To ask how often you wear an item of clothes before washing

[Justasconfusedwithnumber2]

Not underwear... And general everyday wear...

[ShinyGiratina]

Pants and tops once. Jumpers, until they need it, same for trousers as they're both protected by under garments. Bras can get a goodfew uses although frequently through the week, I swap for a sports bra so they get frequently aired before I change back.

Now the DC's are a bit older, they're at the pleasant stage of not being filthy just by existing, and not yet malodourous teenagers. I'm trying to train them to make items like trousers and jumpers last.

Excessive washing is a waste of water, energy, washing powder and creates unnecessary work.

[PhilomenaChristmasPie]

Twice. Kids wear their uniforms once except for jumpers and DS2's tie which get washed when they smell/are dirty.

[bloodywhitecat]

Jeans for about a week, tops 2-3 a day (I am currently trapped under a poorly baby who has awful reflux). The baby has 5-6 outfits a day and the toddler has a top a day and her jeans last 2-3 days unless she gets them really mucky at the park/playgroup.

[OpportunityKnocks]

Depends.

If it looks or smells after 1 wear, straight in the wash.
Otherwise, Jeans and jumpers, 3-5 times, depending where I've worn then
T shirts 1-2 times
Fancy dry cleaning workwear, 3 times and up.

Bit more frequently in the summer heat

[KittenVsBox]

Teeshirts - once
Jumpers - til I spill something on it
Jeans- about a week
Trousers - twice
PJ - 3 or 4 nights.


Kids: once for everything.

[OpportunityKnocks]

Baby - after one wear.
DC3, same as me. But it never comes to that because he is always covered in mud :)

[TirisfalPumpkin]

Jeans 30-40 wears, so about every 8 weeks if I’m not wearing them every day. I buy raw denim and want cool fades. They don’t smell, you just keep them well aired between wears and spot-clean any spillages. Some people go years between washes. I am not quite that extreme.

Cotton tees/shirts - once every full day’s wear out. Wearing loungewear around the house extends the life of ‘going out’ clothes, ie if you just pop out briefly in a t shirt it probably isn’t going to need washing.

Other things - no specific limit but when it looks/feels like it needs it.

Rationale for this odd behaviour: I try to live on minimalist/low waste principles so try not to wear out my clothes by excessive washing, so I make my own clothes and I hand wash a lot. It’s quite labour intensive so will make you think, does this item really need washing or will it do another wear before I have to wrangle it into the bathtub.

[Floribundance]

Underwear including bras one day
Trousers/jeans at least 2 wears
Tops, shirts, T-shirts 1 wear
Cardigans, jumpers, jackets several wears
Sports clothes in machine ASAP after stripping off

[honesttogod]

Jeans a couple of days everything else just once.

[Baaaahhhhh]

In agreements with most pp's. Jeans a few days, tops a couple of days. Skirts are hardly ever washed . Coats etc get dry cleaned once at the end of the season.

Kids uniforms, depends on age. Youngest pinafores once a week, cardi once a week, blouses every two or three days. Skirts once a week, jumper once a week, blouses every day.

[SerenDippitty]

Excessive washing is a waste of water, energy, washing powder and creates unnecessary work.

This plus the clothes wear out /fade/bobble quicker.

Pants/socks once, everything else a few times.

[OpportunityKnocks]

@TirisfalPumpkin that's what jeans were originally designed for iirc. Very interesting as it's not common

I'm with you on the reducing washing to reduce wear. If I'm honest, stuff I've bought brand new I wash a lot less and I'm a lot more careful about how and where I wear it, but stuff that's second hand I wash as per my normal principles.

[Frenchw1fe]

Same as most pp's.
But in winter a top may do two days but definitely only one in summer.

[whatsthatnow74]

So long as it still looks and smells clean, then I would wear most things a few times before washing. I can't understand why it would be necessary to wash something after one wear. I think it's pretty shocking to use all of the water/energy/detergent required for clothes washing on something that has only been worn for a few hours!

[ImGoingSlightlyBrad]

Dog walking jeans - only wash when they are really muddy.

Pyjamas - about a week (wear them after an evening shower and take them off to go to bed)

Anything else - once, assuming it's a full day of wear. Though, tbf I am mostly in dog walking jeans.

[TeaAndCake321]

Once generally speaking for most things particularly tops, jeans I will wear more than once though. My children 4 and 2 everything pretty much once, might sometimes leave a vest on 2 days but kids don't sweat, it's just the outer clothes that are dirty. My husband has much lower standards...!

I once discussed this with someone at work and she found it weird I didn't wear a top more than once, including vest tops/t-shirts. I found it gross the thought of putting a dirty top I'd had on all day after a shower in the morning, I'd feel dirty. If I shower part way through the day I actually put a clean top and underwear on. No wonder the washing machine never stops!

[Anonanonanonanonanonanonanon]

I have noticed that since I stopped using fragranced antiperspirant (I switched to Pitrock which neutralises odours using some kind of natural mineral), my pits smell much less, and my clothes last much longer between washes - also I no longer get yellow armpit stains. These days, I give the clothes a sniff and check for food splats. If nothing offensive / obvious, I will wear again.

I can wear the same top four or five times before I wash it. With jeans I'll wear the same pair the whole week. Sometimes I hang them back in the wardrobe unwashed because they don't need a wash but I feel like a change and/or I know I'm going to see the same friends two or three days in a row and they might judge me for not obsessively washing everything I've worn once.

[MangoFeverDream]

Anything expensive will be washed rarely. Laundering ruins clothes so I prefer wearing and washing arm guards and the like so I’m not sweating into them.

Kid stuff or my normal stuff gets washed after one wear though.

[Purpleartichoke]

Once, but only because I have bad allergies and my clothes pick up allergens whenever I leave the house.

[Mia1415]

I wash my clothes every time I've worn them. PJ's and bedding is once a fortnight and towels once a week.

[ILikeyourHairyHands]

I do that with my jeans too Tirisfal, if they get a bit whiffy you can put them in the freezer to kill any bacteria, keeps them fresher for longer!

I've got lots of cashmere, merino, silk and dry-clean only clothes, they don't get washed very often as it's not kind to them, I rotate what I wear frequently and hang and air them after wearing. Cooking smells linger so I wear something more washable and less stainable for cooking but if your body's clean things shouldn't need washing as frequently as you think. I bathe every day, (don't wear deodorant as I'm not a particularly sweaty person), according to much of MN I must reek but people often comment on how nice I smell!

People washing clothes every day and wearing synthetics is one of the reasons there are so many microplastics in water.

[dottiedodah]

Trousers about 4 days ,tops 2 days,socks 2 days, pants every day .How often does everyone wash coats BTW? Usually once or twice per winter for me

[Cantuccit]

Gosh all the once-washers must sweat a lot or have bad BO.

No way do my tops smell after one or two wears.


Most things once. Jeans I’ll wear quite a few times before washing. I definitely don’t wash my bras often enough

Don't get this, so you wash tops after one wear and your bra after many wears? Bizarre.

[Floribundance]

I’ve found using bar soap instead of shower gel has made a difference. The armpits of my tops don’t smell of anything but deodorant after a day of wear. Unfortunately the rest of the top smells of whatever I cooked for dinner

[KimikosDreamHouse]

Anything expensive will be washed rarely. Laundering ruins clothes so I prefer wearing and washing arm guards and the like so I’m not sweating into them

I'm 100% with you. I'm amazed at all these people washing cardigans after 1 wear.

So long as it still looks and smells clean, then I would wear most things a few times before washing. I can't understand why it would be necessary to wash something after one wear. I think it's pretty shocking to use all of the water/energy/detergent required for clothes washing on something that has only been worn for a few hours!

Agree with this too.