ENHANCING CLOTHING MAINTENANCE PRACTICES AMONG FAMILIES IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study is aimed at enhancing clothing maintenance practices among families in Enugu state.

Specifically, the study was conducted to determine the clothing renovation practices adopted by rural and urban families; Clothing repair practices adopted by literate and illiterate families; Laundry  practices  adopted  by  families;  Clothing  storage  practices  adopted  by  males  and females; Problems encountered with clothing maintenance practices and; Ways of solving the problems encountered with clothing maintenance practices among families. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was 366, 670 which consisted of all the homemakers within the age range of 30 -50 years in Enugu State. Sampling was done. A multi stage sampling techniques was adopted in the selection of respondents for the study. In the first stage, one zone out of the three zones of the state was randomly selected. The selected zone was Enugu East. At the second stage, out of the six local government areas that make up the zone, three local government areas was randomly selected. Third stage, one local government area was randomly selected out of the selected three local government areas. At the fourth stage, from the selected local government, six urban areas and four rural areas were randomly selected for the study. The urban areas are: Ugwuagor, UgboOwa, Housing Eastate, Ugbene, Trans Ekulu, and Ugboezeji. The four rural areas are Amaoji Nike, Alulu, Nkwo Nike, and Edem Nike. At the fifth stage, from each selected area, thirty homemakers was purposively selected from four groups of homemakers namely; teachers, civil servants, traders and entrepreneurs. This gives a total of three hundred homemakers which were involved in the study. A structured questionnaire of 107 items were developed for the study through an extensive literature review. The research instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts all from university of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability coefficient of the instrument for the study was 0.91 which was calculated using Cronbach Alpha reliability test. The questionnaire was administered by personal contact and with the help of two research assistants. Three hundred copies of the questionnaire were dully  completed and  returned. The  collected questionnaire were  analysed using mean and standard deviation. T-test was used to test the hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. Based on the findings, it was concluded that; families in Enugu State do not adopt renovation practices in their clothing maintenance. Also many families are ignorant of certain repair, laundry and storage practices. Recommendations were made which includes, that government should sponsor a programme through media that will enlighten the families on the need for maintaining their clothing and the consequences of lack of it. Government agencies such as (SON) and (CPA) should  work  in  collaboration  to  ensure  quality  product  used  in  clothing  maintenance  at affordable prices among others.

Background of the Study

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Clothing is one of the basic necessity of the family. Clothing according to Igbo (2006) embodies garments and accessories such as: shoes, handbags, ties, wristwatches, scarf, handkerchiefs, jewelries among others. Clothing is used for various activities and purposes in the family such as:  clothing  for school/work, clothing  for  parties and social gathering, clothing for religious worship, clothing of household  work,  clothing   for sports  and  picnic, night-wear, under-wear among  others.  Rouse  (2008)  stated  that,  clothing  is  a  significant  force  in  the enhancement of the individuals and families. When clothing is well maintain, it contributes to one’s feeling of self -acceptance, self-respect and self- esteem. It is therefore, important that clothing are well maintained among the family.

Clothing maintenance is the keeping of family clothing in good condition. It involves those skills and knowledge that enable the families to care, launder and make proper storage for individual clothing articles. According to  Flugel (2007) clothing maintenance is  the proper checking of clothing  for  minor repairs such as:  mending tears, renovation, replacing loose buttons, replacing broken zips among others. Clothing maintenance is associated with keeping clothing in good conditions.  Clothing maintenance in this work is any care given to clothing article in order to prolong the life span of clothing. Clothing maintenance includes; repair, renovation, laundry, and storage (Uzoezie, 2012). To be well groomed, clothing must be free from dirt  and  stain,  must  be smooth, tidy and  free  from different repairs. For these to  be achieved, clothing must be well maintained.

Clothing repair is the process of mending clothing articles. Proper clothing repair helps to prolong the life and usefulness of clothes. Immediate repair of clothes prevents more damage. Clothing repair include: replacement of loose or missing fastening, loose elastic band, split seam, torn stitches, darning, patching among others. Another aspect of clothing maintenance is renovation.  Renovation  is  a  process  by  which  old  materials  are  repaired  to  improve  its appearance by creating newness in it (Erika, 2012). Renovation helps to change the style or design to suit the fashion in vogue. It introduces newness for better acceptance. It prolongs the life and use of an article. Renovation include, dyeing of faded clothing article, changing old style to the one in vogue, changing the shape to serve different purpose. For instance, big bath towel

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can be made into many face towels. Small dresses could be made from oversize dresses, wrapper and nightwears. Shorts could be made from trousers among others.

Similarly, clothing can be maintained through laundry services. Laundry is the process of washing  and  finishing  of clothing  articles.  Finishing  can  be  done  by  ironing  or  pressing. (Anyakoha & Eluwa, 2011).The several steps in laundry include: sorting, mending any tear in the fabric, removing stains, soaking, washing, rinsing, drying and finishing.

Storage is the next step of clothing maintenance after laundry. Storage is the process of keeping clothing articles in a particular place until they are needed. The places where one can store  family  clothing  include:  boxes  or  bags,  wardrobe, drawers or  shelves  among others. Adequate storage help to prolong the life span, and appearance of family clothing. Clothing materials are usually maintained for different reasons.

There are four basic reasons for clothing maintenance, which are: health, social, economic and psychological reasons (Neal, 2013). Health reason is that, when clothing is well washed, such clothing  will  be  free  from  bacteria  and  disease  causing  germs.  Well  maintained  clothing enhances family appearance and acceptance in the public. While lack of it attracts negative attention and comments. However, clothing maintenance prolongs the life of the fabric and also improve its appearance while saving money for the family. Psychologically, well maintained clothing gives satisfaction and comfort to the wearer. It also elevates one’s personality. In line with this, Anyakoha & Eluwa (2011) listed reasons for the maintenance of clothing to include: dirty clothing which can easily become infested with disease germs or bacteria can easily transfer skin diseases such as rashes, ringworm, scabies among others. Bad odour due to improper maintenance of clothing  can attract  negative comments on  individual and  families.  Proper maintenance brightens the appearance of clothing and prolong their life span.

Furthermore, Maloney (2009) categorized clothing maintenance as preventive maintenance, corrective  maintenance and  planned replacement.    Preventive  maintenance  involves  all  the necessary action taken to prevent damage of the clothing articles. Corrective maintenance are those action taken by all the people involved in other to prolong the lifespan of clothing. Planned replacement, this is the routine maintenance organized according to the needs of the fabric. Adequate maintenance is important for a neat appearance and enhancement of the individual and families.

To enhance means to increase further, improve the good quality, value or status of something. To make something better than before (Stern, 2009). To support that, Charles (2011) viewed  enhancement  as all  actions  which  have  the  preventive, corrective and  replacement objective of retaining or restoring family clothing to a state in which it can perform its required functions. Therefore, it  is a deliberate effort taken to increase value, quality, desirability or attractiveness of family clothing. Furthermore, Flugel (2007) described enhancement as to make greater in value, beauty or effectiveness. It is all actions taken to retain family clothing in a serviceable condition or to restore it to serviceability. It entails all maintenance and repair action taken to keep family clothing in acceptable condition.

Family, according to Stern (2009), is a group of people who live together and are united by ties of marriage, blood or adoption. Bass (2007) stated that family has two clearly distinct meaning namely: a set of blood relations and co-resident domestic group. Bass also listed types of family as; nuclear family, polygamous family, and extended family. The nuclear family is made up of a man, his wife, and their children while Polygamous family is made up of a mam, his wives and their several children. The extended family is however, made up of husband, wife or wives, their children and other relation like uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, wives of sons and their children among others. However, there are some notable distinctions in social status, social functions and in particular, the role in the family between the male child and the female (Idike , 2013).Enugu State is made up of rural and urban dwellers These people engaged in various occupations such as: farming, trading, teaching, among others. The state is also made up of literate and illiterate families.

Literate is the ability to read and write while illiteracy among families is the inability to read and  write, (Odedele, and Egotanwa, 2010). Illiteracy is  as a result  of lack of formal education. Many families in Enugu State especially those in rural areas are less educated. Rural area is an area mainly characterized by poor infrastructural facilities. Many families in the rural area depend on agriculture for their survival. The population is mainly made up of old men and women unlike  in  the  urban  areas  where  infrastructural development  is  high and  there  are different opportunities for family survival. Urban areas is mainly dominated by able bodied male and female family members. Male are those individuals who belong to the sex that does not release eggs or give birth to babies. Male can be addressed as a man or a boy depending on his

age. While female belong to the sex that can lay eggs or give birth to babies. Female is known as a woman or a girl depending on her age.

Sometimes, many families in Enugu State seem to be ignorant of clothing maintenance practices such as: repair, renovation, good laundry process and proper storage of clothing. Improper clothing maintenance practices among families in Enugu State has led  families in wearing clothing characterized by faded outlook, missing buttons, loose seams, cut elastic and damaged zipper. Igbo (2003) stated that, some families often abandon their fairly used clothes because of minor repair, not conforming to the owner’s new status or is out of fashion. In support of this, (Oluah, 2007) observed that mothers in Enugu State do not renovate used clothes for their children. Furthermore, Anyakaoha & Eluwa (2011) stated that improper clothing storage are likely to habour numerous microbes organism which can constitute danger to the health of family members.

Many families in Enugu State believe that clothing maintenance practices is all about washing. Rouse (2008) observed that clothing maintenance practices can be more than family regular washing and cleaning their clothes. It entails day to day maintenance, organized storage for out of season that may save part of family time and money. Some families in Enugu State lack knowledge of laundry practices and also the correct use of appropriate laundry agents. Uzoezie (2012), stated that  during  laundry,  appropriate application of laundry aids  is  very necessary such as correct use of cleaning agent, washing techniques, so as to avoid distorting the shape and the texture of the fabric. All these clothing mismanagement call for urgent need of clothing enhancement practices among families in Enugu state.

Statement of the Problem

Clothing is  basic  for family needs. Families use clothing for different purposes and activities. It  is  important that these clothing are well maintained in other to  enhance their durability  and  appearance.  Most  often,  some  families  seem  to  be  ignorant  of  clothing maintenance practices such as: renovation, repair, proper laundry processes and proper storage of clothing. That is why many families usually abandon their fairly used clothing because of minor repairs such as: broken zippers, loosed hem, missed buttons, cut elastic among others. Furthermore, some lack knowledge of renovation practices which leads to neglect of many durable clothes in their boxes and wardrobes. These clothes can be converted to fashion in vogue to meet their changing status and style. Some families in Enugu State make use of acid soap in

washing of their local made fabrics. They lack knowledge of laundry processes that is why they soak their fabric more than the required period. It is however, unfortunate that some families lack knowledge of proper clothing storage practices. These practices often affect the durability and appearance of family  clothing.  Improper clothing  maintenance practices  among  families  in Enugu  State  has  led  families  in  wearing  clothing  characterized by  faded  outlook,  missing buttons, loose seams, cut elastic and damaged zipper among others. The neglect of many family clothing due to minor repairs has certainly affected family resources which should have been used for another purpose.

Proper clothing maintenance saves time and money and also enhance the durability and appearance of family clothing. For this reason, it has become necessary to identify strategies for improving maintenance practices among families in Enugu State. Unless these clothing strategies is acquired and practiced by individual families, they will continue to waste limited family resources in acquiring new clothing. These therefore formed the bases for this study.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study is to determine ways of enhancing clothing maintenance practices among families in Enugu State. Specifically, the study will:

1.        Determine clothing renovation practices adopted by rural and urban families in Enugu

State.

2.        Find out clothing repair practices adopted by literate and illiterate families in Enugu

State.

3.        Determine the clothing laundry practices adopted by rural and urban families in Enugu

State.

4.        Determine clothing storage practices adopted by males and females family members in

Enugu State.

5.        Identify problems encountered with clothing maintenance practices by families in Enugu

State.

6.         Determine ways of solving the problems encountered with clothing maintenance by families in Enugu State.

Significance of the Study

Specifically the findings of this study will be of benefit to students, Home Economics teachers and lecturers, homemakers, family as a unit and researchers.

The result of the study will be of benefit to the student, they will see it as reference material when researching on related topics. The  study will also  expose them on different clothing maintenance practices which they overlook and the consequence of each one. The study will also educate them on the power of good clothing maintenance such as enhancement of one’s appearance, gaining acceptance in the public, and also  improvement of health status of the wearer. Furthermore, the result of the study if published and used in teaching the students, it will enhance students knowledge and their attitude about clothing maintenance.

The outcome of the findings of this study will be of immense benefit to teachers and lecturers of Home Economics when this  information is disseminated through seminars and workshop by those who have gone through it. The result of this study will boost the lecturers knowledge of the skills needed for clothing maintenance such as: replacement of damaged buttons, broken zippers, stitching loose seams among others. The teachers will also use the findings as a reference material when handling clothing maintenance topics.

The information obtained from the findings of this study will be useful to homemakers after receiving talks and practical training through seminars and workshops on the clothing maintenance. The knowledge of the finding will expose the homemakers on proper laundry methods such as: sorting clothes according to colours, mending any tear before washing, removal of stain before washing, drying colour fastening fabrics under shade, among others. The result of the study will also enlighten them more on the importance of repair, renovation and good storage of family clothing. When homemakers begins to practice them, it will save their money and also improve the appearance of their family members.

When the outcome of this study is properly disseminated through enlightenment programme such as seminars and workshops, it will assist families to recognize the importance of clothing maintenance. They will begin to change the attitude of their family members by emphasizing on those clothing maintenance skills which they can handle at family level. Knowledge of proper storage will enable them to store their clothes very well.  When renovation practices is inculcated in them, it will save money that should have been used in purchasing new clothes.

The  findings  of this  study will  add  body to  literature  for  other  researchers  if  this information  is  disseminated  through  seminars,  workshop  and  proper  preservation  by  the librarian.  The  result  of  the  study  will  rekindle  their  interest  toward  clothing  maintenance practices

Research Questions

The following research will guide the study:

1.        What are the clothing renovation practices adopted by rural and urban families in Enugu

State?

2.        What are the clothing repair practices adopted by literate and illiterate families in Enugu

State?

3.        What are the laundry practices adopted by rural and urban families in Enugu State?

4.        What are the clothing storage practices adopted by males and females family members in

Enugu State?

5.       What are the problems encountered by families in clothing maintenance practices?

6.        What  are the  ways of solving the  problems encountered with clothing  maintenance practices by families in Enugu State?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses for the study will be tested at 0.05 level of significance. Ho1:    There is no significant difference in mean rating of rural and urban families on the

clothing renovation practices adopted by them in Enugu State.

Ho2:    Significant difference does not exist between the mean responses of literate and illiterate homemakers on the clothing repair practices adopted by them in Enugu State.

Ho3:    Significant difference does not exist between the mean responses of rural and urban homemakers on the laundry practices of family clothing in Enugu State.

Ho4:    There is no significant difference between the mean responses of males and females family members on the clothing storage practices adopted by families in Enugu state.

Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to enhancing clothing maintenance practices among families in Enugu State. The study focused specifically on the clothing renovation practices adopted by rural and urban families in Enugu State. Clothing repair practices adopted by literate and illiterate families. Laundry practices adopted by rural and urban families. Clothing storage practices adopted by male and female family members in Enugu State. Problems encountered with clothing maintenance among families. The study was also restricted to all the homemakers within the age of 30 – 50 years in the selected areas in Enugu State. The reason for using this age range is because, the homemakers within this age range still have children that cannot maintain their clothing.

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