How often do you wash your clothes?

  • Thread starter Evo
  • Start date
In summary: I'm a bit neurotic. I wash all my clothes (even if I only wore them once) and my sheets weekly. I also air them out every other day if I can. In summary, people who don't wash their clothes often are usually male, and women have a more sensitive sense of smell. T-shirts are usually worn only a few times, and jeans are usually worn only a few times before washing. Sheets are usually washed once a week.
  • #1
Evo
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I was amazed when I saw this article that said that you should wear pants and shirts/blouses 4-5 times before washing. :eek:

I would *never* consider that with clothes I wear to work. Clothes pick up smells, it's not a matter of do they look dirty. After work each day, my clothes go into the dirty clothes hamper. The exception is a suit jacket which I will wear several times before sending to the dry cleaners.

So, how often do you wash work/school clothes? Do you agree with this article? Maybe I'm odd.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/569/the-when-to-wash-it-handbook/
 
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  • #2
Yuck :yuck:! I wash nearly every item after being worn once. Exceptions: jackets, pajamas (no explanation for that, really :uhh:), and bath towels (I get a two or three uses out of them).

Maybe women have a more sensitive sense of smell, but it can't be a coincidence that the people at my work who don't wash their clothes often are all male. And I know who they are. From maybe 2 meters away, sometimes.
 
  • #3
Shirts (on delicate), underwear, socks, undershirts are all washed between wearing. Some shirts I can get away with wearing twice but usually the neck is too stretched out so that only happens in laundry emergencies.

Shirts never get dried, the rest of the stuff does.

Now jeans...I'll wear those 4-5 times between washing. Don't want to wear those out prematurely. Too expensive. :)Edit: after seeing lisab's post there is an exception to the jeans - if they smell I'll wash them.
 
  • #4
shirts wear once, jeans can go twice
 
  • #5
Um... I think I wear my jeans more than 5 times before washing >.>
T-shirts for like 2-3 times, except when I know they're stinking. <.<
I never got complaints (or those faces) with it. One instance - Once I went to get some documents for me and my roomie from the Uni office (my roomie had been there an hour ago, but documents weren't ready), the staffer told me to ask my roomie to take a bath. Fact - he took a bath day before, I a week before (those were the days)
 
  • #6
Jeans - a few times*.
Shirts - once.
Trousers - once.
Underwear - once.
T-shirts - a few times*.
Tracksuit bottoms - a few times*.

* Assuming I don't do anything that causes me to sweat or I don't go somewhere where they pick up a smell.

Of course, if I do something that gets them dirty it's straight in the wash.

Can't stand feeling dirty. I like getting out of the shower and into a nice fresh set of clothes - feels good!
 
  • #7
Super gross. I only wear stuff once, maybe a second time if I don't plan on going anywhere the second day (underwear excluded). I never wash my jacket though... which I really should (or well, more often).
 
  • #8
jarednjames said:
Jeans - a few times*.
Shirts - once.
Trousers - once.
Underwear - once.
T-shirts - a few times*.
Tracksuit bottoms - a few times*.

* Assuming I don't do anything that causes me to sweat or I don't go somewhere where they pick up a smell.

Of course, if I do something that gets them dirty it's straight in the wash.

Can't stand feeling dirty. I like getting out of the shower and into a nice fresh set of clothes - feels good!

Speaking of picking up smells - I went to a health food store today (best kale around!) and now I smell like patchouli.

A secondary question, since we're on the subject: how often you you wash your sheets?

I do mine once a week, and the mattress pad about once a month. If I slack off and don't wash them as often, my allergies go nuts.
 
  • #9
Sheets once a week - feel dirty if I don't. Just can't lay still if I think they are dirty.
 
  • #10
jarednjames said:
Sheets once a week - feel dirty if I don't. Just can't lay still if I think they are dirty.
Yep, sheets once a week.
 
  • #11
Sheets at least once a week, jeans more often, and shirts about every 2 days at most. sweatshirts can go about twice as long as the T-shirts, as long as I am doing very little. Catch me in planting season, and everything goes in the wash every day, with no question.
 
  • #12
There is a difference between clothes worn at home and work/school clothes that you wear and get very close to other people. I may wear a pair of jeans a few times at home, but will change into clean ones if I go out.
 
  • #13
I'll admit, I'm a bit weird about my clothing. I'm borderline obsessed with clean-smelling clothes. I'll go so far as to wash clothes that no longer smell like detergent even if they haven't been worn. :redface:

I'm usually not a wasteful person, but when it comes to the "clean" smell on my clothes, I'm guilty of unnecessary waste.
 
  • #14
I have quite a strict washing schedule, I like cleanliness.

Informal shirts: Once.
Formal shirts: Depends on the frequency at which I wear them, if often, then once.
Jeans: 3 times.
Underwear: Once.
Socks: Once.
Pajamas: 3 times.

Sheets: washed once a week.

Over the course of 8 months in dorms, I put probably $100 into the laundry machines.
 
  • #15
What do you mean "washing"? And "dirty"? I thought the only reason to not wear something is when it falls apart.
 
  • #16
I haven't washed my clothes in over twenty years.

:yuck::biggrin:

I love my wife. She didn't like the way I did it, so she took over the job. :)
Once a week it all gets done.

My part of the load would be:
Two pair of jeans, 5 shirts, 5 undies, 5 pairs of socks.
One bathrobe every second week. I wear it all weekend If I can get away with it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
Evo said:
I was amazed when I saw this article that said that you should wear pants and shirts/blouses 4-5 times before washing. :eek:

I would *never* consider that with clothes I wear to work. Clothes pick up smells, it's not a matter of do they look dirty. After work each day, my clothes go into the dirty clothes hamper. The exception is a suit jacket which I will wear several times before sending to the dry cleaners.

So, how often do you wash work/school clothes? Do you agree with this article? Maybe I'm odd.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/569/the-when-to-wash-it-handbook/
If I wear a t-shirt under a dress shirt, I'll wear a dress shirt twice before washing it. I have hooks on my door and hangers to keep a handful of once-worn shirts. The pants: 3-5 days.

For non-work stuff, I might wear the same sweat-shirt around the house for a week (again, if I wear a t-shirt under it), but it depends on what I'm doing.
 
  • #18
With a couple of exceptions, every piece of clothing gets washed after I wear it.

A suit is one exception, because I travel for a living, and typically have to wear it more than once while out on the road. Of course, I carry spares (dress pants, etc.), in case something were to get spilled on it. A light jacket or heavy coat would be another exception.

Of course, clothes can pickup odors from cigarette smoke, etc., and that would require a good cleaning as soon as possible. :yuck:
 
  • #19
I wear undershirts, which get worn once and then tossed in the laundry hamper. I might wear a shirt twice, usually in cold weather, but normally when I'm out in public or meeting with others, I'd wear a fresh clean shirt.

On the weekends, I'd wear T-shirt Sat and Sun, and unless I do yard work and get hot and sweaty.

Pants I would wear twice, or maybe three times, unless I get hot and sweaty.
 
  • #20
I wear a uniform for work. Two pairs of pants and two shirts is all I have and I usually only do one load of laundry a week. I wear a shirt under my work shirt though and only wear tshirts and underwear once. The rest of my wardrobe lately has actually been rather nonexistent. I only have two pairs of nonwork pants left. They get worn once or twice before laundry day depending but I usually only wear them for the few hours I am actually out on my days off and then change to sweats or shorts as soon as I get home.

So...
sox once
underwear once
shirts that touch my skin once
shirts that don't touch my skin twice/thrice
pants twice/thrice depending

I do wish I had more uniform bits though as I generally am glad that I do not interact with others much by the end of the week.

edit: actually I do have a couple clothing items that I wear only at home and wear them several times between washes. Thankfully I have no wife or girlfriend to be bothered by my "I've worn these all week" scent.
 
  • #21
No washing machines in the north. But I can see Putin.
 
  • #22
I don't wash my clothes. I wear them until they decay and fall off.
 
  • #23
I wear trousers/jeans or (outerwear) shorts for two days before washing, if they pass the eyeball test and the sniff test after the first day. Sweatshirts and sweatpants (which I normally wear only around the house), maybe three days unless they start to smell. Bedding goes a week (which is when I empty out the basket and do all my laundry). Everything else I wash after one day.
 
  • #24
To be honest, I've worn the same underwear for a week before.
 
  • #25
flyingpig said:
To be honest, I've worn the same underwear for a week before.

i know
 
  • #26
Frequent washing is part of the weakness and decadence, this world is coming to an end, I am telling ya.
 
  • #27
flyingpig said:
To be honest, I've worn the same underwear for a week before.

Now that's disgusting.
 
  • #28
Oh please I bet you guys have done it too. Let me be more honest here, my underwear isn't the only thing I've worn for longer than a week.
 
  • #29
flyingpig said:
Oh please I bet you guys have done it too. Let me be more honest here, my underwear isn't the only thing I've worn for longer than a week.

Now it's longer than a week? Oh blimey.

No, I've never done it.
 
  • #30
Borek said:
Frequent washing is part of the weakness and decadence, this world is coming to an end, I am telling ya.

Blasphemy!
 
  • #31
when I was working at the slave-labour bakery I didnt wash my clothes for nearly a week of wear. what's the point? as soon as I start working all new clothes would smell of bakery anyway. and sweat is 'clean!' as long as you let it dry so no bacteria grows, its ok! actually I knew I smelled but I just didnt care anymore! grrr! they deserved to have smelly employees!

and as for jeans, I read that the really demin-obsessed/fashionable only wash their jeans every 6 months cos otherwise the 'look' of the denim would be ruined by washing. I wash mine like once a week. but it all depends on how much I sweat.

underwear every day of course.

and I wash sheets like once a month... they're clean! why would they be dirty, my body is clean! clean on clean everyday = more clean!
 
Last edited:
  • #32
Topher925 said:
I don't wash my clothes. I wear them until they decay and fall off.

we will get on well together! and we have the same avatar almost! snap!
 
  • #33
When the pants are leaning against the wall, maybe that's the good time to wash them.
 
  • #34
waht said:
When the pants are leaning against the wall, maybe that's the good time to wash them.

And when you attempt to wash them, if they should run away from you -- then, you have waited too long.
 
  • #35
waht said:
When the pants are leaning against the wall, maybe that's the good time to wash them.

Anyone remember starch? That stufff will make clean pants stand up on their own. It used to be mandatory in the military.:yuck:
 
<h2>1. How often should I wash my clothes?</h2><p>The frequency of washing your clothes depends on several factors such as the type of fabric, how often you wear the clothes, and your personal preference. Generally, it is recommended to wash your clothes after every 1-2 wears to maintain hygiene and freshness.</p><h2>2. Can I wear my clothes multiple times before washing?</h2><p>It is not recommended to wear your clothes multiple times before washing them. Each time you wear your clothes, they accumulate sweat, body oils, and dirt which can lead to the growth of bacteria and unpleasant odors. It is best to wash your clothes after each wear to maintain hygiene.</p><h2>3. How often should I wash my jeans?</h2><p>Jeans are made of sturdy fabric and can withstand multiple wears before washing. It is recommended to wash your jeans after every 5-6 wears to maintain their shape and color. However, if your jeans get visibly dirty or have a strong odor, it is best to wash them immediately.</p><h2>4. Is it necessary to wash new clothes before wearing them?</h2><p>It is not necessary to wash new clothes before wearing them, but it is recommended. New clothes may have chemicals, dyes, or other irritants that can cause skin irritation. Washing them before wearing can also help to remove any germs or bacteria that may have accumulated during the manufacturing and shipping process.</p><h2>5. How often should I wash my towels and bed sheets?</h2><p>Towels and bed sheets should be washed at least once a week. These items come in contact with our skin and can accumulate sweat, body oils, and dead skin cells. Washing them regularly can prevent the growth of bacteria and maintain their freshness.</p>

1. How often should I wash my clothes?

The frequency of washing your clothes depends on several factors such as the type of fabric, how often you wear the clothes, and your personal preference. Generally, it is recommended to wash your clothes after every 1-2 wears to maintain hygiene and freshness.

2. Can I wear my clothes multiple times before washing?

It is not recommended to wear your clothes multiple times before washing them. Each time you wear your clothes, they accumulate sweat, body oils, and dirt which can lead to the growth of bacteria and unpleasant odors. It is best to wash your clothes after each wear to maintain hygiene.

3. How often should I wash my jeans?

Jeans are made of sturdy fabric and can withstand multiple wears before washing. It is recommended to wash your jeans after every 5-6 wears to maintain their shape and color. However, if your jeans get visibly dirty or have a strong odor, it is best to wash them immediately.

4. Is it necessary to wash new clothes before wearing them?

It is not necessary to wash new clothes before wearing them, but it is recommended. New clothes may have chemicals, dyes, or other irritants that can cause skin irritation. Washing them before wearing can also help to remove any germs or bacteria that may have accumulated during the manufacturing and shipping process.

5. How often should I wash my towels and bed sheets?

Towels and bed sheets should be washed at least once a week. These items come in contact with our skin and can accumulate sweat, body oils, and dead skin cells. Washing them regularly can prevent the growth of bacteria and maintain their freshness.

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