As a young adult I often found myself wondering “how often should I wash my clothes?”. I didn’t really know the answer, so erred on the side of caution a bit too much and washed my clothes pretty much after every wear. With the exception of trousers, that maybe got two or three wears before being chucked in the laundry pile, I operated a one wear only policy.
It wasn’t until after I became a mum, and my laundry pile was less of a pile and more of a mountain, that I realised that maybe it was ok to not wash every single item of clothing after every wear. The wake up call for me was when I was washing my daughter’s sleep suits after every wear, even if she’d needed changing in the night, so had only worn the suit for a few hours. I soon realised that as long as the sleepsuits looked and smelled clean then my daughter could wear the same sleepsuit several nights in a row and nothing terrible was going to happen.
Since then I have relaxed my one wear laundry policy, relying on looks, smell and feel before assessing if something needs to go in the washing machine after just one or two wears. Not washing your clothes quite so frequently helps prolong their life, saves you a bit of money, and helps the environment, as well as saving you time and energy so it’s something I’m completely on board with!
If you want a bit more reassurance then going by nose alone, then I found this handy guide on how often should I wash my clothes from the people at Real Simple that I’ve reproduced here, and you can read the full article here.
How often should I wash my clothes?
image courtesy of Real Simple
What do you think? Are you onboard with washing your jeans after every four to five wears, or leggings after up to three wears? I have a toddler in the house – think sticky hands, snotty noses, and so forth, so I would be very lucky if I could get my jeans lasting up to needing a wash after five wears!
And how often do you wash your clothes? I’m curious!
ps: see my guide on how to wash wool for tips on advice on how to keep your woolens looking better for longer, my guide on how to wash white striped clothing, my guide on how to make your own fabric conditioner and my natural stain remover tips for all your laundry woes!
