To massively reduce how often I wash clothes?

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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.

I wear clothes more than once but I think 5x is pushing it a bit!

I wash towels every other day,I love fresh towels.

I wonder how many of those claiming to wash clothes after one wearing make a fuss about plastics and so on. A bad case of double standards.

I rarely sweat so unless it's very hot out I will wear most clothes (undies excepted) two or three times.

I find trousers with a polyester mix cannot be worn more than once though - sniff test is very important!!!

Wouldn't dream of washing towels after one use.

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

I’m baffled by people who dont! grin*

Half the UK is currently underwater with more rain on the way. Meanwhile they've only recently managed to put Australia out. Does that baffle you too?

I wonder how people who wash their clothes after one wear claiming that it is minging to do anything else cope with suits and other dry clean clothes. Of course they may just not wear those sorts of clothes, but I wonder what they think should be done regarding them.

Are you going to change your behaviour on the basis of the replies to this thread?

This totally falls into the category of choices that don't need anyone else's input. Why does your decision on how often you wash your clothes have anything to do with how often I wash mine?

Do what you want with your own clothing, but for the love of god, there’s no need for the 76th billionth bloody thread about it, will people not ever get bored of discussing bloody laundry?

Sniff test ... but only after I've aired the bedroom and been outdoors for a while, I wouldn't notice my smell so much if I'd just got up. Straight in the washing machine once smelly, switch it on when there's a full load.

I do find pyjamas and dressing gown need washing quite frequently but certainly not every day. This keeps the sheets fresher.

Some stretchy things need washing to regain their shape after a couple of wears, leggings for example.

I grew up with my clothes being returned to me unwashed if they'd seen less than a week (if not a fortnight) of use. My single pair of jeans came back 12 weeks in a row on the occasion I decided to count, because I 'only wore them at the weekend'. In keeping with this ethos, one bath a week was all that was permitted and towels were never washed. Waste of water and detergent/softener and soap/shampoo and money, you know. And it 'wasn't natural'.

Having been the manky kid with filthy socks, stained knickers and the constant feeling of being icky/dirty/oily/grimy because my clothes were filthy, I have to say bollocks to everybody and bollocks to the environment on this.

The only things that aren't washed after every wear are a woollen coat, a puffa and scarves.

I change knickers and socks every day. I usually wear a bra for about 3 days before washing.

Other clothes varies a lot. Around the house I wear pyjama bottoms and a long sleeved top in winter, short sleeved top in summer. Unless I spill something down them or get very sweaty I will wear the bottoms for around 4 days and the top 2 possibly 3 days.

I wash jumpers after about 3 or 4 wears but it also depends how long I wear them each time. If it's only for a couple of hours I will wear them more.

T. shirts are the same but if it's summer and I get hot and sweaty then I will wash them after 1 wear.

Obviously if I spill something on anything it gets washed.

Trousers I probably wear 3 or 4 times but jeans I wear lots of times. You are not meant to keep washing jeans. I probably only wash them about once every couple of months and wear them quite a lot when going out.

Bedding is washed every week as are towels. Why on earth would you wash towels after one use?

Tops, I wear twice or three times. But I wear a camisole underneath, which gets changed daily. Undies and socks, one wear only, with the exception of bras. Trousers get several wears. Towels get washed once a week as does bedding.

I am conciously trying to wear my clothes more carefully and to buy less, so this is part of it.

Because of environmental concerns coconuttelegraph. Because often, we do something one way because it's never really occurred to us that there might be an alternative. Until somebody mentions it.

Clearly there have been huge behavioral changes within the last couple of generations. As laundry has become automated and less labour intensive, we have started to wash our clothing more often. Now people are considering the ramifications of that.

I think people wash bed clothes way way too frequently. Unless you don't shower daily, bed sheets don't need cleaning more frequently than every 2-3 weeks tops

Well, as we die off from overheating the planet, at least those who wash every garment after every wash will have the satisfaction of smelling of detergent.

I live in a fairly drafty house and in winter I don't need to change a shirt after one wear. I like to think I might have grandchildren one day and they might still have a planet.

It is just making extra work. Life's too short

how long does it take you to plonk a load of washing in the machine and switch it on really? Drying and folding clothes only takes a few minutes.

Technically showering and brushing my teeth is even more time consuming, but my comfort is worth the few minutes a day.

I waste more time on MN than I do on my 1 or 2 load of laundry a day.

I wear clothes once. But only do a big wash once or twice a week. Gym stuff after use on a eco wash.

You're not unreasonable, it's entirely up to you how often you wash your clothes. Some things can be worn a couple of times especially when the weather is cold - jumper, skirt, cardigan, trousers, that sort of thing and obviously jackets and coats but they usually entail dry cleaning. A good brush and an air out will do for those for a while.

From what you said in your opening post, you do the right tests and if something was stained or smelled, you wouldn't put it on.

When I was at work I always washed my blouses/shirts and summer dresses after wearing them for a day, they didn't feel fresh otherwise. I treated those in the same way as I did my underwear and hosiery. It's different when you retire though, I wear different things in retirement to my work attire - generally far more casual - and often put on a blouse or T shirt that I wore the day before for a short time.

It all depends on your lifestyle, your work, travel type and length of journey to and from work. At least nobody smokes on public transport now so that is one smell we won't catch on our clothes.

Good for you thinking about the environment; I do the same now as far as I can but, as I said earlier, I'm retired, I no longer have to leave the house at 7.30 each day facing a journey of 1.5 hours to work on train and tube, arriving immaculate!

Jeans SHOULDNT be washed. Levi's say that on them.

I wash mine on cool, after a lot of wear, if I've worn them to work it'll usually be a week (can be a manual job at times) otherwise....they get folded and put back in the drawer until they go baggy then a cool wash.

Shirts, unfortunately usually once a wear, just because you know...pits haha. But as soon as I find a half decent anti perspirsant that works I'll cut that.

Pants, one use before washing obviously.

Tops, as and when they get / look dirty/smelly

I always look smart and presentable.

Blazers/jackets....god, once a year?

Towels, once a week unless someone has toothpasted on them.

Flannels, well I have 7. So once a week they all go in.

Bedding once a week/ten days.

My house always looks and smells fresh and clean, but I don't use harsh chemicals really.

YANBU
I only wash clothes when they are either visibly dirty or smell (apart from underwear which is changed every day).

Underwear, socks, tights are worn once. Shirts, blouses, t shirts worn next to the skin (armpits) are usually worn once; the exceptions being that T-shirt’s worn for a couple of hours after work will usually be worn again after work the next day. Skirts, trousers, sweaters, cardigans etc will be worn many times. Clothes not going into the wash are put on hangers and hung up to “air” before going back in the wardrobe.

Such a waste of resources to wash clothing when not necessary.

We do it too much because it is easy, if we were all hand washing there would be alot less done, never mind if we had to carry it down to the river and pound it on stones.

Back in the 50s when I was a kid your mum would look at your clothes and say, "You'll get another wear out of that." I look at my GC who sometimes seem to have 2 or 3 changes a day.

they get folded and put back in the drawer until they go baggy then a cool wash.

THAT I find absolutely minging. Dirty clothes put away with clean clothes, I can't see the point.

Back in the 50s when I was a kid your mum would look at your clothes and say, "You'll get another wear out of that." I look at my GC who sometimes seem to have 2 or 3 changes a day.

speaking with people who lived before and during the war, and had to deal with soap and other necessities restrictions, that's absolutely not true for everybody.

It's not dirty clothes back with clean clothes. Worn clothes are not necessarily dirty, that is the whole point. Do you think they should be kept in a heap on the floor between wearings?

Not unreasonable at all OP.

There used to be an advert 'if it's not dirty, wash at 30' which really annoyed me. If it's not dirty, don't wash it at all.

All my clothing gets sniffed / checked for stains and if I can re-wear I do. It probably helps that I don't work a full day or commute on public transport so most of my work clothing does more than one day, and I change into scruffs when I get home.

DH and DS are generally smellier than me and work in factory/ warehouse environments so their stuff needs washing more frequently, although I often catch DH putting clothing into the wash that he's worn to the pub for two hours. I sneak it back on the hanger and he's none the wiser.