To massively reduce how often I wash clothes?

[MyOtherProfile]

I'm always thinking of ways to lessen our impact on the planet and have recently started wearing clothes many more times than I used to. Previously I would wear things probably twice (undies excepted!) before washing but I've been thinking that even that might be too much. I look for dirt and I smell check but now I'm only washing clothes when they fail either of those checks. I'm now on the 5th day of the top I'm wearing (not consecutive so nobody would know). Sid anyone else doing this? I don't really want to hear from people who are just going to say ewww I have to wash clothes after every wear.

No and no

I never wear anything more than once - even if its only been on a few hours - it gets washed

No idea why as I'm not particularly fastidious. I just can so I do.

If I could be bothered, I'd wash the bed clothes every day as nothing is nicer than a fresh made bed

I wash clothes when they are dirty - sometimes that means after one wear (been sweaty or spilled something) sometimes it's after several wears 🤷🏽‍♀️

Obviously socks pants etc are one wear only!

Everything other than pants get a sniff test and stain observation. If it passes, it passes. There has been another thread on this, and I think the majority of people now wear things longer than they used to. Things that don't directly touch your pits or bits really don't get dirty if you are just in an office or house all day.

I also wear tops and trousers several times if I can get away with it. As you say, no one knows if you’re not wearing it consecutive days. It’s harder in warmer months, but then I dry on the line outside and it’s quicker, so I don’t mind so much.

Everything gets washed, tumbled dried and hung up again.

Don't have. a washing line

Jumpers and jeans can be worn multiple times.

Suits ditto.

Dresses I may wear once or twice, depending on circumstances.

Tops I will rewear if I've only worn them for a couple of hours (e.g. if I've got changed into a t shirt after getting home in the evening I might wear it again the next day).

Gym clothes, socks, underwear etc after every wear.

Obviously it will vary from person to person as everyone sweats a different amount.

If your clothes are free of stains and don't smell I don't see why you couldn't wear them again.

I’m trying to do similar OP. I used to wash everything after one wear, until it struck me how ridiculous and wasteful it was. I’m not a particularly sweaty person, don’t do many activities that involve getting dirty, and I shower most days so really can’t see why clothes would need washing so often. I check for stains & give them a sniff. Pants and socks excepted, obviously.

Same OP. Socks and pants 1 wear only, same for sports gear. Tops maybe one or two wears. Everything else probably far too many wears!!
I’m always horrified by the posters on here that wash everything after just 1 wear.

Things like t shirts might only get one wear due to sweat ect.

Things like jeans pfffft, when they get up and try and run away they get a go in the machine.

Well, according to MN, everything has to be washed several times if you have glanced at it sideways. There's minging; there's clean, fresh and presentable; there's very fastidious and then there's obsessive and damaging to the environment. Hopefully I am in category 2!

Usually I only wear tops once because I am very active - no car so I walk everywhere, so I'm conscious of perspiration smells!

I wear trousers and jeans until they are dirty or I think they need a wash. Same for DS.

Pants and socks washed after one wear. I wear bras until they are dirty!

We are a family of 2 (me and DS) and I do maximum of 3 washes a week.

I wear things more than once (apart from knickers obviously). My difficulty is remembering if I was wearing it last time if I'm going to be seeing someone !!

I wish I could get away with washing less frequently but with a snotty drooling toddler I am constantly battling a smear of snail trail over everything I wear. I'm covered before I even leave the house in the morning and early get to wear things more than once.

Oh and towels - get washed weekly. I'm baffled by people who wash towels after one use.

If it doesn’t smell or isn’t stained, it gets worn again.

The only thing I can think of when people on here say they wash all their clothes after every single wear is that they must only buy wash and wear clothes. I spend a lot of money on my clothes and the majority of them simply can’t be washed each wear: cashmere jumpers, silk shirts and dresses, leather trousers. I air things out and hand wash jumpers maybe twice a year. Jeans I wear for about 8 times before washing them, and only then because they go baggy around the knees and bum. You must wear your clothes out extremely quickly if you wash them every time your wear them. I’m clean when I get dressed and don’t work a physical job so I don’t see the point. Underclothes, t-shirts/vests, gym gear and dog walking clothes are another matter, of course.

If it looks and smells clean I wear it, I don't count the days .Though obviously clean knicks daily.
DD though gets through masses of clothes and they always smell a bit despite daily showers and copious smelly toiletries. So apart from sweatshirts, her stuff gets washed after every wear. She also spills on everything🙄

There was a competitive washing thread on here a few weeks ago.. couldn't believe that some people wash their pjs after a single use ..

I'm in the 'not stained, smells fine, wear again' camp. Always have been. Washing repeatedly is not good for clothes.

Even though the OP says she doesn't want to hear from the clean freaks, the first post is the "ewwww I don't give a stuff about the planet I have to wash everything after it's worn once".

I hear you OP and I think that automatic washing machines and the ease of washing has totally skewed our idea of "clean". I'm not advocating that we all go back to the twin tub or hand washing and a mangle. That would be ridiculous.

But on the other hand, chucking something in the wash just because it's been worn a couple of hours, with no consideration as to whether it's clean or not, is ludicrous.

The top I had on yesterday went in the wash this morning because I cooked fish wearing it last night and when I picked it up this morning it didn't smell fresh. But most tops can last at least two days. I'm not doing a physical job which gets me hot and sweaty. I'll spot clean things with a cloth if I drop spag bol on my jeans. I also think that people equate "fresh" to "smelling like fabric conditioner or washing powder". Just because something no longer smells of washing powder doesn't mean it's dirty.

There are five of us in this house and I probably do 5 washes a week. (at 30c and on the eco setting. We don't have a tumble dryer either). I don't ever use fabric conditioner and dry outside whenever I can. I want my clothes to smell neutral and of fresh air only, not of artificial scents and washing powders. Yuk.

Apart from underwear the only things that get washed after one use are ds stuff, but only because he's weaning and even if he's wearing a bib (one of those huge things with sleeves) he still gets food all over himself 😂 and dhs work shirts.

You are not unreasonable at all to do the check and sniff test before deciding if it actually needs to be washed.

Thank you, OP. I am always so glad to hear of people's efforts to reduce their environmental impact. Thank goodness! I also think it is really important to share these thoughts and ideas to normalise the conversation around 'dialling down' our idea of 'normal'; whether it is laundering clothing less often, using gentler cleaning products, flying less, eating less meat and dairy, etc.

It depends what it is/where I’m going/what I’m doing.

Generally I like to put on clean fresh clothing after my shower every morning. I don’t like going to work in clothes That aren’t fresh. But if I went out to the cinema in the evening or for dinner and only wore the clothes for a few hours I’ll hang them on hangers by the window and air them for a day then out back in wardrobe. I do have some old lounging about joggers that I throw on after work in the evenings and I wash them weekly. They don’t get dirty as I’m only in the house and only wearing them a few hours each evening. Pyjamas I wash daily as I get hot at night. Socks and pants washed daily. And towels washed daily too.

That’s a very god point of what people perceive to smell clean and the association with fabric conditioner and washing powder.

I'm baffled by people who wash towels after one use.

I’m baffled by people who dont!

Pants, socks , tights - one wear only.
Anything else I dont wash until it's visibly dirty or whiffs a bit. I have a shower in the morning and a bath in the evening so my clothes stay pretty clean, especially as I'm usually parked on my arse in my office all day not rushing around sweating.

It's a variety of reasons- environmental, too time consuming (me and DH work FT), and most of my clothes are black and fade if they are washed a lot. Overall, over- washing ruins fabric and elastic. My bras are very rarely washed .

Most of my work wear is dry clean only so it has to have several/ many wears. I spruce it up with my steam mop from time to time. Shirts are washed but I get three wears on average out of them.

My kids on the other hand never seem to get more than one wear out of anything!