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Original poster

to ask how often you wash your clothes

258 replies

Vistada · 12/10/2023 10:23

For me its after every wear (apart from jeans and joggers which is around 2-3 wears)

However this means i have a never ending flow of laundry

How many wears from freshly laundered would you go.

OP posts:
QS90 · 13/10/2023 22:50

spookehtooth · 13/10/2023 20:07

This will make some of you sick. Advice on how often towels should be washed and the results of a survey on what people actually do
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66735226

44% of people said 3 months before washing a towel! Read for even more information

Edited

😱😱😱

Omg that is literally foul 😂I will be looking at people out and about in a whole new light and trying to avoid touching them.

waterlego · 13/10/2023 23:10

When I was in halls at University, I strongly suspected that none of the boys washed their towels between visits home every few months. They all seemed to have towels that were maroon or dark green and this was clearly a strategy employed by their mothers who knew the towels would not be washed and wanted them to a have a towel that wouldn’t show too much dirt.

waterlego · 13/10/2023 23:11

I change my towel weekly, fwiw. My H keeps his going a fair bit longer as far as I can tell, but that’s his business- I stay out of it. He doesn’t smell at least. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Donttellhim · 13/10/2023 23:31

I also work from home. Everything has more than one wear. I couldn’t tell you how much things like dungarees and jumpers have, I just keep wearing them until they need a wash, which could be after 2 wears if I spill on them, or 10 I don’t keep track, just hang them back up and get them out a week later to wear again. OP, it sounds like you are creating a lot of unnecessary work, not to mention the toil on your clothes and the environment.

SacAMain · 13/10/2023 23:36

Never had clothes that are half dirty, they are either clean or dirty and I don't leave clothes I have worn laying around in a pile. I hang my clothes up like a normal person.

A normal person doesn't hang dirty clothes with their clean clothes, so that's just you

A poster states her jeans will go out of fashion before they are ruined by continual washing. I doubt that very much.
doubt away... my boyfriend jeans, back in fashion after the reign of the skinnies, are pristine. They are only 20 to 30 years old, I'll let you know how they get on in another 20 years 😂

I make my bed every day, I clean my clothes when they need to be cleaned. Each to their own.

2023shady · 14/10/2023 00:11

I just don't think trousers I've worn for 8hrs WFH need washing after that
I do try and minimise washing as can't dry outside. So tonight I showered and put socks and pjs on, in the morning I'll be using the same socks for my workout before I shower again
There is no point in putting "clean" ones on!

ReviewingTheSituation · 14/10/2023 00:18

@SacAMain we're not talking about hanging dirty clothes* up with clean ones, but worn clothes. There's a *difference. Worn once ≠ dirty. (Unless it's had food spilled on it, muddy cat paws etc etc)

givemeasunnyday · 14/10/2023 01:01

SacAMain · 13/10/2023 21:52

Yep, I despair too. I just don't understand it and no poster has really explained just why they feel everything has to be washed so often.

because we don't want pile of half-dirty clothes everywhere?
because a lightly soiled item needs a lighter wash?
because it's healthier than spraying everything with febreeze and your clothes with deodorant to make them "smell fresh" when they are not

Wear clothes, they get dirty.. dust, cooking smell, body smell, animal hair. Wash, dry - mainly outside - fold and put away.

I am in South London, all my laundry is outside, summer or winter. It's been pourring with rain today, it won't be for the rest of the week.

My jeans will go out of fashion before they get damaged in the wash, my older ones are coming back in style and laundry hasn't done anything bad to them😂

I have never sprayed anything with febreeze, or deodorant, and don't know anyone who does this. My clothes don't need help to smell fresh, they always smell fresh. Even when I do eventually wash clothes they rarely actually smell bad.

If my clothes do pick up any smells during the day an overnight airing soon gets rid of that.

I can't understand those who have so little regard for wasting resources and the future of the planet. As I have mentioned previously I'm not in the UK and we are advised here via TV that clothes don't need to be washed after every wear - and yet here you all are, merrily doing unnecessary washing, year in year out, and thinking it is fine. 😞

Those of you who wear polyester and other synthetic fibres - every time you wash those clothes microfibres go down the drain and eventually end up in the ocean. But hey, who cares, as long as you can wash everything after one wear!

givemeasunnyday · 14/10/2023 01:15

TweedTart · 13/10/2023 22:06

Fucking hell, there are some sanctimonious people here.

I wash my clothes because I like clean, fresh smelling clothes. Clothes get grubby, they get sweaty, they lose their shape, they pick up smells of food.

I commute across London on the tube everyday. I don’t want to wear the same trousers or top or blazer again once I’ve worked all day and travelled in it. And when I get home, I want to put on fresh PJs.

It’s really not that hard to understand.

It really, really, is hard to understand.

For what it's worth, I would far rather be thought sanctimonious than wasteful.

AvengedQuince · 14/10/2023 06:08

@SacAMain
I hang worn, clean clothes on a chair, or leave them folded on my chest of drawers. Jumpers worn once that I am not going to wear again soon are left to air overnight then put away. I have a few worn, clean clothes out to rewear, no piles of dirty clothes anywhere, no dirty clothes put with clean clothes, all my dirty clothes go in my washing bag. I don't own any deodorising sprays.

Fizbosshoes · 14/10/2023 07:43

I went to the theatre on Thursday and had a dress on for about 3 hrs45 min in total. It was not grubby, sweaty (if anything I was a bit chilly) or imo offensive in any way, so I've hung it back in my wardrobe.
I've never febreezed clothes, I've no idea if other people do or sprayed them with anything. If they smelled bad they'd be in the wash already.

Sartre · 14/10/2023 07:47

Obviously wash things like pants, socks and gym kit after every use. I will use my outfits twice if the kids haven’t smeared something on it. DC clothes tend to be one wear only because they’re messy buggers.

beguilingeyes · 14/10/2023 08:00

I've read the towels thing. Sweaty towels?! Maybe if you're an athlete or using them outside the house, but surely you've washed all the sweat off before you use the towel, that's the point? Similarly, newly washed hair.

CrunchyCarrot · 14/10/2023 08:06

Totally depends on any sweat smells or stains/dirt on an item. T-shirts usually get 2 days from them, top wear items like trousers, skirts jumpers would be many wears, unless I spill something on them! Heavy jumpers likely the entire season as I wear many items beneath them so it's literally if the cuffs start getting grubby or a spill. If I was going out to work daily it would be a different matter and I'd be washing items more often, but as I'm home, no need.

I don't spray clothes at all. Our 'wardrobe' is a clothes rail and I am quite happy with that now. All dirty washing goes in a clothes bin.

Gwenhwyfar · 14/10/2023 10:07

beguilingeyes · 13/10/2023 17:03

Washing machines are a relatively recent invention, certainly automatic machines. I remember my mum using a twin tub and a mangle.
I suspect the enthusiasm for constant washing wouldn't last long if it had to be done by hand. No tumble driers either.

Even having to go to the laundrette makes you quite careful about just chucking something in the laundry basket.

I can sort of understand people who wash tops after one wear - maybe they don't use the super deodorants that I do or they're more sensitive to even a hint of a small, but I don't get people who wash outerwear like jumpers all the time. I'll wash them once a season and only then if necessary. Coat might get dry cleaned once a year if it smells a bit.

Choux · 14/10/2023 10:28

All those saying they wash clothes after each wear: what counts as a wear? If you put something on to go out for a meal and it's on for 4hrs on an autumn / winter's day is that a wear?

If you go out and do some gardening for a couple of hours and you plan to do some more gardening tomorrow would you rewear today's clothes tomorrow or wash them and wear clean tomorrow?

Choux · 14/10/2023 10:34

Towels - how often they need washing depends how you use them.

I usually wrap my clean body or hair in them for 10 mins to soak up water and then hang the towels up to dry. I don't ever rub my nether regions with the towel. So all it does is soak up a bit of clean water from a clean body. It can last a while.

If I was drying between my arse cheeks I would absolutely want a fresh towel next time (even though I think I take care to clean my bum well each time I shower.)

Tentaculoose · 14/10/2023 10:45

Some people sweat more than others. I generally wear tighter tops and it's a rare day when I can wear a top again without it smelling at the armpits!

As for hoodies/larger jumpers they get anything from 3-5 wears but tighter ones might also only be worn once before smelling (again at the pits!)

I wash jeans every month or so but rotate which ones I wear. All trousers tend to be worn 3-5 times unless obviously smelly or dirty. And wear pjs around 2-4 times.

Knickers and socks are changed daily but bed socks are re-worn. Bras might be worn about 5 times but this might be too long?

TweedTart · 14/10/2023 10:45

Good personal hygiene is important to me. I don’t drive a car anymore, I get public transport everywhere, I’m frugal in many ways and I do my bit for the environment in the ways that I can.

But wearing clothes when I don’t feel they’re clean is not one of them, sorry.

And trust me - travelling daily on the tube I can smell all those people who are ‘saving the planet’ by not showering daily or washing their clothes.

SacAMain · 14/10/2023 12:10

I don't get people who wash outerwear like jumpers all the time. I'll wash them once a season and only then if necessary.

I feel comforted that what is seen as my "excessive" laundry is balanced by the under-washing of others.

AvengedQuince · 14/10/2023 14:20

SacAMain · 14/10/2023 12:10

I don't get people who wash outerwear like jumpers all the time. I'll wash them once a season and only then if necessary.

I feel comforted that what is seen as my "excessive" laundry is balanced by the under-washing of others.

Washing when necessary is not underwashing.

Choux · 14/10/2023 15:34

SacAMain · 14/10/2023 12:10

I don't get people who wash outerwear like jumpers all the time. I'll wash them once a season and only then if necessary.

I feel comforted that what is seen as my "excessive" laundry is balanced by the under-washing of others.

Depending on how much outerwear you have this could be washing after 2-3 wears or after 30-40 wears. It doesn't really tell us anything and yet still it's being judged.

JudgeJ · 14/10/2023 15:37

I just don't understand it and no poster has really explained just why they feel everything has to be washed so often.

It's the inverse of the Python Yorkshiremen sketch, the more you wash the better a person you are and your family is superior to the scuzzy people who actually wear a t-shirt twice.
When I was teaching I had three washable suits, the one I liked least I wore for one day, Friday. On Wednesday I put my toe through the hem of my trousers so wore the one I only wore on Friday usually. I couldn't believe the comments I got all day, often from pupils I didn't know from Adam, Miss why are you in your Friday suit? Amazing what pupils notice.

Caspianberg · 14/10/2023 16:02

@TweedTart - after the tube I def classify a jumper as dirty after one day.
My cardigan this week has been worn every day, but only 7.30-8.30am when it’s nippy, then warm all day so off

AvengedQuince · 14/10/2023 16:04

Caspianberg · 14/10/2023 16:02

@TweedTart - after the tube I def classify a jumper as dirty after one day.
My cardigan this week has been worn every day, but only 7.30-8.30am when it’s nippy, then warm all day so off

Do you mean it smells or looks dirty after a day?

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