Is it gross to rewear clothes?

[Sparksi]

I have one pair of maternity leggings that fit. I had them on yesterday all day and want to wear them again today. I didn’t go anywhere in them other than a brief trip to the shop and was otherwise at home all day. Is it fine or bad hygiene to wear them again today?

YABU - gross, find something else
YANBU - things like that are definitely fine for a second day

Well said @Jadedbuthappy82

There are some extremely unhealthily over fastidious posters on mumsnet.

I am a clean person. I shower every day and wear clean underwear and socks every day, but I will wear clothes that are still clean and that pass the sniff test until they need washing. I don't go out very much, so when I am sat at my desk WFH in my unsweaty job I can wear the same pair of trousers all week.

Febreeze is you’re friend :)

Absolutely fine to rewear if not smelly.

I do find if I cook with a pair of leggings on that they really absorb smells - particularly curry and onions so I tend to change in PJs!

We wash things far too much when it isn't needed. Really bad for the environment.

Well said!

We are obsessed with cleanliness!

Are you having a laugh @Sparksi ???

NO-ONE wears an item of clothing just once and then washes it! Except underpants! And maybe to a lesser extent a bra!)

They're fine if they don't smell. Clean pants and a washed body are the basics, not the leggings. I rewear all mine unless I've been to a sweaty gym class. The only guaranteed single use items for me are pants, socks and tights.

I change socks and undies daily. Tops depends 1-3 days depending on how dirty they seem, trousers/leggings I wear for ages unless they seem particularly dirty.

I’d go crazy with the laundry load if I washed everything daily! (As well as it being awful environmentally and financially!).

How do people who wash clothes daily manage with high quality but high maintenance materials such as silk or wool?

If I’d been to the gym in the leggings, I wouldn’t re-wear. If I’d just worn them for normal walking about, I would. Possibly more than once, though not consecutively (I think clothes benefit from being aired if you are re-wearing them, like shoes do).

I hope you don’t dry clean “nice” trousers after every single wear? That must cost a fortune.

My jeans don't feel comfy til I've worn them for a few days

I remember a poster on here who claimed to have five bathrooms (bathrooms not toilets) and to wash and tumble dry every towel in said bathrooms daily regardless of whether anyone had used the bathroom that day (it was just her and her DH in the house). As if she was running a hotel, though I doubt even hotels wash the towels in unoccupied rooms daily. Truly batshit.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't own anything in high maintenance fabrics. I work with animals and own several more, it would just be a colossal waste of money. All my clothes are cotton or synthetic and just get chucked in the wash basket at the end of the day.

I wouldn't normally rewear leggings, I would most clothes, it if they smell OK and needs must, I would.

If they smell wash them! Otherwise wear again!

I tend to find leggings and t-shirts need washing after a full day. Jumpers, skirts or anything worn over another layer and not so close to skin get a few wears.

I wouldn't rewear something to work but might on a weekend. I'm too sweaty to get away with it!
The only thing I regular wear something 2 or 3 times is jeans or skirts.

Aside from underwear and T-shirts my rule is if it doesn’t smell or have stains/dirt then it doesn’t need washing. I find clothes nowadays so flimsy, I have clothing from 10 years ago that’s going strong but things I’ve bought recently falling apart after a few washes.

The exception is gymwear which gets worn a couple of times despite smelling because I’m only going to wear it for an hour, get sweaty again and then shower so it’s pointless to put on a clean top every time (unless it seriously honks)

There are some trousers I only wash once a year. Same with jumpers. We were talking with colleagues about it and I wasn't the only one. I honestly couldn't have told you before who washes their stuff after every wear and who barely does.

I've never understood women who are obsessed with laundry. It wouldn't occur to me to wash jumpers, trousers, skirts or whatever unless they look visibly dirty or they smell (I don't mean until they are stinking/festering by the way). Obviously I'd wash a garment if I'd been doing something mucky or unpleasant in it. Knickers and socks get washed daily but I wear my bra for a week. I know several women who have always got stacks of clothes to be washed/ironed and they talk endlessly about washing powder, fabric conditioner, good drying conditions etc and they don't even have young kids.

Sorry, but I can't agree with your logic there. Of course it creates extra washing. If you wore your leggings for two days then you'd only have to wash them once a fortnight.*

I'm not suggesting everyone go round in dirty, smelly clothes, but obviously wearing things for fewer days before washing will require more loads of laundry to be done as you will have worn more clothes within the same period.

*Obviously it would be even worse if you were to put on a separate wash for each pair of leggings, but that would be ridiculous.

It's unnecessary to wash clothes after one wear if they aren't dirty or smell. Wear clothes repeatedly lots of times. Some do get washed after each wear, but most get at least two outings.

@niadainud but I'd still have to do washing once a week because I have other clothes that need washing too

Whether those leggings themselves go in the wash after sitting in a basket for a week or two weeks makes no difference, the machine still gets run...

Even if it’s not full? If you wear all your clothes twice you’ll have half as much washing as if you wear it all once.

Yes. I work outdoors with all kinds of animals, so most of my work clothes can't be re-worn as they're covered in sweat, fur, dribble, mud, hay and god knows what else. They all go in the wash on a Friday night along with anything else that needs washing.

I have some high quality Japanese demin jeans that have not been washed since I bought them in February this year.

They are spot cleaned and aired regularly.

Awaits a succession of posters fainting in disgust.

Jeans last a week.... Sitting next to the self same part of anatomy. Leggings tend to get washed more often because they aren't cotton, or they get baggy. Certainly not every day though, unless wearing in the gym.