretty quickly, and the pilling pieces were left behind, so I’ve tried this one:

This one is my favourite; it’s chargeable, so I can take it with me when I travel, and it’s got a cashmere brush on the back. It also vacuums up the shaved wool, so you can see how much was taken off. When using this, I recommend you pay extra attention to the bottom of sleeves (near the wrists), around the neck, and under arms, as these areas see a lot of movement and are prone to pilling. Works great on cotton pillow cases and older sofas, too!

A stain-remover pen. A big part of preserving clothes is keeping them nice enough to want to wear again. If you’re like me (love a pastel-coloured top, but I love tea more and I’m clumsy) you’re no stranger to spills or stains. I can think of at least two items that I’ve stopped wearing because I didn’t get to a mark before it set in—even though they were cute, all I could see was a coffee stain or a blueberry pie mark. If you keep this pen on-hand, you’ll be able to deal with issues as they come up, and not just hope the laundry machine deals with it when you toss it in a few days from now.