How many times do you wear a bra before washing?

[Howtomakeevery1]

AIBU - to wear once only? It’s costing me a fortune in underwear as they wear out/ grey quickly

OK, read the ENTIRE answer before you go ballistic...

Sometimes 2-3 months. HOWEVER...I'm disabled, and very rarely leave my house. I go grocery shopping once a month, to my doctor's office every 4 months. Shopping takes about an hour. I put the bra on, shop (riding in one of those electric carts), get home and take the bra off. So, I'm actually washing it after every 6-10 hours of wear.

@Mamanyt

OK, read the ENTIRE answer before you go ballistic...

Sometimes 2-3 months. HOWEVER...I'm disabled, and very rarely leave my house. I go grocery shopping once a month, to my doctor's office every 4 months. Shopping takes about an hour. I put the bra on, shop (riding in one of those electric carts), get home and take the bra off. So, I'm actually washing it after every 6-10 hours of wear.

Yes but the bacteria are festering in there between washing. Can you not toss it in even with your bed linens?

@LindaEllen

Some of you must have really sweaty tits. I change mine once a week. Knickers every day, bra once a week, other clothes when they need it. I shower daily, and wear deo. I'm not sure how you're all getting so dirty you have to change every day 😅😅

Some people are fastidious and some people aren't, and many of the latter have an insecure need to belittle those in the firmer.

Some people are fastidious and some people aren't, and many of the latter have an insecure need to belittle those in the firmer.

Utter rubbish. For a start the latter have no reason at all to feel insecure, and it seems to me that the former are far more vocal about belittling the latter- all the cries of "grim" etc.

Honestly, some of you are just ridiculous when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene - it's actually an unhealthy obsession for some people. (and no, I'm not insecure at all - in fact the older I get the less I wash garments!)

Once a week maybe but I don't wear a bra in the house and I wfh right now. I use a bra if I need to nip out and that bra would be washed once a week. At normal times I would say once every 3 days and if I'm working out, my sports bra would get washed right after my workout.

YouokHun
I pop on a clean bra on Christmas Day. I take it off in April and if it doesn’t try to crawl towards the laundry basket under its own steam and if it doesn’t attract many flies I pop it back on until Christmas.

OMG love this 🤣

I fall into the 'skank' team too, can't do up the catches on a 'normal' bra so sports bras all the way for me (not that I ever do any sport/ exercise) and I've been known to stretch one out to a few weeks if the band hasn't started to whiff.
There's only me in the house, I don't work (no office clothes any more) and generally live in cumfies, so the washing machine only gets a couple of outgoings a month and I've got plenty of knickers to change daily and to last between washing cycles plus at least an extra week's worth, so at least I'm not skanky in that department!

Three-six months

I must admit I probably go up to a month sometimes

In my defence, I shower / bath twice a day and am fastidious in every other aspect of my hygiene but my breasts simply don't seem to get at all smelly / leaky / sweaty. The white bra I'm currently wearing (not right now - I'm in bed!) still looks fresh, white and unstained, and smells perfectly fine too.

I don’t like the thought of hanging dirty clothes up with my clean ones.

I don't put clothes I have worn back into the wardrobe, but I will wear a pair of jeans several times before washing them. I just hang them over the bannister at night to air before putting them on again the next day. You must spend an awful lot of time washing if you only ever wear all your clothes only once.

I agree with PP that there are some overly fastidious posters on this thread. When I get dressed after this morning's shower I will put yesterday's bra and jeans on (both clean yesterday) and clean everything else. I don't have pets or small children and don't usually do any dirty jobs.

Incidentally is there any evidence of anyone being seriously ill or even dying because they did not wash their bra?

Possibly of shame for some posters.

I always thought I was being very lazy/dirty by wearing mine for 5-7 days. Its nice to realise I am normal.

With some tops my bra (straps) can show. I wouldn’t want someone to look at me and think l’ve had the same bra on for days on end.

I have never known people get so wound up because someone chooses to wear a clean bra every day. I think l’ll burn all mine. I’ll wash them first though! 😂

@StarlightLady

With some tops my bra (straps) can show. I wouldn’t want someone to look at me and think l’ve had the same bra on for days on end.

I have never known people get so wound up because someone chooses to wear a clean bra every day. I think l’ll burn all mine. I’ll wash them first though! 😂

How self obsessed do you need to be to think anyone's going to remember what bra you were wearing from one day to the next?

Some people are fastidious and some people aren't, and many of the latter have an insecure need to belittle those in the firmer.

If I wanted to be more 'fastidious' I would be. I could wash my clothes more often. I have plenty of them. However, I don't, because I am concerned about the environment. Washing clothes uses water, electricity and various forms of soaps/ detergents. It also increases the wear and tear on clothes. If you wear artificial fibres, this can mean microplastics being washed out into the wider aquatic environment. I would rather reduce all those things.

So I'm not being insecure. I'm concerned about the impact people are having. And before anyone starts on 'oh if you're so concerned, do you live in a yurt and eat organic grass', not washing things is one of the easiest things you can do to help the environment. You just have to do less, it's that simple. And since it's so simple, I'm perplexed as to why people feel the need to wash clothes so often.

With some tops my bra (straps) can show. I wouldn’t want someone to look at me and think l’ve had the same bra on for days on end.

I really think you think people give much more of a shit about what you’re wearing than they actually do.
What on earth makes you think anyone else would even notice?

Yes but the bacteria are festering in there between washing. Can you not toss it in even with your bed linens?

How much bacteria do you think is getting on the bra after a few hours of wear, assuming there are no open gaping wounds or something? I wouldn’t advocate tossing a bra in with the bedding unless you wash your bedding on a really low temperature, which is far more gross tbh...

@ShirleyPhallus

I take it off after an hour or so and bleach / boil wash at 90 degrees. Anything else is discusting tbh

Bleach?

@Howtomakeevery1

AIBU - to wear once only? It’s costing me a fortune in underwear as they wear out/ grey quickly

3 days or sometimes a week

@TrustedFormula - I’m self osessed enough to care what my lingerie looks like underneath it all. I also concluded with a 😂 .

Also can someone explain to me how popping say 5 or 6 bras (which add very little weight or bulk) into my regular wash loads use more water, more detergent or more electricity?

I’ve had white underwear for years that’s still pure white. I wash all whites separately and add Dr Beckmanns sachet to the wash, makes them sparkling white!

My bra fits perfectly but the side part of the fabric is very definitely in my armpits when my arms are by my side

With some tops my bra (straps) can show. I wouldn’t want someone to look at me and think l’ve had the same bra on for days on end.

If I looked, and if I noticed (both quite unlikely) and if I gave it any head space, I'd just assume you had several bras of one type. It's common enough to buy several of one sort of bra if you find a style that fits you really well and is comfortable.

I change mine weekly. I'm not a particularly sweaty person and shower twice daily. I go braless as soon as I get in from work so its not like I'm sleeping in it or anything. I wear a sports bra to the gym, that is washed after every workout. Knickers of course are changed daily.

@BertramLacey

Some people are fastidious and some people aren't, and many of the latter have an insecure need to belittle those in the firmer.

If I wanted to be more 'fastidious' I would be. I could wash my clothes more often. I have plenty of them. However, I don't, because I am concerned about the environment. Washing clothes uses water, electricity and various forms of soaps/ detergents. It also increases the wear and tear on clothes. If you wear artificial fibres, this can mean microplastics being washed out into the wider aquatic environment. I would rather reduce all those things.

So I'm not being insecure. I'm concerned about the impact people are having. And before anyone starts on 'oh if you're so concerned, do you live in a yurt and eat organic grass', not washing things is one of the easiest things you can do to help the environment. You just have to do less, it's that simple. And since it's so simple, I'm perplexed as to why people feel the need to wash clothes so often.

Oh, please.

I do many things to reduce my environmental footprint but not washing my underwear isn't going to save the planet.

By caring for these garments we buy fewer of them, which saves water, fuel and materials involved in their manufacture, transport and retail.

Am l the only person on here who has different styles and/or colours for different oufits? Do the worn ones go back in the drawer?