# Did you know you can rewear dirty clothes instead of cleaning them **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116 "2005-05-30T18:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/21 "2005-05-31T15:04:22Z")
Eeeewwww. Clothes stay cleaner if you wash them often. The only items I wear even twice are skirts and pants. Anything else is just nasty, like not bathing every day. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/22 "2005-05-31T15:24:48Z")
Can I get a refund on my subscription? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/23 "2005-05-31T15:48:24Z")
Note to all those people who re-wear articles of clothing several times and don’t think they smell - Yes, you do. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/24 "2005-05-31T15:54:35Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > The number of wearings of a shirt and pants, though subject to different formulae, are both inversely proportional to the average ambient temperature to which you’re exposed during the days you wear them… Or as my Mom used to tell her 10 year old son, ‘if your clothes get up and run to the laundry room all by themselves, it’s more than likely they need to be washed’ ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/25 "2005-05-31T16:16:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The only items I wear even twice are skirts and pants. Anything else is just nasty, like not bathing every day. This is simply NOT true. I used to do as you do - wear shirts once, wear pants twice before washing. Then I took an extended four week trip to Europe where it was a pain to do laundry, and I discovered that pants and shirts can be worn much longer than 1/2. I currently work in an air conditioned office, and I frequently wear a shirt (undershirt underneath) and slacks 4-5 times before washing them. neuroman’s clothes wearing acceptibilty schedule: Underwear: 1x Socks: 1x T-Shirts: 1-3x Dress Shirts: 1-5x Shorts, Pants: 1-5x Any shirt or pant that is going to be re-worn must first pass the stink test and the visual dirty check. After that, it’s all good. And FTR I shower every single day, ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/26 "2005-05-31T16:21:33Z")
Oh yeah, and while I think it’s fine to re-wear clothes, if they’re stinky enough that you have to _Febreeze_ them, they’re way too icky to re-wear. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/27 "2005-05-31T16:29:28Z")
Phew! First time I read the title I thought it said UNDERWEAR, and I was about to spit my lunch up right here in the desk. Because THAT woulda been nasty. I’m with the “wear jeans a few times before you wash them” crowd here. Anything above denim on the casual-scale though and it gets washed after one wear. Also, yeah anything I feel the need to Febreeze, I’m just going to wash. ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/28 "2005-05-31T18:37:55Z")
I can attest to people stanking and not knowing it. No, it wasn’t me. I swear. Really! 😃 But seriously - years ago, when I was in college, I worked in an office and one of the I.T. guys there stank so intensely I just could not help masking my nose with my hand. I used to try to fake him out by pretending I was rubbing my nose, that I was about to sneeze or that I was scratching the side of my nose. Talk about wallowing in your own funk. Blech! This guy’s hygiene was really sub-par. I remember vividly that he was messing with one of the printers in our office and got toner all over his hands and forearms. The stains were still there the next day! :eek: I wouldn’t have given a rat’s derriere about the stains if he hadn’t stunk so badly. You could literally smell him coming into the room and the odor clung to the air after he left. I remember the B.O. smelled something like rotten eggs, a sulphur-type smell and something that vaguely reminded me of overcooked carrots. ☹ Eventually we got a confidential e-mail from the unit manager that she was aware there was a person with whom there were some significant “personal hygiene issues” and that those issues had been “addressed” with said person. The guy never exactly smelled like a rose but at least after a while he cleaned up enough so that we weren’t gagged just by his presence. Sorry to hijack. But my point, and I do have one, is that he also tended to come to work wearing exactly what he’d worn the previous day - sometimes with the same stains that had been incurred the previous day. I didn’t know much about the guy. I knew little about him and his circumstances, but dangblabbit, we just didn’t want to be grossed out each day by the sheer stink. I guess he didn’t hear about the Febreze trick. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/29 "2005-05-31T19:23:29Z")
Marinating in Febreeze chemicals all the time is probably going to give you cancer or something. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/30 "2005-05-31T19:59:09Z")
DO NOT turn your underwear inside out for extra wearage if you are prone to racing stripes. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/31 "2005-05-31T19:59:58Z")
> [@Portia](#): > > By jumper, you mean…? Is that like coveralls? Well, in my head they are outerwear I wear over t-shirts etc when it gets cold. Long sleeved, usually fleecy, or woolly. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/32 "2005-05-31T20:01:14Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > DO NOT turn your underwear inside out for extra wearage if you are prone to racing stripes. :eek: Although you might consider rotating it fore to aft. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/33 "2005-05-31T20:14:42Z")
I want you all to know that while reading your replies, I never once cried. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/34 "2005-05-31T20:24:23Z")
Count me in on the wear most things a couple of times before washing crowd. Once it starts to smell, however, it is time for the washer, not for Febreeze. I cannot for my life understand people who are paranoid about microscopic bits of skin, dirt, and germs appearing on their garments after a single wearing: I call them the daily towel washers. The bottom line is that a little bit of dirt does you no harm at all, and is virtually undetectable except for this irrational obsession with supercleanliness in America that is unchallenged in the world, save for Japan. On the other hand, the overuse of detergents causes pollution both through production and waste disposal. So, in my tally sheet of what’s good for America: 1. Washing jeans and towels every day: Dirt not noticed by anybody, pollution caused by detergents runs rampant, and Big Detergent lobby creates more hype and craze for [unnecessary](http://www.tide.com/products/tide.jhtml?productId=3605) products. 2. Washing jeans and towels once a week: Dirt not noticed by anybody, unnecessary waste reduced, money saved by ending excessive laundering put towards beer. Also, I only dryclean my suits twice, maybe three times a year. No reason to waste beer money and create unnecessary wear on nice clothes. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/35 "2005-05-31T20:38:21Z")
_::sniff::_ This is such a proud moment. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/36 "2005-06-02T20:03:15Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > That’s absolutely foul. What about sweat, shed skin cells, bacteria, body soil, mites, etc? > > Seriously, that’s just bloody foul. > > Febreeze only masks your nastiness. It doesn’t actually remove the funk. > > This isn’t the way to please the ladies. > > Knock it off. Or I will tell every date you have about your yucky secret. Wearing clothes more than once is foul? Really? Is this a common attitude? I’m an average United Statesian, and so by world standards I probably qualify as obsessive over hygiene. But I certainly can’t imagine washing clothes every time I wear them. Except underwear. That’s awful. However, I gotta say that if they smell bad, Febreze instead of laundry is just a disgusting thought . . . ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/37 "2005-06-02T20:22:51Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Wearing clothes more than once is foul? Really? > > Is this a common attitude? I’m an average United Statesian, and so by world standards I probably qualify as obsessive over hygiene. But I certainly can’t imagine washing clothes every time I wear them. Except underwear. That’s awful. > > However, I gotta say that if they smell bad, Febreze instead of laundry is just a disgusting thought . . . My clothes don’t smell bad, the febreeze thing was a joke. I am wearing my pants 2x now instead of 1x. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/38 "2005-06-02T20:29:16Z")
Dyes and Perfumes do not get anything clean. Indeed, if you insist on using detergent (instead of soap) to clean things, at least buy the perfume and dye free type. I’d like to see any human who claimed that using chemicals worked as well as bathing. I just wouldn’t want to smell them. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/39 "2005-06-02T20:52:39Z")
This news comes just in time for me. An oil filled stream of water just flowed from underneath my washing machine. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116/40 "2005-06-02T22:08:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Dyes and Perfumes do not get anything clean. Indeed, if you insist on using detergent (instead of soap) to clean things, at least buy the perfume and dye free type. > > I’d like to see any human who claimed that using chemicals worked as well as bathing. I just wouldn’t want to smell them. Um, detergents clean just as well as soap, and better if your water contains minerals. Detergents are highly effective cleansers, which is why they’ve replaced soap in so many places. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-you-can-rewear-dirty-clothes-instead-of-cleaning-them/306116.md?page=3)