Do you wash your clothes straight away if you have worn them to the dentist/doctor/restaurant?

[Madeyoulook]

It never occurred to me before the pandemic to do that but I am more aware of germs these days and I have also read on here about people not allowing ‘outdoor clothes’ on the bed which again would not have been on my radar. I would normally wear clothes again if they looked clean.

What do you do if the clothes are clean? Rewear them or wash them straight away?

Now got an image of Niles Crane wiping down the seat in the coffee shop before sitting down!

I wonder if those of us who are less precious about clothes touching an area that someone else’s clothes may have touched have pets (particularly of the dog or cat variety)

Not everyday clothes. Work clothes yes as I work in a hospital, clean tunic everyday but I have 3 pairs of trousers I rotate.

Of course they would, anyone in a health setting would.

This makes no sense from a 'contamination' pov. If you think there's a health risk from the clothes then shouldn't you take them off before going in the home and put them in a sealed bag before washing them, at 60 degrees. Won't the act of taking them off waft the contamination around the room you take them off in?

I think I'm correct in stating that people wearing hazmat suits are taught how to put them on and off and get help from someone else when doing so also.

Aren't germs unproblematic unless they're inhaled or ingested?

I wouldn't wash them straight away, but nor would I wear them around the house. I'd take them off when I got in and hang them up separately to put on again next time I went out.

No. I had a hospital apt yesterday. I wore jeans a jumper and a vest. I will probably commit the MN crime of wearing all 3 items again. I did put my underwear in the wash of course.

I am going to get some disinfectant for boots and shoes we wear in the garden though as we have chickens, so we need to take precautions against bird flu (the chickens are in an enclosed house but we occassionally need to go in it)

No - but i know someone who does. And washes hair. And anti-bac wipes their shoes when they get home.

To clarify I DON’T wash my clothes after being in the dentist etc but it did cross my mind and I wondered if people did.

Blimey, no!

I get changed as soon as I get in, but my clothes only go in the wash if they need it; eg if I've been quite sweaty, they've got marked or have been worn before. I don't get out much so rarely have my clothes on long enough for them to need to go straight in the wash.

There's only 2 of us but we still generate loads of laundry. I'm not going to add to it unnecessarily. Can't afford to!

Of course, I think everyone works in health care does, you get covered in all sorts.

I work in care, the only time I do strip off, put clothes right in the washing machine and shower is when I come home from a shift. But that’s because I’ve usually been spat at, grabbed, had food chucked at me, got other peoples bodily fluids on me and generally stink of the place. I feel bloody disgusting after 12 hours of all that.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Covid ruined everything really. I used to lick everything in the waiting room and then the dentist from head to toe and now I just sheepishly enter wearing a mask. 😔

Yes, what I miss the most is licking strangers in Tesco. I see this sadness in others too.

Fucking covid.

Not after doc or dentist but we go out once a week for dinner and drinks and more drinks sometimes at home (with a little house disco to ourselves) so I would chuck my going out clothes in the wash.

I bet dentists don't.

Honestly it's just bonkers, totally bonkers to be even thinking these thoughts

No wonder the planet is fucked if you and others are behaving this way.

Well I don’t think the planet is fucked just because I had some thoughts about my clothes at the dentist. And I wore the clothes again!

Nope. Only exception is ‘plane clothes’. When I arrive at hotel I get changed immediately and then when leaving to catch plane I change into the ‘plane clothes’ I arrived in. I just think airports/planes are hotbeds of filth but each to their own. I couldn’t give a toss about hospitals, surgeries, restaurants or anywhere else and happily sit in my bed in those clothes as well.

No because I'm not mentally deranged.

I can't abide fussiness about stuff like that.

Do the people who wash their clothes the minute they return from one of these apparently germ-infested places also wash their coat (assuming they've worn one) or have it dry-cleaned every single time?

Lol

I have indoor clothes and outdoor clothes. But that is because I am not well my indoor clothes are comfortable. I try to wash less than I used to. Difficult with a sporty dh!

During the pandemic I had no colds/flu/covid for almost two years. I did however sit on a few trains, and sit in waiting rooms at gp, hospital and dentist. I even sat down on the London tube. I sat on my bed in those clothes and wore them again before cleaning. What is the evidence that clothing is significant for spreading germs? Unless you maybe work in hospitals and are surrounded by sick people all day/have a low immune system this just seems ridiculous and paranoid.

There's clean and there's sterile. I think this trend towards trying to make anything and everything we might come in contact with sterile or entirely free of any sort of environmental 'contaminant' is not good.

Wash your hands, keep them out of your mouth and don't lick things while you're out and about. That should do the trick.

I'm sure some people do, but I would not look to those people for healthy living advice.

I don’t care about “outdoor clothes“ on the bed.
I change into house clothes as soon as I get home anyway. I usually rewear clothes if they are clean but I often put them in the wash if I have been to the doctors or dentists or to the hospital. Clothes are generally dirty if I’ve been out in them.
Some of the responses here are ridiculous. “Mentally deranged”? If you do this because of ocd then it comes from an illness but it’s not “mentally deranged”. But it’s not even necessarily abnormal behaviour on it’s own. Nobody would get committed just for putting their clothes in the wash having been to the doctors.

No. I wash them when they need them.