The Durability of Kids’ Clothing

Growing children are notoriously tough on their clothes. They play, run, jump, roll, splash, and spill with abandon—often causing damage and wear. This has led to the creation of high-quality children’s clothing made from durable materials, intended to last longer than average. Even still, kids often outgrow their clothing before they have a chance to damage it. By selling and buying second hand clothing from Kid to Kid, parents can extend the lifespan of these garments and save money in the long run.

Let’s take a closer look at how long children’s clothing really lasts and why buying secondhand just makes sense.

The average lifespan of children’s garments

With normal wear, most children’s clothing can be expected to last around two years. Play clothes might have a shorter lifespan—around a year, on average.

This might not seem very long, but remember that even adult clothing regularly worn only lasts around three years. On top of that, parents must consider how much of their children’s clothing is “regularly worn.” The pair of sneakers they wear to school every day might get worn out much faster than the party dress only worn a few times a year.

Extending kids’ clothing life cycle

Consider how many clothing sizes children go through from infancy until their teen years. On average, infants go through around seven clothing sizes in just their first two years of life. After toddler-dom, kids keep growing, requiring larger sizes at least once a year, if not more often.

In some cases, kids only wear a garment once—or never at all! One study found that 8% of the garments households disposed of were never worn. Additionally, every fifth garment disposed of was either never used or had been used only a few times by the current owner. This is particularly common in the children’s clothing industry. Parents and loved ones might gift clothing items that a child only wears once—if that—before they outgrow it.

What this means is that a substantial amount of outgrown children’s clothing still has a lot of life left. Unless it’s a staple item, a garment is not likely to be worn out completely by the time a child outgrows it. Parents are constantly getting rid of clothing that could be worn by another child.

Secondhand keeps the life cycle going

Second hand children’s clothing can play a big role in all stages of a child’s life. Fast-growing kiddos are a big win for resale kids’ clothing, and here’s why:

• Kids’ resale clothing is a cheaper alternative for play clothes and other items that might get damaged over time.
• Secondhand stores like Kid to Kid give new life to gently or never-used kids’ clothing.

Selling and buying from secondhand stores like Kid to Kid is a smarter and more sustainable solution for parents of growing children. They can find inexpensive garments their kids can wear to play in, and they can sell and purchase lightly used items to keep them out of landfills and extend their lifespans with the next child.

Kid to Kid’s resale clothing franchise provides many benefits—to our owners, our customers’ families, and our planet. If you’re interested in giving back and operating a business in the thriving secondhand clothing market, request more information today!