It’s no surprise that our laundry is taking over our lives. We definitely wash more than we should. There are items of clothing that don’t need to be washed as often as you might think.
Save Money and Time by Washing Less
The laundry piles up, and every wash costs money. Why not save a little money by sorting out all the items of clothing that don’t need to be washed as often as you think?
It’s no secret that washing laundry uses energy. And there’s no getting around the fact that we have to wash clothes at all. We can use the eco-wash cycle more often to cut down on the number of washes. You might be wondering how this is supposed to work. After all, you now have a lot of laundry in the laundry bin that needs to be cleaned.
Reevaluate Your Laundry Habits
It’s actually pretty straightforward. We’ll explain it to you. Take another look at the existing mountain of laundry. We’re willing to bet you’ll find some items that don’t need to be washed again. There are definitely some items of clothing that we put in the washing machine too often. We could cut down on the number of times we wash them if we didn’t clean them unnecessarily as often. You can find out which ones here.
Which Clothes You Wash Far Too Often
Sweaters: We can wear them a few times. One thing to consider is that we usually don’t wear them directly on our skin. Most people wear a shirt under the sweater, which helps absorb sweat before it gets to the sweater. Another thing to consider is that sweaters made of cotton, for example, are highly breathable. Even coarse knitwear allows a lot of air to pass through. Our bodies don’t sweat as quickly.
On top of that, we wear sweaters when it’s cold to keep warm. If we take it off when we start to feel warmer and before we start to sweat, we can still wear the garment at least one more time, as it will definitely still be clean. As a general rule, you can assume that you only need to wash a sweater after you’ve worn it about every fourth time. This not only saves money, but also protects the garments themselves. Think of your favorite cozy knitted sweater. It probably looked nicer when you first got it than it does now, after it’s been washed a few times, right?
Jeans: It’s really excessive to wash a pair of jeans after every wear. If there are no stains, there’s no need to wash them in the machine. It’s not doing the trousers any favors. Machine washing can cause them to lose their fit, color, and fabric quality. Jeans are made to be worn several times because they’re so robust. Even well-known brands like Levi’s recommend not washing these trousers. The best advice is to air them out. Well, many people would probably not find that particularly hygienic either. But washing the garment less often would certainly be an option, wouldn’t it?
You can wash your jeans after you’ve worn them about five or six times. We get it—you don’t want to wear jeans you’ve worn on the bus and then sit on your couch in them. But why not just take off your jeans and put on your house trousers, which are much more comfortable anyway? You can then hang the jeans up to air out until you wear them again.
Skirts: It’s a waste of energy and money to wash a skirt after just one wear. Is the garment really that dirty? Unless you’ve spilled coffee on it or your dog has left paw prints, the skirt can be worn another three times on average. It doesn’t really touch your skin, especially if you’re wearing leggings or tights underneath, like you often are on cold days. So, the waistband of the skirt doesn’t touch your skin either. This means the garment can’t get sweaty, so you can wear it again without worrying—with the good conscience of not unnecessarily burdening the environment and your wallet.
