In this thread on the TV-show “How clean is your house” people turned out to have very different standards for hygenic housekeeping. I thought it would be interesting to compare standards for some well-defined household-chores.
So, how often do you:
[ol]
[li]Change your undershirt? Please add if you’re male/female, live in a hot/cold climate, and do physical or sedentary work. [/li][li]Change your bottom bedlinen? [/li][li]Clean your cat’s litterbox? [/li][/ol]
I change my bra daily, that’s near the same right? Might even be twice daily, if I’m going anywhere after work and need a bit more help with a V-neck for example.
Bottom bedlinen? Is that the bottom sheet or like the dust ruffle covering the box springs? Sheets - coupla times a month, more often when I’m not single. Dust ruffle- coupla times a year.
The litterbox here gets scooped daily, changed weekly.
I don’t change my bra very often (every two weeks, much more often if I have a flareup of a skin condition), but I’m quite sedentary (bookstore clerk).
Sheets every couple of weeks, more often when the dog is shedding.
Litterbox, scooped every other day or so, emptied every week or so.
I wear a bra for two days before washing it. I also do wear undershirts in a sense–those fitted babydoll tshirts, which I wear as regular shirts all summer and under sweaters all winter. I only wear those once before they’re washed. I’m sedentary, but I sweat a lot for some reason.
I try to change my bedsheets once a week, though sometimes when things are rough it stretches out to two. Blankets and comforters get washed once or twice a year. The pillow and mattress covers I try to wash at least once a month.
I don’t have a cat.
Something to add: BATH TOWELS. I have a system for my towels whereby a bath towel is used for six days, during which the hand towel is exchanged once (therefore used for three days). I use a fresh washcloth every time I bath. When I wash towels, I wash my white cotton undies with them, and bleach the whole lot. I have yeast issues.
I wear a clean bra and undershirt every day.
I go to the laundry and wash my sheets every Saturday after work.
I don’t have a cat.
Bra - every 2-3 days. I’m a student. When I bike or do other physical activity, I wear a specific sports bra, those get washed after every wear.
Bedsheets - they get washed every Sunday. I’m weird about sheets, I have about 4 different sets, but I always was and put back on my favorite set. They are the highest thread count. They are getting a little worn, and my other sets have barely been used. I need to find more sheets like my favorites.
Litterboxes - they get scooped every single day (I have 4 boxes for 3 cats), with a complete litter change weekly. I get new boxes once or twice a year.
That might make it seem like I have pretty good standards, but I am accepting of a certain amount of dog/cat hair on the carpet - probably more than other people’s standards. Our carpet is light colored, and with a black dog who sheds often, it is fairly visisble. I can tolerate a bit of that. Pet hair is a fact of life if you have pets (I have two dogs and thre cats), so I let that slide a bit. I don’t feel like vacuuming daily, a few times a weeks is all I can manage.
**Change your undershirt? **
When I wear a tank top as underwear, I’ll wear it for two or three days, and sometimes sleep in it the last night.
Bra’s I change every other day, but I air them out rather then washing them. The same goes for most of my clothes; they are worn once or twice, then hung on my clothesrack. The clothesrack is located in a light, drafty place in my house. The clothes are then worn again and again. I check them critically before and after wearing them though, and when they’ve got any visible stains, or no longer pass the sniff-test in critical places (ahem), I’ll wash them.
I like this system. My clothes look good and “new” for much longer, my favorite clothes aren’t always in the wash, and it saves work, water and energy.
Change your bottom sheet?
Every week/week-and-a-half. The duvet cover we change every three weeks.
**Clean your cat’s litterbox? **
I try to do it daily, but I often forget and skip a day. It’s a just add litter brand, but I change it completely (and wash it out with hot water) every two weeks.
I do sedentary work, in a cold climate, and for some reason I hardly sweat at all.
Underwear: daily.
Sheets change: weekly. Quilt/blanket: once every 2-3 months.
Litterbox: no pets.
(Towels: twice weekly.)
I change underwear daily, bras every 2-3 days.
Sheets are one week to a week and a half.
Litter box is 4-5 times per week (sometimes I forget), litter changed entirely weekly.
Bath towels are changed about once every 3-4 days.
Also, I used to have a roommate who would leave dirty dishes in the sink until they molded. She once left them out for two weeks while I was gone for Christmas. The stink when I got back was unbelievable. I try to go to bed with a clean kitchen, but if I don’t, I clean the following day.
I have a shower every day, do laundry once (sometimes twice) a week (including all the bath towels and sheets), and wear a different bra every day.
No cats, but I always pick up my dog’s poop. 
I asked specifically about undershirts, because -I think- most people change their panties/underpants daily. I expected more variety in how often people change the underwear on their upper body, so that’s why I asked.
We live in Texas…you figure out if it’s hot or not 
We do not wear anything two days in a row. So that would be a “change daily” on the undergarments.
On bottom bedlinen, if that is the mattress cover that goes between the mattress and the bottom sheet, once a month. Sheets are changed out every seven days or more often depending on the temps inside the house. Note: if my nose detects any “musty” oder I can not fall asleep. I have been known to change sheets at 1am. The pillows get bleached every 90 days, to keep them fresh.
The cat’s litterbox gets cleaned out daily. We use the scoopable litter, so it depends on how often the box gets totally dumped. The cats will tend to use one box over another so my nose tells me when it is time to do a complete litter change. Note: We have 4 cats and 4 litterboxes.
Yes, I am a freak. I hate smelling anything but fresh clean air. If I detect even the slightless oder coming off of anything in the house, off it goes. I hate walking into someone else’s house and being overwhelmed with foul oders, so I refuse to put anyone that enters our house at that same risk.
I think you’d be surprised about the underwear thing. Many men I know don’t change their underwear everyday.
:dubious: Hmnn… but that’s a subject for a whole 'nother thread. (Somebody start it, please ! I need to hate men right now. )
I’ll wear the same bra 2 or 3 times, unless I get sweaty. I don’t wear bras all day, just when I leave the house.
I change the sheets and the bed covers once a week.
I scoop the clumps out of the litterbox every day, and change the litter once every 2 weeks. This is mostly to save money. If I could afford it, I’d change it weekly.
One girl I go to school with wears the same thong two days in a row. It’s like clockwork. Thongs are just two-day wearers for her.
I’ll wear an undershirt two days in a row… three if it’s cool and I’m wearing it under a t-shirt. I’m a student.
I usually go about a month with sheets.
I don’t have a cat.
Towels last between two and seven days, depending on mood.
I’ll wear a bra two or three times before washing it, but I never wear one two days in a row. I don’t wear undershirts. I spend most days sitting at a desk typing on a computer, so it’s not like I get all sweaty at work.
I wash my towels every week - week and a half or so. Whenever I do laundry, usually. I live in an apartment and don’t have my own washer and dryer, or it would probably be more often. I always hang them up to dry after using them. I wash my sheets with the same frequency. That’s easier though, cause I have two sets of sheets and only one set of towels.
Don’t have a cat, no litterbox.
I’ll wear a bra for two or three days, provided it still feels, looks, and smells okay.
Sheets I aim for every two weeks. Pillowcases are sometimes more frequent. Sometimes it takes longer than that to get around to it.
No cat.
Towels get switched out once a week.
I live in Florida, change underwear and bra every day. It’s hot here.
Sheets are every other week. There’s no real action going on there. Pillowcases every week.
I do laundry every Saturday. 2 bath towels each week, 1 washcloth every day. 2 dish dryin towels a week.
No cats, no dogs. ::achoo::
A question I have is about garbage. I take garbage out every night either after dinner or before going to bed. Zero garbage fumes in my home. That grosses me out.
Dishes done every night unless I’m sick. That’s how I realize I am sick, when I notice dishes havn’t been done in days. For me that’s usually a few bowls, and utensils.
Bra - Don’t wear one.
Sheets - This is a peculiar deal in my house. My feet are so calloused and rough that I actually shred bedsheets after a couple of nights. Sooo, I guess they get changed whenever they start tearing up.
Litter box - No kitties.
Bath towels - I used a fresh towel after every shower.
Tiggrkitty, thank goodness someone else washes their pillows! So many people think I’m weird for tossing them in a washing machine of hot water, soap and bleach every few weeks or so. I can’t stand the thought of laying my head on a pillow that hasn’t been washed in months, or worse, years. :eek: