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AIBU?

..to think its ok to put clothes back in wardrobe after wearing?!

284 replies

tinklykeys · 20/08/2014 20:48

Ok so it's my first AIBU and I'm scared, so be nice. I'm just intrigued to know others thoughts are on this...

My DH is a very naturally clean, neat, organised person. I'm not, but I've worked at it since we got married 12 years ago and things are in a reasonable state now..

So, the crux of the problem. DH believes that once clothes have been worn, they can't be returned to the wardrobe/chest of drawers until they've been washed, as they might contaminate the clean clothes in there. I've gone along with this as he did the laundry when we first got married and both worked. Now I do mine and the DCs as I'm a SAHM I've been thinking about it more and it bugs me because...

  1. There are some clothes that don't need washing immediately, such as jeans, woollies, maybe a t-shirt. I can't put these clothes away at the end of the day so they end up in a pile on the sofa, or on the floor, or over a chair.

  2. I end up wearing the same clothes (especially jeans) as I'd rather wear something that is already out than pull out something else.

    So, AIBU to think it would be ok to put clothes that have been worn but are not visibly dirty, back in the cupboard at the end of the day? What does everyone else do??

    Sorry if it makes no sense..
OP posts:
MrsDavidBowie · 20/08/2014 20:51

Apart from a cardigan perhaps, I wash all clothes after one wear.

InculKate · 20/08/2014 20:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThirteenMeetings · 20/08/2014 20:54

I always wash tops after they've been worn once, and usually trousers (except jeans, curiously) - basically anything that's been next to the skin. Skirts I might wear three or four times before they go in the wash, so they go back in the wardrobe.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 20/08/2014 20:56

YABU

I don't put anything that's been worn back in the wardrobe until it's been washed.

KnittedJimmyChoos · 20/08/2014 20:57

hello


Pre moth geddon I would say your DH is anal. But having battled moths for months, and the fact they LOVE sweaty, dirty clothes with bits of skin on them and perhaps food, wash wash wash wash wash.

Wash. You dont want Moth Geddon.

ShoeWhore · 20/08/2014 20:58

YANBU! Especially for the dcs, their stuff really doesn't always need washing after one wear (food stains notwithstanding Grin )

I change my tops socks and undies every day but happily put jeans, jumpers etc away for another day.

LindyHemming · 20/08/2014 20:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bloodyteenagers · 20/08/2014 21:00

The clean clothes pick up the scent of the worn clothes. Massive bugbear of mine, dp does it all the fecking time. Even worse was when the idiot put one of his tops on top of mine.

CorporateRockWhore · 20/08/2014 21:00

I don't put worn clothes back in with clean stuff. I would feel like it was contaminating all my nice clean washing!

SloeGinFizz · 20/08/2014 21:00

I think the mess of having clothes strewn over the place would annoy me!
I put things back in the wardrobe and clothes get washed when they need it - some more often than others. I can assure you I don't look or feel unclean or unkempt!
I don't think you're being unreasonable.

MrsTerryPratchett · 20/08/2014 21:00

I'm Team DH and I'm normally the filthy slattern on these threads Grin

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 20/08/2014 21:01

I don't put anything back, it either goes in the wash or stays out to be worn again in the next day or so. Partly I don't put them back because of the moth attracting thing, partly because I'd rather wear them again in a day or so than have them half clean and maybe not worn again for weeks in a drawer or wardrobe. I'm not a particularly tidy person so I don't mind things being out within reason.

yummymumtobe · 20/08/2014 21:04

After every wash?! Crazy! I don't wash clothes (other than underwear unless it is dirty or smells). I do at least one load of washing a day and don't have drying space to do any more! It's my understanding that moths like dark places which aren't disturbed much. My wardrobe is always open with me pulling stuff out and putting it back in so not a happy place for moths.

echt · 20/08/2014 21:05

I hang up garments such as woollens, jackets, and skirts to air before returning to the wardrobe. Underwear, tops, socks and so on go in the wash, though if I'm going to garden the next day, I might get another session out of a t-shirt.

WanderingTrolley1 · 20/08/2014 21:06

Yanbu.

Undies, yes, changed each day. T-shirts, it depends, jeans/cardis, worn a few times before washing.

tinklykeys · 20/08/2014 21:06

Ooh a mixed bag thanks! So for those of you who understandably don't want moths or smell contamination and don't put anything back till it's been washed, what do you do with it? Wash everything after one wear? It seems so wasteful! However glad to hear my DH isn't alone and massively anal as I maybe thought

OP posts:
AlpacaYourThings · 20/08/2014 21:07

Huh?! Dirty clothes attract moths?! Did not know that.

I won't confess to how many times I wear clothes before I wash them... I fear I may upset the thread!

MaidOfStars · 20/08/2014 21:07

I never put worn clothes back into the wardrobe. I have a special box in my bedroom Ikea job for my 'worn but wear again' clothes.

'Worn but wear again' clothes are mostly jeans, jumpers that haven't been on long and bras (for a max of two wears, exercise/sweatiness aside).

'Never wear again before washing' clothes are everything else, even if I have only worn them for ten minutes.

catsofa · 20/08/2014 21:08

I have clean stuff only in the wardrobe/drawers etc, dirty stuff on the floor or waiting in the washing machine until there's a full load.

Underwear and tops get washed after either one day's wear or enough of a day to get sweaty or otherwise dirty.

Other things inhabit the twilight zone of the backs of chairs and tops of tables. This is the zone of clothes worn once and waiting to be worn again soon so they get dirty enough to go in the wash and back in the wardrobe. I try to wear things out of these piles the way you might try to use up leftovers and anything that's about to go off in the fridge for your next meal.

If I put worn things back in the wardrobe I don't know how I'd know that it needed a wash sooner than any of the other things in there.

hagarthorne · 20/08/2014 21:08

Not back in the wardrobe or in the wash. On a free standing hanging rail until needed again.

Me624 · 20/08/2014 21:09

Wow am I filthy? Underwear and socks are obviously wear once and wash items. Most tops as well, though I'll sometimes wear a t shirt again if I've only had it on for a couple of hours after work for example.

Jeans, jumpers, cardis, skirts, quite a lot of work dresses - they get washed when they need to be, which may be after one wear but frequently is after 2 or more. In between they get hung back up in the wardrobe, otherwise they'd get all creased. I've never even seen a moth in my wardrobe and they don't smell.

BornToFolk · 20/08/2014 21:10

I'm with Euphemia. I frequently put my own worn but not dirty clothes back in the wardrobe, especially work things as I work some short days so if I've only worn a blouse for a few hours (and managed not to spill my lunch down it!) then I'll hang it up and wear again until it needs a wash. Other clothes that don't need hanging up and that I'll wear again soon stay on top of the washing basket.
If DS manages to get through the day without dirtying himself, then his clothes go on a chair in his bedroom. His things rarely go back in his drawers as he can wear them again the next day.

I feel like I'm constantly doing washing as it is and it's only me and DS - if I washed after every wear, I'd do nothing but laundry!

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thenightsky · 20/08/2014 21:10

A lot of my work clothes (dresses, suit trousers and skirts and jackets) are dry clean only, so of course I get a number of wears out of them. I cannot be getting stuff dry cleaned after only one wear!

Kiffykaffycoffee · 20/08/2014 21:10

YABU to keep washed & worn stuff together, it's unhygienic. I don't wash everything after one wash - trousers, skirts and smarter dresses get worn a few times before washing - but the things that get worn more than once get stored in a separate place from the unworn stuff. This goes for stuff kept in drawers (ie T shirts and woollens) as well as stuff kept in the wardrobe (stuff that needs ironing).
I save on washing by allowing a few days between wearings then wearing the same thing again. I never wear the same thing two days running.

maggiethemagpie · 20/08/2014 21:11

I have a 'drop box' on the bedroom floor (if I'm being good - otherwise it is just the actual floor) where I put the worn but not quite ready for the wash clothes. I probably wear clothes a couple of days, three at a push, before they are ready for the wash. I kind of go on whether they feel a bit icky to the touch. Cardis and the like can go a while inbetween washes but clothes next to the skin I'd say 1-2 days. Except undies - that'd be daily.

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