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It's something I've been considering of late having read a couple of things online, and prompted by the dicusssion on how often people shower and whether we're using resources too freely, thought it worth asking - how often do you wash your clothes and other stuff?
Cycling wise, bib shorts and base layers (or short sleeved top if it's summer and I'm not wearing a base layer) go in the wash after each ride. Socks - especially if merino - will probably last a couple of rides. Tights, long sleeve jersesys etc will get several rides before I stick them in for a wash, likewise gloves and buffs etc
Non cycling wise, Underwear and socks get changed every day. I'll usually get three days out of a shirt (or t-shirt) and mnaybe three weeks from a pair of trousers. Having recently bought some new trews from HebTroCo, they came with a suggestion that they should not be washed very often at all so I think I've had them on for about 6 or 7 weeks now - around the house or popping to the shops. If we've been out walking I'll wear walking trousers and they get washed when they're mud splattered. Might be time to wash the Hebtroco trews, thinking about it
Non-clothes wise, bedding and towels are changed weekly
What about you? Do you get longer out of your clothes? Do you think it's digusting that I wear a shirt for more than one day, or trousers for the best part of two months? Do we simply wash stuff too much and should learn to live with trousers until they're too stiff to bend?
I last washed my clothes in the early '90s. Does that make me a bad husband too?
Sheets every 2 weeks, I shower every day and after exercise.
Jeans every 3-4days.
Shirts/T-shirts/underwear everyday.
Jumpers when they’re visibly dirty or smell (from cooking etc).
I do all the washing for the household.
Sheets etc once a week.
T-shirts, underwear worn once then washed.
Trousers / jumpers etc, worn every day, washed once a week.
Cycling bibs and base layers, worn once then washed, jackets just when dirty.
I have really greasy skin, so any jacket / jumper needs washing after a few days use as the collars / cuffs get yellow grease stains.
Jeans every 3-4days.
What do you do in them? Mine are lucky if they get washed monthly
Anything next to the skin one day wear only. anything else depends but probably no more than 3 days wear. Uniforms ( when i worked) daily
Jeans when visibly dirty or i can start to smell them.
jumpers/hoodies hardly ever, just get hung back up
polos/tees when the collar starts looking a bit grubby
socks and shreds every day
Every full moon
Undies every day. As I'm just working from home at the moment t-shirts are lasting quite a while 2-3 days. In normal pre-lockdown life it would be a clean t-shirt every day. Jeans are generally 2-3 weeks unless they get visibly filthy but any dirty spots just get sponged off.
If I'm out walking/cycling/running then shorts are normally 2-3 sets of exercise unless covered in crud. T-shirts for running are similar duration as it'll only get dirty and sweaty the next time I wear it.
I claim I'm saving the environment, my wife just thinks I'm a dirty git. But then she's a clean freak who washes her jeans after wearing them for 1 day!
Socks, pants, shirts or t-shirts washed after every use. Jeans probably after they've been worn 3-4 times, unless they are visibly dirty before then. Likewise with hoodies, jumpers etc worn over a t-shirt.
Riding kit. Socks, jersey, chamois every ride. Shorts worn over chamois depends. If very muddy every ride, but in the summer every 2 or 3 rides. Knee pads and 510s get a hose down in the winter. In summer, kneepads get a hand wash in bacteria killing laundry liquid every 2 or 3 rides or the pong gets out of hand.
Shower Daily - occasionally twice if activities (exercise or BBQ) dictate.
Cycling kit - things next to my skin get washed after every ride - other stuff as/when.
When i was at the office everyday i would put on a clean shirt daily - WFH i'm getting 2-3 days out of a T-shirt.
Underwear/socks change everyday.
Jeans/shorts - usually get a week out of pair, same with a hoodie - unless it gets something spilled down it.
My daughters think i'm a bit grubby for wearing the same T-shirt for more than a day - and jeans for a week.
However, my daughters generate more washing than anyone else i know - Going to gymnastics? - put on a leotard and clean hoodie - two hours later the whole lot goes in the wash - obviously i'm fine with the leotard but the hoodie!!!
Same with guides/brownies - wear the uniform for 90 mins indoors - whole lot goes in the wash.
Towels/bedsheets - two weeks max.
Trousers - dirty or smelly
socks and pants - daily
shirts next to skin - daily if its had a full day's use
exercise top touching skin - every use
Biking upper layers - dirty or smelly
Biking shorts/trousers - when dirty
Bike gloves - when i can smell them
Sheets - 2 weeks
From an environmental standpoint:
Washing machine is always run full. For the two of us, this is usually 2 to 2.5 loads a week.
Almost always use quick/eco mode.
Dont own a dryer, don't want one.
I see no point in separating washing by colour. Just makes doing all the above more challenging.
Underwear last a day, same for socks. T-shirts 1-2 days depending upon what I'm up to. Jeans every 4-5 days and jumpers the same. Although everything has to be washed after visiting my parents as my mum's a heavy smoker and it all stinks of tar and smoke afterwards!
Bike kit is usually after every ride as I leave little salt stains from sweat on it, the only exception being softshells that only get washed if they smell or are covered in mud.
Supposedly you're not meant to wash jeans, just spot clean any spills and leave them to air if they start to smell.
Anyway, pants/socks, fresh daily I think that's a fundamental isn't it?
T-Shirts, I've started to wash ever other wear, but not wearing them two days in a row.
Jeans, rarely.
Jumpers, almost never, I always wear something between me and my jumpers / hoodies.
Cycling kit goes straight in the wash, I can't imagine doing anything else.
When they need washing.
People wash clothes unnecessarily. The only clothes I'll change automatically on a daily basis are underpants, other than that I wash things when they're dirty or they smell.
Jeans every 3-4days.
What do you do in them? Mine are lucky if they get washed monthly
I've a pair that are in their seventh year without a wash.
More mingers. Unwashed jeans * shudders*
Underwear and socks - after one wear;
Work shirts - after one wear;
T-shirts - generally 2 or 3 days;
Hoodies/jumpers - when noticeably dirty;
Jeans - 6 months?
I bought a new pair of jeans about a fortnight ago. I'll wear them every day for work (teaching) and most weekends too; unless it's hot or I'm doing something outdoorsy. I plan on washing them at the end of August, ready for the new school year.
People wash clothes unnecessarily. The only clothes I’ll change automatically on a daily basis are underpants, other than that I wash things when they’re dirty or they smell.
This, and I have this (mild) disagreement with MrsIHN. I put stuff in the wash when it's dirty/smelly, she puts it in when it's worn.
More mingers. Unwashed jeans * shudders*
It's all in your head. You think "unwashed" is a bad thing, I think dirty or smelly is what we need to avoid in our clothes. Though even then I wouldn't be throwing a dirty pair of jeans in the wash just to have them clean to continue the same grubby job tomorrow.
Nope - just manky mingers who prefer to stink than wash themselves or their clothes.
I very rarely wash jeans - they simply don't need it and never smell IME. I treat them the same way I would a coat, for example. However, in the real world I probably end up washing them every 2 months or something when I've spilt some spaghetti or fork oil on them.
Socks/pants/shirts/t-shirts daily. Bike stuff after every ride.
Jumpers IME do start to smell after a while so maybe every 2-3 weeks?
My wife OTOH enjoys having the burden of washing to moan about so she washes everything as frequently as she can.
FWIW I'm a daily+ showerer so I'd like to think I'm not an old stinky hippy.
Jeans whenever they need them as I hate wearing dirty jeans turned outside in to stop fading too quick
What's pink and wrinkly and hangs out your trousers ?
Your maw
Sheets every 2 weeks, I shower every day and after exercise.
Jeans every 3-4days.
Shirts/T-shirts/underwear everyday.
Jumpers when they’re visibly dirty or smell (from cooking etc).I do all the washing for the household
As above but wash jeans maybe every two weeks. They 'turn' after about that time, I get a prickly feeling
What if you are goin ti the disco ? 😉
I am with TJ. Mingers. Lots of 'em. <shudder>
Underwear and socks wear once and wash.
Shirts, t-shirts etc. when dirty or after a couple of wears.
Jeans, when dirty.
More mingers. Unwashed jeans * shudders*
What do you know about jeans?
that unwashed ones smell 😉
I just got 10 days out of a pair of prototype merino boxer shorts.
Well I've just thrown the base layer I've worn all week on my bin round in the wash even though it didn't really need it.😀
I don't know what it is about it, it's an Altura synthetic one I've had for years but a week of sweaty work and it's fine. I've other base layers would not be too pleasant after that long but it possesses some miraculous properties
Next to skin (boxers, socks, t-shirts, etc) or running/cycling clothing, after every wear.
Jumpers and other tops, after maybe 5 or 6 days use, maybe more, not regularly.
Jeans, almost never. They get washed when they're dirty or smell and not before.
Bedding, I'd love to say weekly, but I suspect bi-weekly is more accurate.
that unwashed ones smell 😉
After a single day's wear? At what point do they start to smell during that day?
When they start to walk around by themselves...
Changing sheets less than once a week, urgh. Clean sheets is one of those simple pleasures in life.
Underwear is one wear. Jeans is wear them until they smell bad or feel wrong then bung in the freezer and wear some more. If they get visibly dirty I’ll wash them. Cheaper jeans or trousers about five days. Same with shirts.
T-shirt’s can last a couple of days, shirts the same (talking check shirts and heavier materials) and jumpers I honestly don’t know. I don’t wear them often so tend to chuck them back in the wardrobe between wearing.
Anything next to skin then after one wear, anything else when I spill something on them.
I just got 10 days out of a pair of prototype merino boxer shorts.
I may regret asking this, but what was the reason on the evening of day 10/morning of day 11 that made you think "nope, they're done"
I may regret asking this, but what was the reason on the evening of day 10/morning of day 11 that made you think “nope, they’re done”
My partner was like “look, ok, just change them eh?”
After a single day’s wear? At what point do they start to smell during that day?
I suppose if you’re a dribbler it’s going to be different to if you’re not.
I may regret asking this, but what was the reason on the evening of day 10/morning of day 11 that made you think “nope, they’re done”
LOL. This! I doubt it was decency.
I shared accommodation during a ski season with a guy who boasted as he never washed his thermals as he "didn't need to". FFWD to one day when he says "Can you have look at my back?". OMG Fully developed fungal infection. If Donald Trump had been there he'd have injected bleach immediately. I think the French GP sent him to the STD clinic. How we laughed, then hid our towels...
Qui vous dit en Francais "Minger!"?
I just got 10 days out of a pair of prototype merino boxer shorts.
I love the concept of prototype boxer shorts.
Are there scoop photos in Trouser Talk monthly showing you tripping over in the morning to put on a pair of 9 day old keks with 'prototype' emblazoned over the arse?
Last pair of Jeans I bought had instructions not to wash them for at least 6 (maybe 8?) months. I assume the makers intended for me to wear them in that time. Eventually washed them after a year.
Washed jeans are awful and uncomfortable. Nothing minging about not washing them. What do some of you do every day that washing jeans after a few days wear becomes necessary? I know a lot of you are knocking on a bit so there’s no shame in admitting you sometimes shit yourselves.
Socks Boxers and tee shirts/shirts daily.
Chamois and base layers every day
Jeans. When dirty or smelly.
Over shirt. When dirty
Shower when it's needed. Often daily. Sometimes every two or 3 days depending on what doing and availibility of a shower.. Flannel wash at the sink daily regardless.
Some folk manage to need to shower twice daily and still stink.some of them reside here - others just have cleanliness issues.
My wife and kids are the ones that change all their clothes and night clothes daily. I bring it up from time to time but it's like shouting into the wind. Yet I get moaned at for all the washing due to me cycling a couple of times a week.
I was a bit disgusted when on cycling holidays with pals. Although they all washed/showered daily a fair few of them would put the same tee shirt back on after 🤢, one pal wore the same tee shirt all week 🤮
Lockdown’s been great, as I can get a week’s wear out of a pair of socks by only having them on when I go out to walk the dogs. Rest of the time I’m barefoot.
I generally wash t shirts and cycling tops with some Milton fluid or similar in the rinse cycle - helps to kill off any bacteria and let’s you get a couple of days wear out of them.
I work with someone who washes towels after a single use. The whole family of five. The washing machine is almost always on.
I suppose if you’re a dribbler it’s going to be different to if you’re not.
Fair point. In that case it would be disgusting to wear them for a full day, no?
Well as a kid in the 60s from a working class background i got a bath once a week and school uniform lasted a week,my Dad was a labourer and had a bath once a week also wore the same work clothes all week. My Grandparents never had a bathroom- tin bath once a week. No one used deodorant.
Everyone stunk.
I change all my clothes daily except jeans which last 3 days tops. I shower every day before going to bed and sometimes on a morning.
If, when I take my jeans off, they then remain upright (almost like a vase) then they are in need of a wash.
If they crumple and fall, then there's no need to wash.
I'm saving the planet by being a smelly northerner. A smelly, tight, northerner.
I'll repost this from the thread mentioned in the OP.
You need to meet my girlfriend’s daughter’s boyfriend.
He showers at least daily (though he’s a mechanic so after work is fair enough) and somehow manages to generate enough laundry to run the machine pretty much every single day. That’s despite the daughter almost never leaving the house and therefore rarely even changing out of PJs, and it’s not our stuff because if I leave so much as a damp tea towel in the drum the cheeky little bollocks will take it out to do his own.
It’ll save me a fortune when they move out. The tumble drier packed in a couple of weeks ago, I’m not fixing it until they’ve gone.
For me, I wash things when they need washing. Are they dirty / do they smell?
Socks daily. Sometimes more often than that.
Boxers I'll get a couple of days out of in the current climate, I'm not exactly doing much that's particularly sweaty (when I'm still wearing pants at least).
Work polo shirts got changed every day back when I was going into an office. But I was mostly running round like a nob and they weren't the most breathable of fabrics.
Tee-shirts whilst sitting in my home office all day, I'll get a few days to approaching a week out of.
Jeans a couple of weeks maybe. Maybe I'm missing something but I can't envisage wearing the same pair for months, aside from being utterly grim they'd be more curry and pasta sauce than denim by that point.
Cycling shorts or anything else I exercise in are one-shots, I might get a couple of hours out of them and then they're in the wash.
Bedsheets when my OH goes "we should probably change the bedding". Fortnightly perhaps? Towels maybe weekly.
Funny isn't it. Anything less than a given poster's routine is borderline OCD-obsessive, anything more is boak and grim.
Hartlepool style inner city type here.Clothes, probably once every four days,(I,m a bit OCD)body, every two or three days if I,m feeling motivated.This is very frequent for this place.Most I speak to wear their clothes for a couple of weeks.As for baths...depends on how much money's in the leccy meter!
As for bed clothes, I think two or three times a year is sufficient.
What is this never wash jeans thing? 🤢
I'm happy with 2-3 days from a cotton t shirt or shirt (always aired in between for a day or two) and daily boxers is a no brainer but with dog walking, a bit of sweat, the odd bit of crawling around on the floor to get to things at the back of shed shelves, a half hour round the local footpaths on a bike etc. they are going to want a wash at least fortnightly.
Don't get me wrong DIY jeans can be filthy as you like but at some point the mud and yuck wants removing even from them.
Similar to op apart from socks for non sporting use get several days and sheets maybe up to 3 weeks. Neither of us are particularly sweaty, smelly people. Other half doesn't even need to wear deodorant ever and doesn't get bo.
I like to think it helps the environment and clothes last longer.
with dog walking, a bit of sweat, the odd bit of crawling around on the floor to get to things at the back of shed shelves, a half hour round the local footpaths on a bike etc. they are going to want a wash at least fortnightly.
I do precisely none of those things whilst wearing jeans. Random fact, I can’t cycle in any form of long trousers. Has to be shorts or it just feels wrong and I overheat. Proper jeans are pretty much designed to not be washed that often.
Proper jeans are pretty much designed to not be washed that often.
Really? cite?
Define proper jeans of course. 😉
Jeepers some of you really live up to the stereotype of the type 2 sysadmin from Cory Docterows " when sysadmins ruled the earth"
Actually my memory of the descriptions are not quite what I remember
thundering good story for you cougar
https://www.lambot.info/when-sysadmins-ruled-the-earth/
Really? cite?
Define proper jeans of course
Browse any site that sells decent, tough selvedge jeans and read the care and washing instructions. STW favourite Hebtroco would be a great place to start.
There is a reason shirts used to come with detachable cuffs and collars. So you could just wash the visibly soiled parts. People didn't stink anymore back then.
Jeans - just sponge off the visible dirt, hang em in the sunshine. Better disinfectant than any detergent.
I'm amused at the idea of tj being repulsed by twice worn unwashed jeans, given some of the things you must have encountered at work. Bit like a vet who spends half his life up to his armpit in a cows arse being horrified at the idea of changing a diaper.
I think he’s just repulsed by jeans in general regardless of what state they are in 😀
Browse any site that sells decent, tough selvedge jeans and read the care and washing instructions. STW favourite Hebtroco would be a great place to start.
Ah - you mean fashion jeans not proper ones 🙂
I’m amused at the idea of tj being repulsed by twice worn unwashed jeans
I never said that - its the mingers that wear them for weeks and months without washing - I said trousers are 3 or 4 days for me
People didn’t stink anymore back then.
Yes they did! Stinking was normal back then
Ah – you mean fashion jeans not proper ones 🙂
Levi's say wash once every 10 wears AT MOST
Tesco/asda jeans ...... They probably don't give a **** . They come looking like they were made out of a tatty sack cut in half and stitched together. Washing them every wear couldn't possibly make them look any worse.
Good job the fade is fashionable Any indigo denim would last about 6 months being washed every 3/4 days.
Ah – you mean fashion jeans not proper ones
Quite the opposite. All jeans used to be made well and out of quality denim. It’s the fashion ones that tend to be shite. Adrian Chiles owns a pair of HebTroCo jeans so I doubt they can be described as fashionable in any sense 😀
So...
tjagain
Full Member
I never said that – its the mingers that wear them for weeks and months without washing – I said trousers are 3 or 4 days for me
But you've already said on the showering thread...
Gawd some manky folk on here. Of course you should wash every day otherwise you stink of either BO or some gawdaful stuff to mask your BO
News: - Not everyone stinks after a day.
TJ - You're a special case, and though it's sometimes hard to grasp, not everyone is the same.
I love the concept of prototype boxer shorts.
Are there scoop photos in Trouser Talk monthly showing you tripping over in the morning to put on a pair of 9 day old keks with ‘prototype’ emblazoned over the arse?
Hi sorry - I now own a clothing brand and we sample stuff. So we test product. So that's why they're prototype. We've been "extended wear" testing a lot of our new wool stuff to see what happens. A week out of wool socks isn't difficult. These new boxers I just thought I'd keep going. When things aren't getting trapped in synthetic fibres, there seems to be a lot less pong generated. My synthetic baselayers stink in short order by comparison.
Yes they did! Stinking was normal back then
Stinking was never normal. Humans have an odour for certain but it isn't minging, it's what makes us mate. Modern diets, soaps, lifestyles etc have made us stink. I have spent several days walking in upper 30 degree temps with humidity and didn't stink at all at the end of it. Water is all you need.
When things aren’t getting trapped in synthetic fibres, there seems to be a lot less pong generated. My synthetic baselayers stink in short order by comparison.
This. I bought a couple of patagonia capilene UV shirts. They absolutely reek after a few sweaty hours. Never had that problem with cotton or linen.
Lingerie - every day,
Bed linen - once per week
Towels - every 5-6 days
work clothes (outer) - once a week
work clothes (near to skin) - once every 2-3 days
riding gear - shorts - every ride
riding gear - outer wear or merino - every 2 - rides.
Shower everyday.
Not sure I understand all the people saying they wash anything next to the skin daily but don't wash their jeans for weeks? They're next to the skin too you know... not that I'm arguing for more frequent jeans washes, quite the opposite - t shirts don't need washing till they're actually dirty or smelly either
I shower daily so I don’t have to wash my clothes after daily wear. Underwear clean every day. I wear nice shirts even when working from home. I have my standards. They last about three days since sitting at a desk is not exactly carrying bricks for a living.
Al my recent exercise has been walking. That’s done in daily clothes. But only in Zone 1. And more and I’d wash after use. Cycling kit is washed after every use.
Towels should be washed relatively often (2-3 days) and not shared. Unless you like to pass the fungi. Also half a litre of bodily fluid is passing through your bedding every night. Just for some perspective.
thundering good story for you cougar
Hah. Must be ten years or more since I last saw that, cheers.
Might I suggest Little Brother? You can buy the dead tree version from all good bookshops and Amazon, but you can download it for free in a gazillion different formats from Cory's website.
Read it ta cougar.