Okay, so I'm probably going to be flamed for this

[arborgold]

but I was over on S&B, and saw a thread about drying jeans (I used to always air dry, but now that I'm not buying designer jeans as often, I throw most of them in the dryer on low heat).

This post, however, caught my eye:

Yesterday at 7:07pm, pooh8402 wrote:

ditto this too. my jeans are stiff and scratchy for 5 minutes max then they relax. I also only wash my jeans after about 10 wears or when they are too stretched out (whichever comes first).

I responded over there as well, but....

Really? I mean, i've been known to wear a pair of jeans two maaaaybe three times before washing, but TEN times? But then, I live in jeans when I'm not headed out to work (when I worked) or to an interview / networking event.

Am I in the minority here?

[GailGoldie]

If my jeans are otherwise clean (ie- nothing spilled on them, they don't smell) I'd easily wear them 10x's. Generally these days that doesn't happen anymore with my kids around... but before kids? Sure. I'm not walking around sweating in my jeans.... so other than being in a bar/restaurant that might make them stink- they aren't dirty unless tehy look it to me.

[katietornado]

Um no. That is gross. I wash my jeans EVERY time I wear them. I was everything every time it's worn. Besides, they start to get stretchy and hangy by the end of the day. And I feel like even if I wasn't sweating profusely in them, a pair of jeans that had been worn 10 times would smell disgusting.

[hopecounts]

No way, I live in the south and outside of Dec-February I'm almost gauranteed to sweat and wearing them with sweatiness is just nasty.
I might go 2 times before washing if I'm just hanging in the house with DD, or what have you but 10x seems a little yucky for my taste if you are wearing them all day and not just a few hours after work around the house.

[Deleted]

I'd maybe go 5 times before washing - max. I can't imagine they aren't dirty after 10 wearings.

[GailGoldie]

Jun 24, 2012 15:51:11 GMT -5 dynamoo said:

Jun 24, 2012 15:45:36 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

If my jeans are otherwise clean (ie- nothing spilled on them, they don't smell) I'd easily wear them 10x's. Generally these days that doesn't happen anymore with my kids around... but before kids? Sure. I'm not walking around sweating in my jeans.... so other than being in a bar/restaurant that might make them stink- they aren't dirty unless tehy look it to me.

This. I've never counted how many times I wear mine but it's up there. They're not gross at all. Summer pants on the other hand, espec in this heat, are in the hamper after the first wear...along with everything else I am wearing!

yeah- i'm not wearing jeans in the summer And if I do- they ARE getting sweat in them - and being washed after 1-wear for sure

[arborgold]

Jun 24, 2012 15:52:32 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

You are going to get flamed for hygiene?

Ha! No, I'm waiting for S&B to see that I C&Ped, is all.

[pescalita]

Jun 24, 2012 15:52:32 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

You are going to get flamed for hygiene?

You are flaming for hygiene?

I acknowledge I'm on the dirty hippie side of average, but "gross" is an awfully arbitrary reason to do or not do anything. Do they smell? Do they have something on them? What is "gross"?

I think Americans are generally over-sanitized.

[earlgreyhot]

I wear until they stink or stained, which is about 2-3 wears for me. Of my two favorite pair, one fits better with more wear, the other fits better after washing (I bought a little too big even though the sales person told me again and again they will stretch).

If I wasn't such a stinky sweat-er I would totally push it to 10 wears!

[druidp]

If I'm wearing them for a full day, I'd go maybe twice and then wash. But usually I'm putting them on for only 2-3 hours after I get home from work, between removing my work clothes and putting on my night clothes, so then I might stretch it to 3-4 "wearings" before washing.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

I would never do this but I am insane about laundry. I wash absolutely everything after it's been worn even once. I am like obsessive over things smelling like laundry.
I had friends who did this in high school. Their moms would do things like wait until they were in the shower and then grab the jeans for the wash. I never noticed them smelling funky or anything and they swore their jeans were comfy and awesome.
Also, I feel like my pants lose their shape if I wear them more than once and they don't fit right. I feel the same way about bras. It may be entirely in my head.

[shopgirl07]

I might wear my jeans 10x before washing. I usually only wear them for short periods of time, rarely for a whole day. If I was wearing them longer I would wash them every 3x or so I guess.

Washing jeans after every wear is crazy to me. Unless you get something on them or sweat like a bastard, it just wears them out.

[druidp]

Jun 24, 2012 16:06:04 GMT -5 shopgirl07 said:

Washing jeans after every wear is crazy to me. Unless you get something on them or sweat like a bastard, it just wears them out.

This. Plus if you live in an uber-dry climate, dust vs. sweat is the larger concern even in warmer weather... although I never wear jeans if it's going to be upwards of 80 degrees.

[statlerwaldorf]

10 times seem gross to me, but I fully admit I overwash stuff.

[ESF]

Jun 24, 2012 16:03:35 GMT -5 pescalita said:

Jun 24, 2012 15:52:32 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

You are going to get flamed for hygiene?

You are flaming for hygiene?

I acknowledge I'm on the dirty hippie side of average, but "gross" is an awfully arbitrary reason to do or not do anything. Do they smell? Do they have something on them? What is "gross"?

I think Americans are generally over-sanitized.

Ditto

Provided they are not stained, I wear them until I do a load of laundry. Sometimes that means they get worn once and sometimes that means they get worn ten times. Meh. I've done this since I had to start doing my own laundry, so that's about 17 years now. I am not covered with rashes and leg fungus, and people don't run away when I approach, so I don't see the big deal.

[emilyj]

I would say I wear a pair of jeans 3-4 times before I wash them, provided I haven't spilled anything on them/sweated/gone to a bar, etc.

If I wear them for a full day, then I've either worn them to work (which consists of me holding office hours (sitting in my office), in addition to teaching for a couple of hours) or I've worn them hanging around the house/doing errands/going out to dinner. I don't have kids so I'm not chasing small humans around.

The jeans I have actually look best after I wear them a couple of times, so if I wash them after every wear, I'd never be happy with them. But 10x? No. I would think they would be smelly just in principle of being worn so often.

[MixedBerryJam]

Normal wear and tear? 10 seems kind of crazy high, but I think washing after each wear is crazy, too. I'd say I wash my jeans after 3-4 wears. And about half the time I'm only washing them to shrink them back up, not because I particularly think they need washing. I will have to pay attention to this now.

BTW, best invention of all time: my jeans that have a little butt-girdle-support thing built right in.

[summer]

I don't count how many wears in between. Maybe 3-4?

But if something isn't dirty, smelly, etc., I don't necessarily wash it just because I wore it once. I live in a cool, dry climate and am generally not the type to sweat much. I think to wash after wearing a garment once just to wash it is a waste of water and energy, and wears out the fabric.

I also agree that we Americans are generally overly sanitized.

[ECB]

For some reason w/ jeans, I wear them more times between washings than anything else. They just don't SEEM to get dirty as quickly (where I get this from, I have no clue), and as noted, washing a lot wears them out. I probably go close to 5x's between, but I know there have been times I've probably gone 10-x's.

But outside of any of my clothes OBVIOUSLY being dirty, I'll wear most clothes (except underwear!) 2 or 3 x's before washing them.

[marie427]

I'd say 3-4 times with me as well. I only wear jeans some weekends and sometimes at night if I'm heading out somewhere after work. I just don't wear them often enough to warrant washing them after one use. Plus, I don't have the luxury of an in-home washer/dryer. I use the laundry room shared by my complex and it costs money, so I'm more likely to Febreze shit and wear something multiple times if it doesn't smell, isn't dirty, etc.

[Deleted]

I always hang dry, esp since I am tall and I am paranoid about length shrinkage, but I wash after 1-3 wears.

[Deleted]

Worn once = dirty.

[sparrowsong]

I wear a lot of clothes many times before washing them. Especially work clothes. No way am I dry cleaning all that stuff all the time.

I'm more surprised by the idea of hanging jeans to dry. I always put them in the dryer along with everything else, except for bras.

[laurenpetro]

3 or 4. I go by this for basically everything:

www.realsimple.com/m/home-organizing/cleaning/laundry/when-to-wash-it-handbook-00000000035143/index.html#1

[Nonny]

Honestly, I don't have a set time on when I wash my jeans. If I spill on them, they get washed. If they are stinky, they get washed. If I can't remember when I washed them last, they get washed. Otherwise I hang them up and wear them again and again, otherwise they wear out or fade too fast.

[heightsyankee]

Jun 24, 2012 18:24:41 GMT -5 Nonny said:

Honestly, I don't have a set time on when I wash my jeans. If I spill on them, they get washed. If they are stinky, they get washed. If I can't remember when I washed them last, they get washed. Otherwise I hang them up and wear them again and again, otherwise they wear out or fade too fast.

This. While it's rare, I'm sure I have jeans that I have worn close to 10x. I find I wash them more because they are stretched out than because they are nasty or dirty. If it's hot enough that I need to wash them after each wear because of sweat, I'm not wearing them anyway.

[josieposy]

I'm pretty sure high end denim people recommend washing denim as little as possible. For me, I'll go 4-5 times before washing unless they are stained.

[vanillacourage]

10 times seems a little much but obsessively washing even jeans every time you wear them seems OCD and first-world wasteful.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

I don't even know what high-end denim is, so I can guarantee I've never owned it or worn it. Unless they sell it at Target. Does Christian Loubotin make jeans? #fashionimpaired

[KateAggie]

I was hoping for a truly flammable post.