While chatting with a relative recently about small vs. large savings, I mentioned that I wasn’t interested in making my own laundry soap. The money saved would amount to about 8 cents per load, and DF and I generally do no more than six loads of laundry per month (and usually fewer).
The relative was shocked: “We do two or three loads a week for just the three of us.”
Then again, one of those three is a very active 8-year-old – in other words, lots of dirty clothes. That also means an extra set of sheets each week. And for all I know, that family uses a bath towel only once.
That’s how I grew up; my mom didn’t think it was sanitary to reuse a towel. Boy, did I get over that idea when I moved out on my own.
But that got me to thinking: Are we really grimy people for not caring whether the towel gets used, reused and re-reused?
Out of curiosity, I’ll open the matter for discussion:
How much underwear do you have? Another relative, who will remain nameless, once told me she could go about a month without doing laundry due to an extensive collection of scanties. I, on the other hand, can’t go for more than eight days without running out of drawers.
Bath towels: Teeming with colonies of bacteria post-shower? Or just fine once they’ve been hung to dry? Sorry, Mom – we reuse.
Do you wear slacks/jeans more than once before washing them? We sure do. Then again, we don’t dig ditches for a living. In fact, I don’t wear jeans or slacks that often: doing my part to keep the freelance writer stereotype going by mostly slopping about all day in sweatpants and an old T-shirt.
A waste of effort?
I might feel differently if we were young parents dotted with spit-up or hard-core runners whose workout gear put a hurt on the nose. As it is, our clothes don’t offend and our bathroom doesn’t smell of mildew.
Again, I don’t have to dress up for the job and DF is a dude so simple slacks plus a shirt and tie are all he needs. (Bonus: He actually likes to iron, so even the most basic shirt always looks crisp and starched.)
Your mileage may vary. But for us, running extra loads of laundry just seems like wasted effort. Wasted money, too – think of all the electricity and water we’re not using. No laundry-soap waste, either.
But even if we were young parents or hardcore trail users, I probably still wouldn’t make the detergent. Costco’s prices are pretty darned good.
As long as I do a laundry at least every eight days, I’m good. Going commando would seem unhygienic – and in the winter, a bit chilly.
Related reading:
I run out of socks before underwear, but I can go about two weeks. It is just me so it takes a while to fill up the washer just by myself (I’m not convinced that running smaller loads works very well with my current washing machine).
Towels are reused, and I replace them a couple of times per week. Kitchen towels/rags are replaced every couple of days because they mold (and when I say “replace” that doesn’t mean I go shopping, but that I get clean ones out and place the dirty ones into the hamper to be washed).
Gym clothes get washed after every use because they are sweaty and gross.
Most everything else gets worn at least twice before getting washed (unless they have been spilled on).
Up here the humidity is low so terrycloth dries pretty quickly. If towels start smelling like a locker room…eeeewwww.
I can go about a month even though I usually don’t I usually go a little over two weeks and I do wear my pants multiple times. I work part time with kids and even then I don’t think I need to worry about stinking. If I did my preschool kids would tell me. lol
I buy enough of my favorite brand to make sure I have 3 weeks worth. The same for socks.
I have a drawerful of drawers but find that I only wear my comfiest and have about 8 pairs of those. I do have a few nicer ones for “special occasions” but otherwise, I stick to the comfy, probably a size too big, hi-cut briefs. Clothing I do wear more than once, but like you, I don’t get dirty most of the time. I would say that pants get worn 3-4 times. Since I don’t go out much, its maybe a few hours at most. Shirts tend to be laundered every 2 wearings because I don’t like how my perfume smells when it sits on the shirt for some time. When it comes to towels, I do mostly wash after one use. If I am backed up on laundry and have lots of other things to do, I will reuse it one time and one time only. And if I do, the who-ha and other areas get dried with a smaller washcloth and into the wash pile it goes. I know its all clean, I just washed it all in the shower, but I tend to be funny about that. I also worry about what might have started growing on the towel since last nights shower and don’t want to put that on me. (I am a little more germaphobic since recently taking a microbiology class.)
As noted, I might wear a shirt for a few hours at most. Lately I’ve taken to hanging them outside for a little while. That way they smell really refreshed. We put our comforter and pillows outside regularly, too, to get that nice scent of fresh air; however, we waited until the worst of the birch pollen was finished, lest we sneeze all night.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
i’ve been known to toss my bath towels in the dryer on Hot for 20 minutes. Definitely kills anything that might be lurking in there. I also wear pants more than once (and shirts, too, depending on what I’ve been doing. I got in the habit of having 7-8 pairs of undies and bras, plus a pair of sox for every day, too. When the kids were little, I used to stock up on sox and underwear so the family could go for several days without doing laundry, in case I got hit by a truck or something.
Makes the towels extra-cozy in the winter, too.
Glad you weren’t hit by a truck. Keep that streak going!
Had to tell you how hilarious you are, Donna!
🙂
Made me laugh out loud when there were a few strangers near me!
Well, sometimes I use my powers for good. 🙂
Thanks for your kind words, and for leaving a comment.
With socks and underwear, I can go two weeks. I reuse bath towels, letting them dry out, and generally wash them when I wash everything else. Kitchen towels, though, get put in the hamper after two days, and I can go two weeks on those, too. Laundry soap: I use about 1/4-1/2 the recommended amount, and have great success with clothes and linens smelling and looking clean. Sheets have to be washed after two weeks. Here in the desert, I hate wasting water, so I don’t like to run either dish or clothes washer if they’re not full. I also tend to wash either on cold or lukewarm. One tip a lingerie saleslady told me, and I don’t know if she was right or not, but she said to let bras hang outside the closet between wearings, to air out. She said they would last longer. So I have four that I air out and wear in rotation, and wash them in cold water every 2 to 3 weeks, depending on when I remember to do it. I think they’ve lasted longer. I haven’t bought any new since 2012.
I never put bras in the dryer — they’re too expensive not to have last as long as possible.
I use a lingerie bag to wash my bras in the machine – it keeps them hooking onto other clothes and getting twisted up – and then hanging them to dry. It’s made a big difference to how well they keep their shape and how long they last.
About 8 days worth, jeans about 3 days unless they get spilled on, shirts a little more often due to work outs. Towels at least once a week. Kitchen towels maybe twice a day (hubby washes his hands, but not thoroughly enough! Needs to rinse and repeat.
I did have a male friend who wondered why he was always needing to go to the laundromat and his wife did not. Lo and behold he counted the underwear. He went and bought himself 7 more of each and never had to ask to go again.
All clothes, towels, sheets get dirty differently. I have enough underwear for 2 weeks, but usually go for 8-10 days between doing laundry. I do reuse bath towels and throw them in with my clothes. If you’re not sweating in them due to heat, exertion, etc. I rewear pants 3-4 times. Shirts usually only get one wearing unless they were worn for less then a full day. Example, I played tennis and then showered late in the afternoon and only wore the shirt from 4pm to 10pm. Needless to say my tennis clothes get washed after each wearing.
My rule of thumb is wash what’s dirty/smelly. Running smaller loads never works that well especially in my dryer as it actually takes longer for a smaller load to dry then a larger one.
Couple of things…. First thank you for reassuring me that I have not lost my mind with the whole “making your own laundry detergent” dynamic. I have found with double coupons and catching the sales I get my detergent for like $1…$1.50…for like 50 washloads. And thus I have never seen the appeal of “Home-made”. And while we are talking about underwear…are there any “tight wad remedies” for underwear that is still in good shape but the elastic has stretched out…toying with the idea of “suspenders” made from shoe laces…LOL. Make no mistake underwear has gotten expensive…
I think your only option is to buy new elastic and do some sewing. I decided long ago that it’s not worth my time. I’d rather wait for good quality undies to go on sale.
Jack, you are always a hoot. I’m now picturing a guy wearing his tightwad shoestring suspenders holding up old underwear.
Made my day.
You could buy fold-over elastic and resew. Not sure tho if the cost is worth it. Depends on how expensive your underwear is and if you can get a good sale on the elastic (I only buy it when I have a 50% off coupon for Jo Ann Fabrics).
We don’t make our own detergent either. We do 2 loads a week (tho a little more now that we just had a baby), and I just find it’s not worth my time to mess around with homemade stuff. I buy eco friendly detergent, so it is more expensive, but I use much less than the “recommended” amount.
Also, speaking of the rising price of underwear, I buy it at Kohl’s using one of their $10 off a $10 or more purchase. So when Jockey goes on sale for $12.50 I spend $2.50 for a 3 pack of nice cotton underwear. I get 2 of these coupons every 3 months so I am now well stocked with underwear.
Thought I was the only one that used Kohl’s cash for underwear.
I actually got briefs for my husband for free using Kohl’s cash! Hey — do what works for you!
Laundry is a weekly event: whites, mediums, darks and bath towels. Bedding gets thrown in biweekly except during high pollen seasons when the pillowcases are washed weekly. The towels are not changed every day, and I’m content because my skin isn’t breaking out and the bathroom smells ok so its good enough. If a towel gets really soppy it is put in the hamper and replaced. I probably have 2 weeks work of undies. I don’t tend to re-wear pants but I re-wear skirts twice and anything I only wore a few hours gets a second wearing. For example, the skirt and possibly the whole outfit I wear to church and change out of, becomes the skirt/outfit I wear to work on Monday. I have tried and do not enjoy the “DIY” laundry detergent process so I happily buy detergent.
I don’t know how much underwear I have, but I have a lot. I haven’t bought any in years– I think I bought a huge amount on some sort of closeout sale longer than I can remember ago, and now when one of my pairs wears out I have a separate stash of never-used underpants and socks that I can grab. I figure I have to wear it all out eventually, right? But it’s definitely one of those weird things that happens when you can’t pass up a bargain. I don’t do that kind of buying anymore– these days I usually only get a little more than I normally buy when there’s a closeout.
We use our towels for a week and then wash. We use our sheets for a month and then wash unless someone has had an accident before then.
I wash my jeans when they get dirty or after I’ve worn them 2-3 times, depending on which comes first.
I sweat in a stinky and unladylike fashion so my shirts get washed every time I wear them. But my pajama shirts only get washed once a week unless I don’t get dressed for a day.
In college, I washed my sheets at the end of each semester. These days, monthly seems about right. I don’t actually keep track, but I wash them when I feel they need washing.
We do, of course, wash guest sheets after each guest (unless I know the same guest is visiting again soon). I had a friend who didn’t do that, and I found that offputting.
Taken from an article my son sent me recently:
According to the man behind the jeans Americans have been wearing for the past 141 years – Levi’s 501s – you do not need to wash your jeans as often as you think you do, if ever.
“These jeans are maybe a year old and these have yet to see a washing machine,” the CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., Chip Bergh, said Tuesday, referring to the jeans he was wearing
https://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-news-blogs/why-levis-ceo-says-stop-washing-jeans-131846974–abc-news-lifestyle.html
I don’t wash my jeans until they look dirty or feel gross. I’ve definitely gone more than a week on a pair of jeans. Not sure about a year . . .
I have gone much longer than a week for jeans. Much longer. But again, I don’t wear them all that much.
I wear clothes once because I am a sweaty person. I have enough underwear for a month. My laundry task is usually two loads a week I was towels every week and sheets every two
Then there is Oprah. She had a program on this sort of subject and stated she liked to have clean sheets every three days. Ah, what you can have if you can afford a staff. If she had to do it herself, I’ll bet that would spread back out to weekly.
I bet her meals would change somewhat too, if she had to shop/cook/clean up all by herself.
No doubt, lol!!
I can go just over a week on the undies and towels are reused in the bathroom. The sheets must be changed every Saturday morning, in my mind that is a law. Usually I do three loads of laundry a week, 1 load of sheets, 1 load of towels from the bathrooms/kitchen and 1 load of my clothes.
I have recently learned about farmer laundry since my daughter is now married to a farmer and does laundry at my house a lot. Those are some incredibly dirty/greasy clothes. Even if they aren’t the jeans have to washed after 1 wearing so the pollen is not carried to another field and cross pollinating what is growing there.
I have 15 pairs of underwear so I do my laundry every 15 days. I wear my pants/shorts 3-4 times but not more than that because they get quite aromatic after that many wears. I use one towel during the 15-day period between washes, and I usually go several weeks before I wash my bed linens (and that is an improvement over the past when I used to go months before washing my bedsheets).
Not enough. Maybe 4 bras, a week tops of underwear and less than a week of socks.
I have only two bras. Guess that makes me really unprepared?
Doesn’t anyone else have a problem with reusing a towel? I mean, after drying one’s private parts you then use the towel to dry your face, etc.? Call me OCD, but I only use my towel once and then it goes in the wash!
No, you aren’t alone. I don’t reuse towels on my body, but after a shower, I will use that towel on the floor next time. However, I also don’t shower every day, so I figure that things even out. If I shower too often or reuse towels or shave less than carefully, I end up with skin infections; it’s a lifelong problem for me. I can use a hand towel for as much as a week (I live alone), but I’m a very good hand washer 🙂
Kitchen towels get washed if they touch the floor, residue from raw meat or eggs, or every couple of days – whichever happens first.
I rarely shower every day, so my towel is always dry when I go to reuse it. I figure I’m clean once I am all showered. I wash towels every 1-2 weeks depending on the humidity and how often I’m showering. If the towels smell or look dirty, they go right into the wash.
I have two weeks of underwear but change underwear sometimes twice a day. I try to wash before I get to the last pair. I have enough socks for two weeks and new ones, never-worn in reserve. I have about 20 pair of black pants for winter. Some are rags that are worn around the house or in the yard. Some have a snag or are horribly faded. I bought three pair for $1 each. I hate them, so I sleep in them in the winter or wear around house or yard. My gray pants are about 14 pair. Some are stained so are only yard or house clothes. I am going to put one pair in the rag bag because the holes leave me too exposed.
I will wear a top more than once, depending on how much I sweat or what I spilled on the front of me! Pants get a just a cold water rinse in vinegar because they are not fresh at all, but not dirty. The vinegar helps to keep them black and freshens them. I wash about eight pair of pants in a load, maybe more, plus black panties or tshirts. Same with gray pants and light colored blouses. I can go two weeks without washing blouses, but don’t like sweat to stay on them that long.
I wash all my red and hot pink blouses at one time. I use a towel for my hair and one for my body. Both are reused several times. It is just me here, and I can hang the towel on the rod not folded, so it dries and does not mildew. Washcloths are used only once. If I drop a towel on the bathroom floor, it goes in the wash.
Kitchen towels and dishcloths are tossed in the laundry hamper several times a day and at least every day. My nightgowns don’t have a schedule. They are washed according to how hot it was at night and how sweaty I was. Sheets in the winter never touch my body, so once a month is enough with once a week in the summer about right. Pillowcases are washed more than the sheets.
While I am conservative with my money and often make do, I am not going to make my own laundry detergent, either! I use about 1/2 tsp liquid laundry detergent in a load unless it is underwear or the washcloths I use instead of tp. I also buy at a sale with coupons and feel my cost cannot be beat by making my own detergent. I do use the washing soda and borax in the underwear/tp washcloth load, along with a Tbsp. or so of liquid laundry detergent. That load goes through a pre-wash, wash, and two rinses.
When I had two children and a baby, I did 21 loads of laundry each week. Since I had five dozen cloth diapers when I had a third baby, I usually did two loads of those each week. The children really made laundry between nasty playing outdoors, spilled food on clothing, church clothes, and clothes worn to shop. Towels or washcloths never made it to a second use since I used those to clean up bath water or things fell on the floor and were walked on.
Now, living alone, I probably average three loads each week. During a rainy week, I may only do one load and then when the weather is dry, I was five or six loads. Hanging clothes outside is my preference. Hanging pants and blouses indoors still takes low humidity.
Ha. I once had an 80 hr/wk newspaper job that left me no time for laundry (also I was living in a building with no washer or dryer), so I just bought underwear and t-shirts instead. When I DID do laundry, I made it an event – took a cab to the fancy laundromat with massage chairs, bought organic pasta from the amazing hole in the wall resto next door.
My undie drawer has diminished since that particular peak point, but checking today, I have 19 pairs, and 5 bras. I do laundry every ten days or so. Sadly, I no longer live close to the fancy laundromat.
I’m late to the party on this one. As a single person, I tried to keep 2-3 weeks worth of clothing. I just couldn’t fill my loads if I tried to do laundry every week and that’s inefficient – and time-consuming. Now that I’m in a couple, we do laundry every two weeks. I have 15-20 undies.
As for bath towels and sheets, I re-use. Man, using a towel just once makes me cringe thinking about the wastefulness. I use them all for one week and then put out a second set. I wash the sheets and towels all together with all of my other clothes every two weeks.
I have enough underwear for about 3 weeks, but I run out of in-season everyday clothing before that. I wear all clothing more than once unless a) I get sweaty in it (from exercise/general being outside in NC in the summer) or b) it gets something on it, such as food or ink or something. Pants/skirts are generally reworn 3 or 4 times since most of the time I’m just sitting at my desk at work or just doing things around my apartment.
I change my towels and sheets every 2 weeks or so, which was how often the cleaning woman came and changed them for us when I was growing up. I only have a handful of bras since they are $$$ for me to find comfortable ones so I handwash those every few days.
I have enough clothes for 2 weeks but I rarely wait that long since I do hot yoga and my workout clothes are nasty. I use regular detergent now but I used to make it. I liked that I only had to get the supplies one or two times a year and I mixed it up while watching tv.
I’m feeling like the dirtiest piggy now! I have about 2 weeks of underwear, but do laundry once a week. (Although every time I’ve discussed laundry with someone, the first question is – but how much underwear do you have?) I have two bras, and wash one a week then hang dry. I wear all my shirts twice unless I spill on them (which never happens) or sweat too much (now that my life is so over-air conditioned, that never seems that happen anymore). In winter I alternate wearing two pairs of jeans and wash them both once a week, but only because the washing helps them tighten up and without it they’re too baggy. I wash skirts very rarely, right now I’m alternating three and one is washed per week.
I reuse towels and only recently discovered that others don’t. I don’t know what the issue with it is. Kaye above mentions using a towel on other parts then on your face, but I have a specific face towel that is the ONLY thing that ever touches my face (acne reasons) so that doesn’t apply. The only version of me in the towel is the cleanest version possible. Sheets I do every other week, although my mother would have a heart attack if she knew it wasn’t weekly.
My dad still uses a towel only once. DF and I don’t care.
I have 10 days of undies and DH has 14. Sheets go for two weeks before washing, as do the towels. We shower every other day. I wear pants 3-4 times before washing, shirts twice, unless I spill or am particularly smelly. DH is a plumber/HVAC guy, so half of the laundry I do each week is his work clothing. We wash 3-4 loads per week.
I’ve made laundry soap in the past (liquid type) but will likely make a batch of dry powder this week because I have the soda, soap, and borax on hand and want to use them up.
I don’t use bleach (environmental concerns), but often add a few drops of essential oils to sweeten my laundry or act as a natural germ killer. Also use Mrs. Stewart’s bluing in my whites. I bought a bottle about 3 years ago for less than $3 and am still using it.
I have about 2 weeks worth of undies. I also reuse towels for about 3 or 4 times. I use my jeans and dress pants a few times before washing. I usually do a load every sunny day because I hang my clothes out to dry. I try to fluff them in the dryer to soften if needed with a dryer sheet but I don’t do a total dry during the nice months 🙂
As far as bath towels go, I will use them a few times before washing them I felt vindicated when I read a book by a cleaning expert who said that it s perfectly fine to reuse a bath towel several times because you are drying off you CLEAN body. I also try to minimize laundry by rewearing items befor washing them. Before you get grossed out, please understand that I stay at home and usually only go out for church, grocery shopping, or one of numerous doctor’s appointments. It doesn’t make sense to wash a shirt and slacks that you have worn for two hours while you run to the podiatrist. A
Total agree!
I have so much underwear I could probably go for a couple of months before doing wash… LOL… I wear all my clothes (except underpants) multiple times before washing them because I rarely sweat and I am very tidy. Sheets get washed every 2 weeks and towels every week. We do 2 loads a week (husband and I) because he sweats and we have dogs… if it was just me, it would probably be 2 loads a month.