Ivy says:
The problem with writing for many, many other blogs is that eventally, you won’t be able to find a post you have written that you want to share with people. More than a year ago, I wrote a cute post about how often you should wash various clothing and household items. I could have sworn I had written it for this site, but I just spent an hour searching and it’s not on this site.
The good thing about being a writer is, you can always write it again, so that’s what I’ll do. The comments from the SSA post and the linen closet post are what reminded me of this post. By the way, now is a good time for me to thank you guys for all your comment love. I once said, every comment I get is like handing me a five dollar bill. I said this back in the day when I was first blogging, and it still holds true to this day. Except for the spam comments and the occasionally really ugly comments, I get super happy with each comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now, let’s talk about how often I wash things. Shirts, underwear and socks are always washed after one wearing. Underwear and socks for obvious reasons, shirts because a. I sweat and b. I have a tendency to spill things. I’d wash my bras as often, but I don’t have a whole lot of them and when I buy a bra, I buy expensive. So I usually rinse the one I’m wearing that day out and hang it to dry. I let them do the rinse thing about 3 times before I toss them into the Pile Of The Great Unwashed, also known as my laundry pile.
Now, pants and especially jeans I wash after about 2 days of wearing. When I was really, really poor and didn’t have a washing machine in my apartment, that stretched to about 3 days of wearing- I’d hang the jeans up to let them air out a bit, it seemed to help. As far as dresses/skirts, since I started going to a church that’s all about the casual, so I wear skirts and dresses so rarely that I automatically just toss them in the laundry. When I went to Our Lady Of The Cadillac, I’d hang the dresses up to be worn another time, sometimes.
Now, for kid clothes. My oldest son is kind of snotty* and won’t wear anything that’s not spotlessly clean, so he does some of his own laundry. My younger kids are instructed to put shirts in the laundry after wearing and jeans/pants/shorts/skirts are to be laid over the chair in their room for weekend and/or outside play.
Bath towels are to be used about 3ish days. We hang them up on towel racks after use so they don’t get mildewy. (Thanks to the commenters for reminding me of this, so I could point this out to my husband! I won the linen closet argument handily!) Hand towels hang on the hand towel rings until my kids steal them to clean something up or I clean the bathroom.
Bed sheets I wash about every 2 weeks. Blankets and comforters are washed at the end of the season, with the exception of the blanket throws that are in my living room, which get washed weekly since they get tossed on the floor and are the relaxing place of choice for my kitties.
Being able to keep down the amount of times things are worn is key to being able to keep the laundry pile under control. It’s also the more eco-friendly way to do things. Have a happy Saturday, Home Eccers!
*This is the second time I’ve said my oldest son is snotty. I don’t want you guys to think he’s actually a snotty person, because he’s not. He is a very, very good kid and very responsible. He’s just funny about clothing for the reasons I explained in the comments about the SSA post. He’s also 14 years old, which is a snotty age.
Since the advent of (thank the Lord) jeans with 1-2% stretch in them, I wear my jeans until they’re falling off. That’s at least four wears. Unless I’ve been to a stinky restaurant. I hate restaurant smell. And I’m like you; I can only get one wear out of a shirt, but I go several days on a bra. But I do a sniff test every day. Work pants? They get tossed in the dryer every third week with a wet wash cloth and a dryer sheet. I call this “dry cleaning.” Sweaters? Pretty much the same thing for the wool ones that can’t be washed. Other, washable sweaters are worn several times (I wear undershirts) unless they get dirty.
I wash sheets about once a month (hey, I’m single), but I change out pillow cases twice a week because I have oily skin and it seems to help cut back on breakouts to sleep on clean pillows. And I get a solid week out of towels and washcloths (hey, when you add soap to clean yourself, you’re cleaning it too, right?).
Oh, and though the boyfriend hates it, I toss everything in a load. I don’t separate lights and darks if the darks don’t bleed. I’ve never had a problem, but he seems to think that’s bad. But something I do that he doesn’t is that I turn dark things inside out so they don’t fade as quickly. See, I think I’m clearly the better launderer between the two of us. 🙂
Taking a break from pizza making to butt in.
If you have allergies, wash your bedding frequently: sheets weekly, mattress pads & any light blankets every other week, comforters & bed skirts monthly. Since I began doing this rotation, recommended by my allergist, I have noticed a huge reduction in symptoms. (That and we installed hardwood instead of carpeting.) It’s a pain in the rear, but the quality of life I now enjoy are absolutely worth the extra laundry.
My boys clothes bascially get washed after every wearing, they are messy. They will get 2 nights out of pj’s for the most part, and sometimes jeans.
Mine and hubby’s jeans get worn until they are dirty, usually 3 times, sometimes even longer if I make it to Saturday and cleaning day. Why put on clean clothes to get dirty?!?! Tops are usually a 1 day thing since my kids liket to use me instead of a napkin or towel. Sheets are when I remember them, usually 10 days, and then blankets, whenever I feel they need them. No schedule for them.
Changing the pillow cases mid-week is a great idea.
I’ve got it so ingrained in my head from Flylady on our “home blessing hour” to change the sheets weekly.
Our clothes gets washed frequently. An outfit a day, my kids love dirt and can find dirt everywhere. My husband had a messy job, so his clothes are also washed daily. My clothes are when ever, it really depends if I have been cooking or not, I am a messy cook and can never keep everything where it is suppose to. As for sheet and blankets, well we have a dog(a lab) and well she thinks she owns the house, so we do the hair rotation, when things get hairy they get cleaned. Usually every 7-14 days. Latey my kids bedding has been less because they think their bed is the couch.
I am the laundry queen. I can’t stand to rewear clothing and since I have to be the one to do it, I wash every thing after one wearing. I don’t wear jeans though.
I was my sheets and comforter (if it needs it) weekly. I was my clothes on Monday, the Girls on Tuesday and Wednesday, the boy’s on Thursday, Hubby’s on Friday, rugs, curtains, etc as needed on Saturday.
We have had indoor cats for years, so that made for lots of laundry. Now that they are outside, I have a load of towels and colors per person, and one load of whites a week. I do the kids comforters and sheets every other week.
I am sorry, but I can’t bring myself to reuse a towel. It smells musty to me when I do, and then I smell musty. I wash them after each use. In the summer, since we have a pool, I have more towels.
It’s just one of my needs to have clean laundry. I can cut corners elsewhere.
The kids each have an identifiable towel and a dedicated hook, so their towels are washed weekly.
My towel is rotated out every time that the kids take a bath (3-4 times/week) because I lay it on the floor to soak up the tub splash (and I use it to do a quick mop of the floor when they are done).
I do wash the sheets every week because it feels so good. And the kids that still wear diapers to bed really NEED it changed weekly because of the lingering urine smell.
Anybody who wears underwear to bed can go a few days on pajamas, but I give the diaper set fresh pjs every night for the aforementioned reason.
All pants get worn at least twice and sometimes three times around here (with airings in between). Sheets are a whenever-I-think-about-it thing, which probably averages out to once a month in the winter and twice a month in summer. PJs are a weekly wash item. We each have a towel; they get washed at the end of the week unless they are stinky. Kid clothes, it depends — leotards and tights get one use, whereas other stuff usually gets two wearing (because I have a neatnik child). I do all laundry on Saturday morning, so it’s nice full loads for me.
How about tea towels – each use? mitts, scarves, and toques?
My chores scehdule would be washing all the clothes on weekends coz busy working throughout the weekdays..
tea towels(which is really the kitchen hand drying towel), dish towels, the cloth for cleaning the baby after he eats, and dish cloths I change every day and wash when there is a load. I used to use them for an indeterminate length of time before washing as well as the towels being multi-purpose. Taking a professional course in food safety and sanitation for work purposes changed my view on that. for a few years, we went thru multiples of each PER DAY like I did at work but I got over it. A bit. (not at work)
(I throw out my leftovers a lot sooner now too.)
HA! My kid is often snotty, too, but in the "literal" sense of the word. He's 6, and he insists on rubbing his nose on his sleeves. So yeah. Another reason to always wash his shirts after each wear.
Great site, by the way! I just got pointed over here today by Blair at Wise Craft.