How often do you wash your jeans?

If you take Real Simple’s “When-to-wash-it handbook” as gospel, then I’m a total pig. Apparently I should wash my jeans after four to five wearings, launder my PJs every three or four days, and spend $10 on four ounces of a special swimsuit shampoo.

I don’t do any of those things. Oink, I guess.

Good thing I don’t wear silk PJs – Real Simple says they’re supposed to be washed daily.

In fact, I don’t wear a nightgown at all except in the winter. Sorry if that’s TMI for you. But I have an even dirtier image to share: Sometimes I wear a shirt twice before washing it.

I’m not talking about a uniform shirt from a lutefisk factory, here. I’m a writer, not a stable hand or a stevedore. Most of my days are spent in sweatpants and a T-shirt. But if I have to go somewhere looking like something, I’ll put on jeans (or black slacks, if it’s a fancy do) and a shirt with buttons. Should the errand/event not take very long, the shirt goes back on a hanger when I get home.

And why should I wash my jeans every four or five wears if the “wear” lasts an hour or two several times a week? I can, and do, go a month without laundering them.

Your clothes will last longer

My garment game plan is similar to the school clothes/play clothes dichotomy of my youth. We were expected to change out of our dresses as soon as we got home. (Back when the Earth was still cooling, we were not allowed to wear slacks to school.) Sometimes that meant the dress could be re-worn later in the week, but the rule was also designed to preserve the life of “good” clothes.

My jeans and bathing suit both came from thrift shops. Two of my nightshirts came from Wal-Mart more than a dozen years ago and the other one was from an online outlet store. Thus “good” may not be the correct adjective for these garments; “good enough” is a better fit. Still, I see no reason not to have them last as long as possible.

Fewer washes and machine-dryings will extend the lifespan of a garment. It also costs me less in quarters ($1.50 to wash, $1.25 to dry) and detergent (although I never pay retail thanks to coupons).

So it’s sweatpants and a T-shirt for me most days, unless I have to leave the apartment. Full disclosure: Sometimes I wear the same T-shirt more than one day in a row. My mom, a serious laundry freak whose favorite flavor was Clorox, would be appalled. But I’m not toting barges and lifting bales, after all – just laboring in my little paragraph factory.

Mind you, the rule is not absolute. If I’m picking blackberries on a hot summer day, my T-shirt will go into the laundry bag when I get home. As a woman who wears her meals with pride, I sometimes have to wash a garment right after lunch.

But the rest of the time? Nobody’s going to care. I live alone. There’s no roommate or relative to say, “Isn’t that the same Ani DiFranco shirt you wore on Monday? And, come to think of it, on Tuesday? Eeeewwww!”

Is Febreze the answer?

I am not advocating the Guy Approach to laundry, as explained by comedian Jeff Foxworthy: “Does this stink too bad to wear one more time?” If it stinks at all, put it in the hamper already.

But sometimes you can get away with hanging it up to air and then hanging it back in the closet. Spritz it with Febreze if you’re squeamish; some people swear by watered-down fabric softener as a cheaper alternative.

(Note to Foxworthy followers with Y chromosomes: These things will not make up for the kinds of odors you’re asking about. If you have to ask, you probably shouldn’t re-wear it.)

And speaking of odors: Real Simple recommends that pricey swimsuit soap because it gets rid of “that notorious chlorine smell.” Uh, guys, it’ll smell that way again as soon as I get back into the pool. Besides, the fragrance reminds me of my mother.

How about it, folks: Do you wash your jeans after three or four wearings? Is it because they’re all Spandex-y or do you just like doing laundry? And for extra credit: How often do you wash sheets and towels?

Tagged as: clothes, frugal hacks, home care, laundry