Unnecessary Laundry

[MyLemonWriter]

A few months back I noticed whilst loading the washing machine that most things were actually clean. Has anyone else cut down on the number of times the launder their clothes?

It's not normal

I have to wash sports gear after one use. I sweat buckets.

Same here. I put them back on the hanger without washing them and he doesn’t even notice. 😂

"It's worth it" Worth what? Increasing your contributions to CO2 emissions and water shortages?

I can't imagine not wearing clean PJs or nightshirt every night. I bet those who do aren't menopausal yet 😉

There are no water shortages here! Besides, even people living in the desert wash their clothes more often than you do. Plus CO2 can be cut in other ways that don’t affect hygiene. Half the time I’m washing and drying on free renewable energy.

The term “the great unwashed” has taken on a more literal meaning for me tonight in terms of class culture.

A few years ago I bought Pitrok crystal deodorant. It’s very effective and unscented. I then realised that I was really washing tops because of the deodorant smell on them.
I now only wash tops when they have stains on them. Have hooks in bedroom and air them for 24 hours before putting back in the wardrobe.
Has massively cut my washing & ironing and improved the longevity of my clothes. Obviously better for my bills & the environment.
Judge away!

I never used to. But I have had some perimenopausal mornings where I have woken up drenched in sweat. And have had to get out fresh pyjamas. It felt so incredibly wasteful to throw pyjamas in the wash after one wear.

I own my own business, so I do hybrid work.

In my experience clothes worn all day will get a musty BO smell to them. Jumpers are different as they're not worn next to the skin

We have solar and wind power and our house is on its own well.

Yes I have a job I own my own business so I work from home some days. Yes I have one daughter, yes I have hobbies. I have bed changes down to a fine art - I have 2 sets of bedding and rotate each during the week. Always done it since I started doing my own laundry about age 14. I know it’s bonkers but it’s just something I prioritise.

Well you clearly have more time and money than sense, then.

Really? Even a coat? Or a jumper that's been on top of a t-shirt etc?

I think I was a relatively minimal washer in the first place, at least on behalf of the grown ups in our house (my DH doesn't sweat which is so odd but also very helpful!) - my eldest only has to walk near a garment for it to be filthy...! But recently I've discovered under arm protection underwear, like a very thin t shirt with all the fabric removed but a bit under your boobs and round your back and then little short sleeves reinforced under the arm which means that I no longer need to wash anything that's touched my peri-menopausal armpits after only one wash. Absolute game changer, I'm so enjoying wearing my lovely long dresses again whereas before I just couldn't face having to wash so much fabric after just one wear!

OH does the washing in this house and he overwashes everything, towels too often, washes things again if they get rained on, washes things if the cat sits on the clean washing.

And puts everything in together which I hate.

My bills are lower than average for a 4 bed detached house and starting in Jan, will be less than £50/mo for gas and electric. I have a green, smart home. So I can wash and tumble dry and keep the heat at 21C in the day and 18C at night to my hearts content.

It doesn’t take long to do laundry. It’s nowhere near the time investment of going down to the stream and handwashing everything by beating them on rocks and then hanging them outside to dry.

We dont have water shortages in the UK even in hot summers, there is plenty of water on and around our island albeit maybe not distributed correctly.

Jumpers yes, coats no. Coats get washed every few weeks because I do wear 4-5 different ones each season.

I wear my clothes for 3 days usually. DH's shirts can only be worn for 1 but he wears his trousers for about a week. It's the kids who create most of the washing with their propensity for tipping food down themselves and forgetting when they need a wee

Why are you washing jumpers? How are they dirty? Presumably you're not dropping food all over them etc, not are you sweating into them etc.

Just seems like madness to wash things that aren't dirty.

I am on team "wear it a few times" except for undies and socks.

I will wear a t-shirt a couple of times and a hoody half a dozen times (unless I get dinner down it). PJs usually for 4 or 5 nights. I don't do a manual job, I WFH mostly, so I don't work up a sweat!

They get dirty just by wearing them out and about.
Just going outside you get all the street grunge from vehicle emissions. The Tube literally adds a layer of dust to every bit of exposed anything while being too hot to not undo your coat.

Even if you don’t get very wet with sweat, you are still sweating and excreting oils into everything you wear.

What about sending millions of microplastics particles into the water supply every time you do a wash? All this crap builds up in water, food chains and ends up in our bodies, in newborn babies. Unless you wear completely natural clothing, no elastics or plastics in anything, then you are contributing to this problem more than you need to.