When a loom item breaks, it goes down by 1 in the list.
So if it's a +3, it goes to +2. If it breaks again, it goes to +1. Again, to the normal one.
That actually give you 4 times less repair, if you wait for the item to be a bit sucky before repairing it.
And yes, that's a lot. Just a shame the current reparation system only allows a "repair as soon as something breaks" and a "never repair", and not a little "repair as soon as an item goes to -1"