To wash things after one wear?

[JustGiveMeGin]

I know it is terrible for the environment however even though I shower every morning and my children shower daily I feel our clothes are ready for the wash at the end of the day!
We have a dog so I am usually covered in dog hairs/mud from walking her. I also have loose covers on the couch which get taken off and washed twice weekly because of said dog.
I am doing at least 2-3 loads of washing and drying a day. AIBU?

it is literally smells and looks that I go off

Ok, so are you an anti-bac and air fresheners person? Because that's really not great for your health. Soap, natural bacteria and fresh air are what you need.

Yabvu

@eaglejulesk from NHS website: "wash all underwear, towels and household linen at 60C, or at 40C with a bleach-based laundry product to prevent germs from spreading".

Amazing how bonkers some folks are.

@JustGiveMeGin do you think it's part of a bigger issue or could become one OP? In responses you say you weren't kept clean as a kid and also the cleaning is to stop you being judged.

"As for all that sorting and loading and putting away daily washing, you must have nothing much else going on I suppose.
Some people are utterly germ-phobic but understandably dress it up as something else. Hopefully the phobia doesn't impact others in the household, especially children".

Equally some people are lazy and dirty and dress it it up as being busy or non germ phobic or some such. Hopefully their lazy arse approach does not impact others or their children.

Everything goes straight in the laundry basket after 1 wear in our house, it's what we've always done.

I take medication that reduces my resistance to infection. Infected Psoriasis is not something I enjoy, so everything is washed after one wear.

The lack of a car or flights abroad on holiday accounts for the difference.

Apart from pants, which are washed after one wear, I keep everything going for as long as possible as long as it isn't smelly or visibly filthy.

It's rather a new indulgence washing clothes so frequently. For blouses and dresses I use dress shields (cotton sort of pads that attach to the underarm section of clothes with safety pins). I also spot clean things a lot.

I have dedicated "muddy" clothes for gardening/muddy walks. I hang them somewhere separate and wear those are good few times too until I wash them too.

Another advantage of washing clothes less is that they last so much longer. I make my own clothes and I have stuff that I wear regularly that I made twenty years ago and is still going strong.

I don't have any pets though, so I appreciate that this adds a different dynamic to clothes washing.

I think if you have a big family one or two loads a day or every other is pretty normal but if its just you or you and a partner then once a week is normal maybe even longer

@emilyfrost

YANBU. I wash everything after one wear apart from jeans. I don’t care if it wears them out quicker as I’ll just buy new 🤷‍♀️

I love your posts. One of the best wind-up merchants on the forum.

Yes of course I wash everything after one wear. Doesn't everyone ?

Equally some people are lazy and dirty and dress it it up as being busy or non germ phobic or some such. Hopefully their lazy arse approach does not impact others or their children

It's not a badge of honour to be "busy" welded to your washing machine and totally unaware and uninformed, in 2021 at that, of the negative impact this has on the environment.

It doesn't actually make you cleaner either.

@emilyfrost

YANBU. I wash everything after one wear apart from jeans. I don’t care if it wears them out quicker as I’ll just buy new 🤷‍♀️

same i also find it dont wear them out any faster

I just dont understand how you can be doing multiple full loads every single day with just 4 people in your household.

Even accounting for separate washes for towels and bedding I dont think I have enough washable stuff to be doing one full load every single day, never mind 3!

My DD spends every other week at her dads so on weeks when she is there I do 2 loads a week - one of clothes on a 40° eco wash and the other of towels and bedding on a 90° wash. I dont bother separating whites/darks as I dont think that I own enough white/light things to make up a full load - some weeks I only wear maybe one or two white items so they either go in the wash with everything else or languish in the laundry basket for at least a fortnight. I just bung them in with a colour catcher and everything always comes out fine.

When DD is here I do 4 a week - with her clothes added to mine there are enough white school shirts and lighter coloured clothes to warrant separating the wash loads into whites/darks. Additionally with two sets of bedding and multiple towels there is a large enough volume to do the sheets and towels separately too.

I sometimes struggle to keep up even with this basic schedule as we dont have a dryer and limited airer space (first floor flat with no outside space or room inside for a dryer) so I have to space out each load to account for drying time - which always takes longer in winter.

I couldnt imagine doing the equivalent of my weekly laundry every single day, I'm tired just thinking of all the work required!

For the poster saying clothes washed after wear don't wear out any faster do you have magic clothes or just in denial?

Clean undies every day but rest of outfit can go two or three days unless it’s smelly. Just seems pointless and a waste of time, money and resources to wash them every day. I probably do 4 loads of washing a week (family of 4). More if it’s sheet changing week.

@DeeCeeCherry I'm hardly welded to my washing machine! A couple of minutes to put the clothes in with the detergent and then it does its own thing without my supervision

I will wear a top 2 or 3 times unless there has been a food incident. Jeans maybe 4 or 5 times. Socks n nicks, straight in the wash basket after one wear, pj's after 3 wears.

I do sometimes iron clothes to freshen them up between washes.

I just wanted to say to those who talk about regular washing for hygiene reasons that anything under 60 degrees is not going to kill germs or bacteria and most washing machines don't keep the water at 60 degrees on a 60 cycle long enough to have a disinfecting effect. We learned this when researching for our washable nappies. In the end we washed them at 30 degrees as with the model of washing machine we had, there was little difference between 30 and 60.

OP, waterproof trousers or gators could help keep the mud off your clothes when dog walking.

Whenever my kids get undressed, underwear goes straight in the wash and then I help them look at their clothes and smell them to see if they are ok for another wear. We don't own a lot of clothes theough choice and we focus on taking care of what we have.

As a society we need to accept that some of the things we have prioritised and vilified in the past are not compatible with the environmental reality we are living in.

It is only with the advent of washing machines and tumble driers in combination with the massive drop in clothing prices that we have developed this concept of constantly washing our clothes. It is a modern phenomenon and one of the many behaviours we need to shift away from.

Come on, there's no need to wash everything after one wear. It's selfish and is contributing to the climate crisis that will make covid merely a minor irritation.

@bellsbuss

Everything goes straight in the laundry basket after 1 wear in our house, it's what we've always done.

Just because you’ve always done it doesn’t mean it’s not worth thinking about the environmental impact. It’s not just you - if you have DC you’re training them it’s ‘what you do’ and that means more households in future with habits that damage the environment.

2-3 washes a day? That’s ridiculous! Especially at the moment when you aren’t going out or seeing anyone.

I do 3 washes a week darks, whites, colours and possibly an extra darks or colours wash every couple of weeks. There’s 3 of us.
I do wear my pjs more at the moment. I’ll change out my work clothes at 5pm and often shower and put pjs on then.
Now DC are on zoom they don’t wash school shirt everyday, usually every couple of days because they aren’t as sweaty, no running for bus or walking round school or PE etc.

I think you need some dog walking trousers that you that you can just brush the mud off and wash twice a week. Also a chair for the dog so no one has to sit on it and the covers don’t need changing as often unless the dog gets wet.

Probably on your case, you are doing the right thing.
For me and DH, our clothes only get worn a couple hours a day. We put them on for about an hour in the morning, then change into work wear when we are at work. Back home, we'll get in pj's!

I am lucky if my kids wear only one set of clothes a day frankly. As soon as they are back at school, that's already one set of uniform, one set of clothes, one set of pjs a day. It takes no time to put in the washing machine.

I tend to wear jeans and jumpers a couple of times before putting them in the wash, but as soon as you take public transport, or cook, or just go for a walk at this time of year, things get dirty or smelly and need to be washed.

That's why I don't wear my work clothes at home, I have cheaper clothes that are easily washed and low maintenance.

I don't wash my towels after every use, because they don't smell or feel dirty.

I don't really care what other people do, and care even less about their possible judgements on my washing habits, it's none of their business.

I can't go to bed without having a shower first either.