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

[tinklykeys]

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..

All this washing must be terrible for the environment! Jeans, skirts etc really don't need it and I put them back in the wardrobe- never occurred to me not too.
There seems a lot of difference between people, when some people use the same sheets for weeks and some wash jeans after one wearing.

I couldn't face washing everything after one wear, plus my dry cleaning bill would be huge. Most stuff gets 2-3 wears and I definitely don't smell.

YANBU. If clothes are clean enough to be worn again they go back into the wardrobe, why on earth not? I certainly don't wash everything I have worn just once - I'm wearing suits and suit dresses most days, my drycleaning bill would be astronomical.

I never had moths. Or any other contamination, as far as I'm aware.

Tops/cardis I will wear once or twice, I normally give the armpits a sniff too see if I get a second wear from it. Jeans and trousers I will easily wear 2-3 times, especially jeans! I hang stuff up back in the wardrobe between wears, couldn't bear having it all over the house. Never had moths and clean stuff in wardrobe always smells fresh when its been stored with worn stuff.
I'd be forever over-run with laundry if I washed everything after one wash!

Blimey O'Rielly! I am amazed and begoggled by this thread. I thought the clean towel after one use was a tad excessive, but I am more than a mite surprised by what some MNers views on 'hygiene' and 'contamination' are in the clothes storage department. It had never occurred to me not to put a once or twice worn item neatly back in my wardrobe, or a drawer, unless they are soiled in some way and need a immediate wash. My clothes go onto a clean, non-smelly, body. I don't sweat, unless it's really hot - then, of course, sweaty stuff goes straight in the wash. Knickers, PJ bottoms, socks/tights and white things are the only things I'd normally wash after one wear. It has always puzzled me why some MNers utility bills are so high! And I have never, ever had a clothes moth problem.

KristinaM and tinklykeys - thank you for your reassurance. I know what you're saying Kristina, the difference is that most people on here wouldn't be distressed if they couldn't do as they normally would, and that is the difference. They're not like me. Also very true that with OCD you get no pleasure from doing things to avoid 'contamination'. You just feel worried. Deep down I know when I'm doing something for OCD reasons. I have just got so used to people telling me how they don't worry about things that hearing 'normal' people say they did threw me a bit! I'm going to focus on the many of you who are relaxed about things.

Anyway thank you both

I am with you Ohmymimi. Finding this thread bizarre in the extreme. Knickers and tights go in the washing basket after one wear. Bras I get quite a few wears before they need a wash. They wouldn't last more than a month if you are washing them every day. I have to wear smart clothes for work and there is No Way they need washing every day. They get washed (or sent to the cleaners) if they are dirty. I don't smell (fragrant don't you know ), they don't smell, I am 57 and have never ever had a problem with moths. I wash at the weekend - one load of whites, one of colour, one of bed linen, one of towels (changed weekly). I thought this was normal till today. My DSs can wear three or four different t shirts for a couple of hours in day. Would you lot wash them rather than just hanging them up again? What about evening dresses? Do you not just hang them back up in the wardrobe until the next time you need them? Genuinely fascinated.

PS - I've never had a smelly jeans' crotch. I know this because I've just been through my jeans' drawer and had a quick crotch sniff - they all smell sweet, pure and hygienic, and I've worn some of them multiple times.

I don't wash after 1 wear for everything but don't put back in wardrobe either, I have one of those over door hangers to put them on

I'm amazed at the people who wash jeans after one wear. You wear knickers, right?

I wear jeans till they look and smell grubby - that could be ten wears!

Hand wash cardis - I wash them sometimes... once every 6 months

This thread has astonished me!! Who has the time?!?!

I'm with the camp of clean stuff in the wardrobe, knickers, socks and anything that's been too near my armpits straight in the wash - everything else lurks folded in top if one of the blanket boxes we use to store linen and towels until it's actually dirty then gets washed. It's not that it will contaminate the wardrobe but that I'll loose track of what is clean and can do a few wears and what is part worn and should only have one more before the wash. I don't want it to actually smell or look grubby to notice.

It seems to be the people who wash clothes after every wear that have the problem with moths!

I dont wash my clothes after every wash and I only started to not put un washed stuff into wardrobe AFTER we discovered moth issues.

unlucky83 Wed 20-Aug-14 23:39:12

Indeed!

I used to see moths in our bedroom and never thought anything of it. A year later the penny dropped.

Massive massive clear outs.

PS - I've never had a smelly jeans' crotch. I know this because I've just been through my jeans' drawer and had a quick crotch sniff - they all smell sweet, pure and hygienic, and I've worn some of them multiple times

Our washing schedule is not strict, all bed linen every two weeks. other stuff as and when really.

I wash T shirts/tops, knickers, tights and socks after one wash. Or anything I've spilled food on.

Everything else goes either back in the cupboard or on a chair.

Admittedly we do have a moth problem but a) so do most people in my area, and I bet some of them are wash-after-one-wear types, and b) the clothes the moths have gone for are the CLEAN jumpers sitting at the bottom of the drawer that haven't been worn for ages.

YANBU. I don't put anything worn straight back in I hang it to air first and pop it back the next day. T shirts etc straight into the laundry though. Hell I have enough ironing to do at the best of times.

I don't understand the bit about leaving once-worn clothes out of the wardrobe.

If, say, on Day 1 I wear my blue jeans, then Day 2, green jeans, Day 3, chinos, Day 4, white jeans etc. etc. then I would end the week with an empty jeans drawer and a massive pile of clothes...somewhere...in my bedroom. Multiply this across tops, jackets, skirt etc. and my room would look like a jumble sale.

Do all you wardrobe-avoiders not vary what you wear from one day to the next? Or do you wear the same outfit for several days, then change it?

Or perhaps you don't have as many pairs of jeans as me....

And now I understand why I seem to do a lot less washing than other MNetters when those threads start

Worn once clothes on a pile on the chair. I only don't put them in the wardrobe because I'd forget if I'd worn them once already...

And jeans only get washed if they are dirty.

CointreauVersial. I put my worn before trousers/skirts on the back of the box room door. There's probably about 6 pairs there but as they are in there I don't see them, as it is the spare room. Cardigans just lay on the chest of drawers but only a couple or so and the odd top but I would wear that the next day generally if it was clean

But if you can't tell the difference between a once worn pair of jeans and a never worn pair -why does it matter ?

Why can't they hang side by side in the wardrobe /on the shelf ?

I think I wash stuff too much....
Sheets - once a week in winter, twice a week in summer
Towels - twice a week
School uniform - daily - whatever it looks like
Underwear/pj's/bra's/socks - worn once then washed
Jeans/trousers - worn twice (though DH sometimes wears his for 5 days)
Dresses - worn once or twice (and left hanging on wardrobe - not in!)
DH/DC t-shirts - worn once
Jumpers etc... usually worn 2-10 times - depending on when feel need washing. I put worn jumpers back nicely folded in wardrobe with other jumpers.
I love this thread!

That's interesting Kate. I shall go and check

That is what I was going to say but thought I'd get flamed so deleted my post! Thanks InculKate