Experts Weigh In On How Long You Can Wear Clothes Without Washing

We’ve all been there … you’re getting ready to go out and find your favorite jeans didn’t make it to the washing machine yet. So do you wear them, slightly dirty and all? Or do you rethink your whole outfit? The bigger question is how many times is it appropriate to wear clothing without washing it and a TikToker sparked a debate on this topic recently.

Allison Delperdang recently posted a video revealing that she wears her pajamas multiple times before washing them. She says her parents did it this way when she was a kid, telling her the PJs weren’t dirty after sleeping in them one night, so she still does it as a grown-up. It seems people have a lot of opinions about this and here experts share their take on it.

Basically, it all comes down to your lifestyle and sweat level. Dr. Anthony Rossi, an assistant attending dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explains, “People tend to over wash and ‘over hygiene’ themselves, because especially in America, we have a luxury of being able to do all that stuff all the time.” So while there are no hard and fast rules about how much you can wear something before it’s so “dirty” it needs to be washed, there are some guidelines to help you know when it’s time to toss it in the hamper:

• Some items should be washed after every use, including underwear, socks, tights, leggings and activewear.
• Anything with stains, sweat, odor or visible dirt needs to be washed before wearing it again.
• If you go commando, you need to wash your clothing after every wear since it comes into contact with your naked parts.
• If you shower before bed, wear undies, and don’t sweat much in your PJs, experts say you can wear them for a week without washing. But if you don’t do these things, wash them after every time you wear them.
• Coats and jackets probably don’t need to be washed more than once a month since they don’t touch your skin.
• As for jeans, how often to wash them is debatable. If they don’t smell bad or have stains, a monthly wash may be enough. And Rossi notes, “I personally don’t wash my jeans.”

Source: CNN

Scott's Thoughts:

• You mean everyone doesn’t just Febreze clothes and toss in the dryer so they can wear it again? Uh. Asking for a friend.
• I don't wear pajamas so.
• Sheets bug me. Some people only wash them like once a month. I wash at least every 2 weeks. Sometimes more.
• I feel like Jeans can be worn about 3 times, unless you are doing an activity that gets you dirty or sweaty.