Wear-n-Wash

A Laundry List of Random Clean Thoughts

While cranking through a few loads of laundry the other night, I got to thinking about how, when and why we wash clothes.

My clothing care practices have made a few tectonic shifts over the decades. In my 20’s, with a limited wardrobe and limited access to laundry facilities, everything got washed weekly at the coin-op, whether it needed cleaning or not. Sometimes it really, really needed it. In my 30’s and early 40’s, working in a more corporate office environment (before Business Casual had taken complete hold) meant lots and lots of drycleaning. I remember reading one woman’s advice from her father to always buy two pairs of pants for each suit, as they’d be cleaned more often and wear out more quickly than the jacket. Over the past few years, I’ve migrated my wardrobe toward washable items, to the point that now probably less than 10% of what I own *must* be dry cleaned (and I wear those pieces rarely now).

I’ve read that in the US, we wash/clean our clothing entirely too often. And washing, not wearing, is what causes clothing to “wear out.” Though I went through a phase of believing that everything had to be washed after every wear (barring sweaters and outerwear), I’ve mostly abandoned that notion. I try to wash my clothes only when absolutely necessary, almost always in cold water, and NEVER a hot dryer (only our cleaning rags get that treatment). And I use only 1/4 to 1/2 the recommended amount of detergent.

I’ve also read about campaigns urging people not to wash their jeans, but freeze them instead. OK, that’s taking things a bit too far. O_o

A lot of clothing marked “hand wash” can actually be washed in a lingerie bag in the washer on the gentle cycle, then hung or laid flat to dry.

Not long ago, a drip of salad dressing that landed on my “continental shelf” would require a wash of the entire garment. But this little miracle product soaks up greasy spots on many fabrics, and they can be brushed right off.

Janie Stick. This is also great to carry when traveling.

Do you find that men have weird ideas about laundry? Le monsieur insists that his woven, button front shirts are washed and pressed after each wearing, yet he’ll re-wear dress socks 2-3 times, laying them out to air in between. (I know…eeeuuw.) I’ve more often known men who seem to feel that freshly washed clothing in general is an abomination.

I’m still murky on how pounding clothes on a rock is supposed to get them clean.

I can’t be bothered with liquid fabric softener, but am a fan of these:

Bounce dryer sheets

For all but the largest loads, 1/2 a sheet is all that’s needed. NEVER use fabric softener or dryer sheets with towels; it will reduce their ability to absorb moisture.

I HATE folding laundry, but LOVE the feeling of having everything clean, folded and put away. Confession: I don’t iron my cotton sheets.

What about you…any favorite laundry anecdotes to share??
~

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41 Comments

  1. We mostly do our laundry with cold water too (except for bed sheets and towels), and the hand wash option on the washer is the best!

    Thanks for the tip about the spot cleaner! I want to buy a garment steamer this year so I don’t have to do as much drycleaning.

  2. I don’t seem to get around to ironing clothes, so the sheets would NEVER stand a chance!

    More than 40 years ago, my Jr. high teacher told us that excess detergent wore out fabric fibers more quickly! Apparently she know her stuff 😉

  3. While I’m glad to have a dryer, especially when we have a house full of guests and many towels and bed linens to wash, I’m drying most laundry on a small folding rack, if it can be hung, or laid to dry on screens that stack in the laundry room. Besides cutting down on energy costs, this is much, much better for clothes — all that lint we clean from the lint basket, after all, must be coming from somewhere, suggesting a fabric breakdown in all that heat and tumbling. . .

  4. I don’t wash anything after just one wearing except for my unmentionables — unless I’ve gotten it really dirty somehow.

    Like most folks in Spain, I don’t have a dryer. I have a folding laundry rack that I store under the bed. It’s nice because I can hang things from it, as well as put things across the top, flat. Good for sweaters.

    Another thing that kills clothes is a top-loading machine, so when you’re in the market for a new washer, get yourself a front loader.

    My product plug is for Soak wool wash — it’s good for handwashing (or delicate wash in the machine) sweaters, silk scarves, and other delicates. No rinsing required, and it takes the itch out of most animal fibers. (And a little goes a loooooong way.)

    (My verification word is “redurt.” As in, I don’t wash my clothes until I’ve redurtied them a few times.)

  5. I have a dryer and they’ll carry me out of my house feet-first before I’ll give it up! I trudge off to work daily so I can have those luxuries.

    In the winter I’ll wear things a couple of times but in the warm months I wash frequently. All the smells that seem to go away when something has aired out come back when they get damp again on a second wearing.

  6. I decided a few years ago to only air dry my washable winter jackets. I’d noticed that a particular coat wasn’t as warm as it used to be. Then it occurred to me that all that lint in the dryer trap used to be part of the fabric that was keeping me warm.

  7. I’m like materfamilias, no clothing ever goes in the dryer, just towels and sheets! (And how I miss my clothesline.) My godfather, a clothier, said “People wash their clothes too often, and too hard.”

    But I do love fresh, ironed sheets.

    Also, love my natural-bristle clothes brush, makes coats and jackets look much more spruce.

  8. I have quit ironing my bedlinen too! My washing machine is purring all the time. Daily wear gets washed daily, normally in the degree suggested, and I do wear a rinsing liquid, as it makes ironing much easier. I don´t use it on my underwear, tights or jeans.
    I hang my clothes out after each wear, and always exchange to my home wear on arrival.
    We lack a dryer, which only ” eats ” garments, would be good for towels.
    The ” expensive clothes ” get washed at he laundry, but I would never have my cashmere cleaned there.

  9. I would not wear any tops that have been next to my skin twice without washing them. That’s just me, it might be clean but it just doesn’t feel fresh anymore. Underwear must be worn only one day!

    I’ve often successfully hand washed articles that say ‘dry clean only’ especially silk. I hand wash all my bras and sweaters.

    Now that I’ve got a front load washer I’m much happier about treating my washing more gently. I dry my clothes on a folding rack or in my dryer depending on how much of a hurry I am. I like to at least use the dryer to ‘fluff’ jeans and towels.

  10. I use my machine a LOT!
    I hang to dry many items and do not use fabric dryer sheets or softeners.
    I hand wash most lingerie and use a mesh bag for delicates…
    my husband insists on hs shirts being sent to the laundry where they steam press them perfectly.
    I do not like to iron anything…sheets, never!

  11. My old washer/dryer broke down last spring and I’m down to a regular washing machine 🙁
    I used it solely for drying underwear as I air dry the rest of my laundry in our building’s laundry room.
    I never wear and wash an item unless absolutely necessary (sports wear, anything that got soiled, etc.)
    No detergent or softner either, I use organic soap nuts.

  12. If you don’t have a Janie stick to hand I find that ordinary baby powder gets grease stains out especially on silk blouses.

  13. I often joke that creating complicated washing protocols is how I self-justify being a stay-at-home mom. One of the best things I ever did though was get away from washing after a single wearing. I installed a bar across my laundry room and hang certain items up to air; or air dry after washing.

    The best thing for my cashmere sweater has been to spot clean them with a very high quality, Le Blanc Silk Lingerie wash, and a full hand washing only a few times a season.

  14. Well, here’s a topic I don’t think we’ve discussed before! I have a grid with hooks on my closet wall, which I use to hang up jeans, shirts, etc which have been worn but don’t yet need washing. I am working on devising a system for sweaters, dress pants, etc….in Texas we wear sweaters only occasionally, even in the winter, so I may wear my ( too many) sweaters only once or twice each season. Hard to keep track of what’s been worn, so as to make sure they don’t get put away for the season unwashed. I had a moth problem a few years ago, I suspect caused by this issue.

    I machine wash everything (except cashmere), but use cool water for all my clothing. I have mesh bags for bras and more delicate tops. Low heat dryer only, and many items get dried flat on mesh sweater dryers, while shirts are taken out while slightly damp & hung up. I never use dryer sheets since they left oily spots on a dress many years ago. My favorite laundry accessory is a wall- mounted drying rack ( used mostly for bras), which pulls out about 2 feet, but folds into a 1″ by 18″ strip when not used. Excellent design! Made by Leifheit, sold at Container Store. Love that thing!

  15. Cold water only, never hand wash anything (life is far too short), use half the recommended amount of washing soap, and hang everything outside on the line or in the bathroom if I’m afraid of fading (California sun). When it’s rainy or overcast and I don’t want to leave the clothes, etc., out all night, I will resort to my dryer, on the lowest temperature. My confession – it feels so luxurious to use a bath towel that has been dried in the dryer, although it is less effective for exfoliation purposes!

    Ironing sheets? You can do that? Who knew?

  16. I’m firmly in the camp of not washing an outfit every time it is worn. Sometimes the wearing is just for a few hours. I wash (or dry clean) when it is necessary.

    I do appreciate the handwash option on my washing machine.

  17. I wash pretty much everything and don’t buy anything that needs drycleaning. Brushing off wool goes a long way, as Duchesse noted above.

  18. My husband throws everything he wears, everyday, into the laundry basket – doesn’t like to hang it up or put it away. Endless laundry here.

  19. I use a product called Forever New which is a fine fabric wash for all my lingerie, cashmere and wool sweaters and any silk linen or cotton garments. It is a natural citric acis based cleaner and rinses and washes beautifully. Also, I never buy a pair of pants unless they are lined, the lining gets pulled out as necessary and washed and the pants or skirt get steamed in between.

    If you ever get a fruit or juice stain on your clothes it will disappear if you pull the fabric taut and pour boiling water through the stain.

  20. I agree with your advise to use less soap and wash less often. I use the dryer briefly to fluff up clothes, then hang damp to dry. I think that hot dryers cause colors to fade. I don’t understand the benefit of dryer sheets and never use them. There is nothing like the smell of laundry hung out to dry… God’s perfume.

    My BEST tip for washing less is to use products by Kleinarts which include disposable underarm shields and -MY FAVORITE- lace valaras with underams protectors. This is a pretty, comfortable, lightweight garment that goes over your bra, hooks in front, and has protective fabric under your arm pits. I always wear these with “dry clean only” clothes. The “sweat” ends up on the valaras which you wash after each wear. This extends the life of your clothes and cuts WAY back on washing and dry cleaning. Check out their website at http://www.kleinerts.com.

  21. Janie and a steamer are my secrets that and natures spring eco laundry liquid and i agree we wash to often – though i do tend to myself – what i dont do – dry clean – it stinks and they cannot press on the whole – hence the janie and the steamer but after every wear – call me anal i know – have a fab weekend xx

    http://fashionandfrank.blogspot.com/

  22. I totally agree with you that we Americans wash more often than necessary and generally use too much detergent and fabric softener. I am fortunate that my personal style and my work allow for 100% washable fabrics. I don’t dry clean for a couple of reasons: first, most dry-cleaning chemicals (and unfortunately, your Bounce dryer sheets) are needlessly tested on animals. Secondly, those same chemicals may not be particularly good for us humans, either.

    I use 1/2 a cruelty-free dryer sheet per load (the PETA website has a downloadable listing of companies who do- and don’t- test on animals.

    And BORAX (not animal-tested) is my best friend. A couple of tablespoons in the wash is excellent for removing odors.

    All the best!

  23. I use the wool dryer balls year round now. There are some things that still get a bit of static cling, but not many. I really like them and think they help with lessening wrinkles. They do end up in old places sometimes–like pockets.

  24. I’ve gone all French in my laundry habits: *very* small washer in a closet (and usually at night as it’s less expensive than using it in the daytime – we have structured hours of high-use electricity fees here), pretty much cold water only, no dryer – everything gets put up on a rack…or two. Cashmere every two wearings in cold water with only a *drop* of mild detergent then dried flat (instructions given to me by the kind vendeuse as Eric Bompard…and it works! My cashmere is getting softer and softer just like she said it would!) And like you, little or no dry cleaning these days…better for the environment for sure!

  25. I remember as a teen spending a whole day at the laundromat and hauling loads of clothes between car and house. My dad made the remark that fewer possessions made life easier…such a strange thing to say that I’ve always remembered it, though I’ve never met a bigger hoarder than my Dad. As a teen, it finally dawned on me that I’d safe myself a lot of ironing if I’d hang things up instead of throw them on the floor, LOL. I recently acquired some old books with instructions for servants who do laundry. They had to be chemists back then to know how to treat linens and finery! I’m meaning to do a blog series one day about olde fashioned laundering one day, as I’m fascinated by the odd contraptions I’ve seen (and photographed) in various museums. As a tightwad, I’ve gradually learned to wash my clothes only when they need it, mostly in cold water and line dry over the rack on a pulley in the kitchen (it is one of the ‘original features’ in my house). I imagine dry cleaners are a business that is fading, as fewer people are prepared to pay for their services. I always felt it was like paying rent on clothes I already owned.

  26. Yep, can’t be doing with dry cleanin’! I only dry clean jackets/ coats about one a season.

    I will handwash party dresses and that’s about it.

    I don’t iron much at all (once every two months?) and don’t iron my husband’s shirts. Ooh, a clever trick I’ve found is using a straighting iron (for your hair) to smooth out hems, ribbons, etc. of clothing. Much quicker than getting the iron and ironing board out. (I think I’d iron more if we had a fold out ironing board and the iron in situ)

    Cheers,
    Eleanorjane

  27. My husband does his own laundry, because for many years he worked construction and did not want to mess up the household laundry with concrete dust, etc. He’ll throw his “small clothes” in with his jeans and although his whites are very grey, he’s happy.

    I do laundry about every three weeks when I run out of underwear! And I make only a couple of dry cleaning trips a year. I try to do more of it at home.

    Laundry is an art I realized after reading a Hints from Heloise I found at a used book sale several years ago.

  28. When my sons were in primary school they came home with instructions for a recital: “We have to wear an iron shirt”.

    Took me a few minutes to figure it out and of course they could not help me as they had never seen an ironed shirt in their lives.

  29. Continental shelf! Thanks for the laugh of the day! When we were kids, my sister and I used to say that if you want to know what grandma had for lunch, just look at her boobs. (For the record, it’s not so funny now that I have a continental shelf of my own.)

  30. I am hand washing a lot more these days, have thought of using lingerie bag and the gentle cycle but worry about too much agitation.

    Almost nothing goes in the dryer for more than a few minutes.

  31. I dry clean hardly ever, wash only when necessary, use less than the recommended amount of detergent, only use dryer balls for sheets, towels and jeans – the rest pretty much gets air dried. I will look for the spot cleaner Janie.

  32. None of my clothing goes in the dryer, only towels, sheets and napkins, and the sheets and napkins come out slightly damp to be ironed. I’m probably one of the last people I know who still irons.

    My husband’s clothes are done by his aides, and I learned to separate our laundry and to buy him inexpensive and sturdy clothes as everything is washed too warm with high agitation and then machine dried hot. Aides don’t hang laundry and don’t iron.

    I am sure that I am going to miss my clothesline, but I couldn’t use it year round anyway, so I will have a rack and screens for the new house.

  33. I’ve never pressed a bed sheet in my life but I have pressed yards and yards and yards of prewashed fabric as a prelude to sewing it into a garment. I’ll do one but not the other. Go figure.

    Thanks for the Janie tip! Much as I long to own “luxury” fabrics like cashmere sweaters and silk blouses, I have yet to make those purchases due to trepidation regarding the care and feeding of such finery. I agree that I wash my clothes far too often but I am of like mind as GingerR when it comes to simply airing out clothing during hot weather – it just doesn’t work for me – but I can get away with it during the cooler months. I will definitely look into the underarm pads, although I may have to continue to abuse my sleevless tops in the summertime.

  34. Oh, I dislike laundry. Mr C does his own, but I wash the children’s clothes and mine in fragrance-free detergent. I’ve been using warm water lately, but will return to cold after reading all these comments!

  35. great post!
    i agree most americans wash their clothing too often, and too harshly.
    i never use fabric softener, and only wash certain items after each wear (whites, for instance, get washed after each wear). i mostly use the knit or delicate setting. cold water setting, except for whites, which i’ll wash in warm. sometimes it helps to add vinegar to the wash, or borax for whites. for most of my things, i forgo the dryer; instead they are hung on a rack to dry.
    in our hot and humid summers, inevitably, clothes must be washed more often.

  36. All, thanks for your comments and suggestions. I’ve switched over to Method laundry detergent, and am going off the dryer sheets cold turkey. (Most of my own clothing gets hung or laid flat to dry, but with a 14-year-old boy in the house who wears almost nothing but jeans and cotton, our dryer remains a necessity.)