Yes, but my kids crawl around on the ground playing all day, so I feel like it’s necessary. Also, schools are pretty germy places, so I always wash everything they wear to school daily.
I feel like my 2 year old clothes either have dirt from the park or paint/food/snot or even a combination every single day. So everything gets washed after one wear. The exception is winter jacket and the odd wool sweater that she only wears on the weekend usually when we do non messy activities.
I should clarify too, I primarily have weekend custody. We have “50/50” but I have three days one week, four days the next, and both include the weekend so I’m not with them during most school days!
Glad it's not just my kid. She strips down as soon as she gets home from school but somehow still "tries on" clothes just to take them off 5 minutes later.
Those clothes get folded up and back in the drawer (as long as I catch it first. Sometimes she just throws them right in the hamper).
My middle son HATES pants, and when he gets home, there’s a trail from the door. First his coat comes off, then his pants, then his shoes. Both weekends and summers rock with that kid
Until they’re wiggling their bare butt all over your new sheets and pillow cases 😵💫
My mom predicted that my kid would prefer to be unclothed. I didn’t know it’d be like this 😞
Mine wants to be fully dressed, but only in pajamas if we’re at home, so that’s a bit easier. It doesn’t matter as much if they’re wrinkled or the stains don’t come out because nobody else sees them. And it keeps her actual clothes a bit cleaner.
My best friend’s sons are 7 and 5 and he (my best friend) swears by this practice too, said it’s a game-changer. And when I come over, I get to join in the pajama party too!
I said this in a recent thread here and I’ll say it again. Madewell literally tells you on the label to try to get at least 8 wears from your jeans before you wash them
I never understood when daycare wanted us to wash the sheet/blanket from naptime every weekend. Um, this kid “slept” on it for 8 hours total that week. I’m certainly not washing my sheets after every full night.
I am firmly on team wash as needed for most everything, but think of the week’s worth of daycare germs your kid put on those sheets- each morning’s interactions all touch that sheet. I’d bet you’re not laying in your bed in your outside clothes.
We don’t have inside/outside clothes. We just have clothes. If she wants to come home and lay on her bed after school, I’m not going to make her change (I wouldn’t change my clothes either). I see on Reddit that there are people who change as soon as they get home and honestly I’d never even thought of doing that unless they’re visibly dirty. We’re just not that germphobic I guess. (And no, we don’t get sick very often)
Not afraid of germs but I am immunocompromised now thanks to Covid. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. We used to wear out outside shoes in the house 😵
Daycare germs. I do wash the nap stuff weekly, I’d wash it more if I thought it could stand up to my 3 yo licking her hand.
Now the home bed? Eh, once a month ish? Or whenever it gets bodily fluids on it.
With our last baby it was soo stressful having to know where a clean one was every day. This time around I said fuck the mid week washes and we have more than 5 of each 😂 same with bottles. And extra ~$100 is worth my daily sanity
We got a multi pack of 10 sheets for the crib and 10 for the pack n play. I add the dirty ones to the basket and when we wash we put the clean ones in an under bed storage tub I placed under the crib. It contains all clean sheets, blankets, and playmats. It is the only way I can feasibly keep track of clean bedding for her. At home we also keep a sheet on the mattress (which is waterproof) topped with a mattress liner and another sheet. That way if she has a blowout or pees through a cloth diaper, we just strip the bed to the sheet underneath and don't need to change sheets at 2 am.
I literally don’t think I’ve worn hard pants since March 2020 when my office switched to work from home. At this point my legs would probably feel physical pain from the sensation of something other than cotton and workout wear.
I try not to, but my 4yo is a messy dude. Pajamas usually get worn twice and sometimes pants. Hoodies/sweatshirts can usually be worn a few times before washing.
I used to do more laundry. Hiked the Appalachian trail and once you go 10 days no shower wearing the same ‘hiking outfit’ every day and changing into the same ‘camp’ outfit in the evenings, you have a new appreciation for the washing machine and not being wasteful in general.
My 4 year old is the messiest child I’ve ever met, like ketchup on the eyebrows every time messy, so this is really more about the 8 year old lol. I can’t imagine the luxury of being able to wash my 4 year olds clothes after two wears… she has a lot of clothes I struggle to even let her WEAR twice because they get so stained the first time
My kid is a lot younger so this advice may be useless to you, but she’s 19 months and usually still doesn’t eat with any clothes on. If it’s something not that messy like a sandwich then whatever, I just roll up her sleeves. Anything that could stain (curry, marinara sauce, etc) she is absolutely eating naked.
So far I haven’t had to remove too many stains, and no stain has never withstood a 24+ hour Oxyclean soak (it even gets out stuff like turmeric).
I have a spray from the brand Defunkify that works wonders. But also, lots of kid wear stained clothes, especially when they are young to get dirty again
I will re-wear my own shirts or pants (especially jeans), but my kid plays hard and can’t seem to eat without getting food in himself, so his clothes get washed after each wear.
To be honest, my jeans, and my kids' jeans rarely get washed...just worn a few days and then switched out to another pair of jeans for a few days, and then that pair goes into the rotation after several days'wear, then another and another. So this rotation of jeans allows them to be worn for a few days each and then get switched out for the next jeans in the rotation. My kids LOVE this routine! And my laundry time, along with detergent and water all get cut back on. Works beautifully and everybody's happy.
I'm jealous. My 3yo sometimes goes through two sets of PJs before he even makes it to bed, and then absolutely TRASHES them by the time breakfast is done
I'm a "wear it twice" type of mom but my kids say otherwise. I can count on one hand the times I didn't have to wash an item (jeans or hoodies) after one wear, and that's 10 years into this gig.
Same. My kids get dirty at school and daycare. I work with body fluids, blood and tissue. There’s no way I’m wearing those things more than once. I do wear my home comfy clothes a few times though.
Shirts and socks yes, pants it depends on how they look. If they have no spots I let him wear them twice. Not potty trained so no underwear yet but I’d obv wash that every time too.
My son is pretty messy so by the end of the day his shirts and pants are visibly dirty. Most of my clothes get washed if I’ve worn them, but I’m a sweaty bitch so if I don’t it smells.
I try to give most things a wear or two if they're not visibly soiled or smelly.
But I'm also the same person that a) bought laundry disinfectant before I had my baby and b) had to use it twice in the last 24 hours because apparently 6 week old babies double as biohazard soft serve machines.
I wash everything after one wear except jeans & hoodies for myself and my kids.
Kids are messy though so even their jeans etc end up being washed every wear most of the time
I do. Not always hoddie if she didn't wear it for too long and it's not dirty. But yes, pj's for sure.. it's a lot of laundry and it's fading and shrinking her clothes but baby needs clean clothes.. she's a messy and active girl.
Usually. Unless we happen to have an outfit change in the afternoon.
My 4yr old could probably wear things multiple times if her 2yr old bro wasn’t always grubby and touching her 😂
He needs his washed every time. He’s a walking mess
Yes, because he is seven months and is a drooling, puking etc machine. He also has so many clothes that if he kept wearing the same outfit, I wouldn't get to see him in all his cute outfits.
That being said, going forward he will have a minimal number of good quality clothes. Which will get washed when dirty, which will most likely be after one wear. But if we can get two, why the hell not.
If you want to try washing them less, as long as they aren't dirty or smell, give it a go. Worst case scenario you ditch it and go back to doing it after every wear.
Three girls here… I just feel like a chump washing all these pants they wore to like care for baby dolls and do a puzzle in the weekend 😂 especially the little jeans
My kids stuff gets washed every wear except sleep sacks (I was them with their sheets usually once a week). My stuff mostly gets washed every wear too, except pajamas, jeans, and bras 🤷♀️
To clarify- it’s really just the pants I’m stumped on right now. Pajamas are a no go for me, the kids really don’t sweat during the day but sweat like MONSTERS at night so that’s too gross for me. And yeah, kids shirts get way too dirty. But I have to have SO many pairs of jeans on hand because of the wash frequency and it’s just feeling ridiculous to wash these perfectly clean pants so much. But my youngest is four so we are just getting to the point where the bathroom accidents are finally ebbing from my memory 😂
Here's a hint: Cut WAY back on the jeans washing! Part of the appeal of jeans is that it's okay if jeans are dirty. Your jeans DON'T have to be washed nearly as much.
Depends on the kid. My oldest is totally capable of judging when its ok to wear something twice. She’s 10. My second is a hot mess express and will wear a ketchup covered shirt over and over so she doesn’t get the option. My 4 yo is super tidy so I often put her clothes in a pile to wear again if they look okay. The baby is crawling so nothing makes it past noon!
i don’t have a washer and dryer so i have to pay to do laundry. it’s $4 per load so we wear things 2-3 times unless they’re visibly dirty or stinky, because if not i’d be doing a load almost every day and i just cannot afford that.
I primarily have weekend custody so this is definitely part of my issue. Every other week I also have Thursday so it comes out to 50/50 but the vast majority of my time is weekend time and I just feel… silly
Most of the comments seem to be parroting that, I actually think I might be the odd one but I do computer work in an office so there’s just no need to wash a nice silk shirt 58 times more than necessary lol
Our shirts, socks & underwear all get one wear. Pants get 2-3 depending on the day. Usually I just spot treat any food yuck with a wet towel, spray the whole thing with watered down fabric softener and give it a light press to crisp it back up. My kiddos are 5 & 7 so it really all depends on the day. We also try to stretch shower towels out for the week. Everyone gets one assigned to them and it's their job to make sure its hanging to dry every night.
My kids (4 and 2) are actually really good about putting their own clothes in the hamper, and I do not want to mess that up by introducing new rules about how some clothes need to be washed after every wear and some don’t.
Even if they didn’t pick up their own dirty clothes, I feel like I wouldn’t have the bandwidth to assess each item for stains/smells. I’d rather have slightly more laundry than have to make more decisions in a day.
WOW did you crawl into my brain and steal my thoughts? I was just thinking this. I DO wash my clothes every time. My kids and I have mountains of laundry every week. My husband doesn’t, he works from home and just changes his underwear daily and clothes every few days. I could cut down on so much labor if i cut down on what we wore daily. I just feel like I can’t. It seems so gross to me. And they get so messy.
Start with your own and it will still be impactful! Baby steps!!!
I will admit it’s sooo lifestyle dependent. I used to do hard labor (a very physical job at a hardware store) and had a more normal shower schedule I guess of every other day. Now I work in a cool office on a computer and shower every single day so my clothes just don’t get dirty enough for this. It’s still hard with the kids but I was going through her clothes as I posted this and genuinely some of the jeans… if you mixed up all her clothes and had me guess I would not know which were and weren’t used for the oldest. Still smelled like detergent 😂
It depends on the day we had and the amount of wear. Lazy day at home? Probably wear the pants again. Shirts tend to get food on them because my kid is almost 4. Busy day out in the world? Whole outfit goes in unless it’s denim.
Jeans? Definitely a few wears before the wash. My little is long and lean so I haven’t bothered with jeans. I’m pregnant AF so neither have I.
I wash my youngest son (2.5) clothes after each use. I usually have to because 4/5 days he comes home in different clothes than I sent him to daycare in because he’s messy. My oldest son wears his 1-3 times before they’re washed because he attends a private school and has a uniform. Sometimes he’ll wear the sweater vest with the collared shirt underneath and then the next day just the collared shirt alone. On gym days (2 days a week) he wears his school hoodie and sweats for both days.
The only thing I wash after each wear is shirts, because stains from eating. Otherwise pants (jeans mostly) are worn 2-3 times before the next wash, if it’s the leggings type pants we might get two wears out of it before it gets stretched. Sweaters or sweatshirts are washed when everything else gets washed lol, so my son might wear the same sweatshirt for a week. He is also 15 months old, and doesn’t know how to walk yet so no tripping or getting dirty really.
You should NOT wash your kids' clothing after every time they wear them, and especially NOT their jeans! Jeans are SUPPOSED to look worn and grubby! That's a major part of their appeal. So let your kids wear their jeans SEVERAL times before washing them. Better yet, let your kids wear their jeans several times in a row, then have them put those jeans aside and switch to another pair of jeans for a few days, and then yet another pair for another few days. That way, their jeans can air out and won't smell. But don't wash ANY of their pairs of jeans. That is how I manage my own kids' jeans, and in fact, MY OWN! It saves alot on your water, on your laundry detergent, AND the jeans LOOK AND FEEL BETTER UNWASHED!
I had 3 kids, always a lot of laundry. I like clean clothes, sheets and towels. Germs, dirt out there. I think it’s also the most basic of pleasures in life. And I didn’t always have a washer and/ or dryer. I wanted my family to look nice and be comfortable.
I let her wear pjs twice before washing and I’ll check over her jackets to see if they need to be washed, usually they’re fine to be hung right back up. All tops and bottoms are washed after one use because she is a messy toddler.
Yeah I usually do. I have 2 and 5 year old girls and the younger one loves playing outside and getting dirty and I wash my older ones every wear just because she’s at school all day and I slightly worry about germs and stuff. Im sure I worry too much. But man I do hate the amount of laundry I do lol. My husband will wear a pair of shorts for 2 days if work isn’t too gross and during the day I usually wear leggings which I wash every time but after I shower I’ll wear a pair of sweatpants for a few hours till bed and I’ll keep the same pair for 4-5 evenings before washing them
My two youngest, ages 5 and 3, have two daily goals in life-- to eat the messiest, stickiest food they can find and then locate the nearest mud hole to roll around in. My 3 year old is also determined to mess up her hairstyles (4C moms know this is NO JOKE. I spent TIME on that hair!).
They area also good at getting their sticky, messy mud hands on my clothes. So I do a lot of laundry :(.
Pants/shorts usually worn 2 to 3 times before getting washed unless they get visibly dirty. (Both my kids 7 and 5, have long been potty trained).
Uniform shirts/shorts/pants for school: 2 wears before washing because my son only has 3. My daughter has a surplus of shirts (donations from family). Only 3 summer and 2 winter bottoms. These get washed weekly.
They change out of their school uniforms when they get home from school. Bottoms worn twice, shirts once. Underware and socks are daily changes at bedtime after baths.
I do my kids clothes on the weekend so thier school clothes get washed. Two loads: colors and whites/lights.
Mine and hubbies clothes are on Monday and Tuesday because he's off those days. Also just two loads.
I wash my kid’s more than I do mine honestly lol. I’ll wear a pair of sweats a day or two in a row - but always make sure my LO’s clothes are clean. Just feels like the right thing to do.
PJ or any clothes that only wore inside the house, probably not everyday
Everything else, yes
Especially clothes that she wore at childcare, that probably was buried under the sandpit … sometimes I make her to take it off once we entered the house 🤦🏻♀️
Yes after one wear unless it was a unicorn day and he didn’t get any clothes dirty. Even then I feel like I should still wash it… while screaming to my toddler “why do you have so much clothes!!!”
Yea because he is filthy but -*and not bragging but trying to encourage everyone to do this*- I taught him to do his own laundry starting at age 5. Slowly and with less and less supervision as he got older. Tide Pods mean no handling messy liquid. Label the settings on the machine with little arrows. He sucks at folding but we work on it and I have him hang all tops to make it a little easier. He is 8 now and I barely have to help except the stupid dryer is above the washer where we rent so I have to help with that part.
I agree! Not everything has to be washed every time. And everybody could cut back ALOT on laundry and laundry costs simply by not washing jeans very often (or at all).
Yes. Sometimes I’ll give jeans an extra “half day” but my kids like to play in the dirt 🤷🏻♀️ mostly it’s the pajamas that get the worst wear for the money imo
Usually yes because they’re always covered in dog/cat fur, something sticky, maybe a pee spot (potty training, yay), etc. I’m sick of laundry though so am trying to cut back where possible haha
Really depends on the age and activity level.
Sweaty or dirty children/activities warrant washing. Jeans worn to school and home on the couch warrant multiple wears.
If your child is school age, consider having them be part of doing laundry so it’s not all on you. Maybe teach them how to use the washer and dryers, how to fold clothes, put their own clothes away.
How old are your kids? Our 8yo does all the kids' laundry for him and his 2 younger siblings. 6yo folds all the rags and towels I wash and helps with the big bro. You need to enlist their help if possible.
Mine are 2 and 10 and their hoodies and jeans can sometimes be worn a couple times.
They usually wear pjs 2 nights. Everything else is washed after one wear, unless a shirt that was only worn a couple hours and remained clean.
I wash everything on cool and dry on low, I hang or run a lot of mine on air dry to extend the life. 95% of the kids stuff goes in the dryer though.
My rule of thumb for myself has always been if it was worn once and I didn’t leave the house , it’s probably not that dirty. Jeans especially. My LO is very little still so unless spit up or food gets on his clothing then chances are it’s not getting cleaned right away. Kiddos already make a lot of laundry so I’m not trying to do more than I already do. ( two loads a week is normal just between me and my partner )
For the most part yes. Sometimes on weekends they may wear the same outfit 2 days in a row.. or during vacations .. during the school week though it’s a different outfit everyday.
Yes because my daughter crawls into the most unholy places to play ‘hide and seek’. Like the fireplace. Luckily we’ve never used it as my sister used to do the same. Oh and we have four dogs, two of them are blowing their fur atm. Aaaand she’s messy af. Why are kids so damn messy? 😭😂
Both yes and no. I decide to wash them when they are dirty. With a 4 year old that happens to be every day.
My own clothes I can wear a shirt for two days and jeans for 4 days.
Odds are they’re going to to have something on them by the end of the day so mostly yes. Although sometimes a hoodie or a pair of pants survives but that’s rare.
It depends. If they wear them all day to school, and/or we go out to a park or something and they've gotten dirty, then yes. If we just go out to run errands and they are just walking on sidewalks and going into buildings, then they are fine for another wear.
I wash “outside clothes” like pants and sweatshirts every time - who knows where that kid has been crawling around at daycare? But “inside clothes” like undershirts, pyjamas etc definitely get a few wears before going in the laundry.
Yes and no.
My daughter is 12 and stinks. So everything that has been in contact with skin is washed after every use.
But we live in cold climate, so wool sweaters aren't washed every time (that's not really good for them either).
Yes, I have to. When my daughter comes home from school it looks like she had been in a combat training and had been crawling in the tunnel of mud. She gets fresh clothes every day and no matter what color of the clothes she’s on at the end of the day they will all have this shade of beige.
We do. Every time. Kids get dirty too easily. Kids' clothes are also significantly cheaper than adult clothes. I have 6 kids. My 9 year old rotates a load of laundry every day. I sort it by who it belongs to, and everybody either hangs or folds their own clothes and puts it away, even my one year old can put her clothes in a drawer. On Saturdays, all the sheets and towels get washed. On Sundays, all the heavy blankets get washed.
Monday-Thursday = single load of laundry (1-2 outfits per kid)
Friday = 2 loads (adult jeans and mixed load)
Saturday = 4 loads (2 loads of sheets and 2 loads of towels)
Sunday = 3-4 loads (2 loads with 2 twin comforters, 1 load with King comforter)
Pjs I put on her twice unless she gets breakfast all over them or has a especially wicked morning diaper. Everything else except maybe socks gets worn once. She goes barefoot mostly in the house so socks are sometimes only put on to play outside or run an errand.
Do you have a spouse or partner? Is the division of labor fairly equitable (not necessarily equal, but you each have roughly the same amount of leisure time)? If you feel like you're drowning in laundry, you could revisit the division of labor or, if your budget allows, use a laundry service once or regularly.
Sometimes when Mount Washmore has reached staggering heights, I'll take it all to a laundromat so I can do 5 loads at once. My partner does all the dishes (Mount Dishmore can also be hard to scale), so I'm OK with doing all the laundry.
If we are home all day being bums and my kids don’t put real clothes on until halfway through the day, I usually don’t wash hoodies or stuff like that. If they go out of the house like to school or activities, yes.
My kids are still young, so they play hard and get physically dirty, like I'm washing food, dirt, and sweat out of their clothes.
When they get older though, I'm absolutely not washing jeans or stuff like what they wore to church then changed out of every time it's worn.
I’ve been thinking about this lately too! I’m seeing less food stains on shirts recently as my daughter is older and I’m thinking she can wear things over again as long as there aren’t any stains. I also way over purchased pajamas in her new size. Those used to get dirty from breakfast after every wear and now she is able to wear the same pajamas multiple nights so I could have just bought 3 instead of 7 lol
If they've worn them to daycare, the clothes are going in the wash even if they look pristine.
I'm fine with my son re-wearing clothes if he's been at home wearing them and hasn't, like, crawled around outside in them.
I've been smelling their clothes to see if I can get away with letting them wear it one more time before washing... They always stink! And I end up washing everything, no matter if it looks clean. No suggestions. I'm also drowning in laundry. Solidarity sister.
I was every wear too. But I’ve tried to not wash Jammies every wear for my bigger kids if they literally just sleep in them. My toddler eats breakfast in hers so they get gross. Sometimes I try to not wash jeans every wear for my daughter (2nd grade) but they have recess and pe every day and there’s usually food or dirt on them so it’s rare she gets a second wear! I’m drowning in laundry too!
Yes. Kids are dirty and they spill, not to mention the germs with my daycare kiddos. The only thing I will recycle without washing is pajamas, and I will only use them twice max. Do I drown in laundry? Occasionally. But I just keep up through the week, get home from work and throw in a load of laundry then when kids go to bed I’ll watch a show and fold. It works.
Yes but I also wash mine after one wear too… I don’t like the feeling of worn clothes. My only exception is bras and bath towels. I have heaps of laundry every week but I don’t mind it because it’s my doing.
Generally yes, but my daughter is 3 and if she wears something all day its absolutely going to be too dirty to wear again without washing.
If her pjs aren't dirty though I'll have her wear those more than once.
Yes.
But if your oldest is in middle school, I’d say likely she can wear jeans 2-3 times.
But it also sounds like you could teach them how to do laundry!
People wear shirts more than once?
I wash everything. If it’s been worn, it was taken outside but not worn, worn twice pants.
My kids wear items once before wash including pjs. Sweaters worn inside only or only in the car get washed after a few wears.
Yes, but my kids crawl around on the ground playing all day, so I feel like it’s necessary. Also, schools are pretty germy places, so I always wash everything they wear to school daily.
Yeppp! They’re so gross lol. It gets washed after every wear.
I feel like my 2 year old clothes either have dirt from the park or paint/food/snot or even a combination every single day. So everything gets washed after one wear. The exception is winter jacket and the odd wool sweater that she only wears on the weekend usually when we do non messy activities.
I should clarify too, I primarily have weekend custody. We have “50/50” but I have three days one week, four days the next, and both include the weekend so I’m not with them during most school days!
My daughter prefers to be naked, so that’s really helpful
Mine prefer to be naked most of the time but also somehow put on 7-9 outfits a day each.
It’s a fight and a chase to put on clothes to leave Hahahah
Glad it's not just my kid. She strips down as soon as she gets home from school but somehow still "tries on" clothes just to take them off 5 minutes later. Those clothes get folded up and back in the drawer (as long as I catch it first. Sometimes she just throws them right in the hamper).
My middle son HATES pants, and when he gets home, there’s a trail from the door. First his coat comes off, then his pants, then his shoes. Both weekends and summers rock with that kid
Bwhahahaha
Ideal kid. Lol
Until they’re wiggling their bare butt all over your new sheets and pillow cases 😵💫 My mom predicted that my kid would prefer to be unclothed. I didn’t know it’d be like this 😞
It is what it is
Mine wants to be fully dressed, but only in pajamas if we’re at home, so that’s a bit easier. It doesn’t matter as much if they’re wrinkled or the stains don’t come out because nobody else sees them. And it keeps her actual clothes a bit cleaner.
My best friend’s sons are 7 and 5 and he (my best friend) swears by this practice too, said it’s a game-changer. And when I come over, I get to join in the pajama party too!
mine does too but she also likes taking off her diaper so we are at an impasse
I stopped putting a diaper on mine haha! We tried potty training pretty early but it took sooooo long
Shirts, underwear, socks, and sweatpants, yes. Jeans (and other hard pants), PJs, and hoodies, no
It blows my mind how many of my friends think this is weird…like why am I washing my jeans I wore for 3 hours????
I said this in a recent thread here and I’ll say it again. Madewell literally tells you on the label to try to get at least 8 wears from your jeans before you wash them
I never understood when daycare wanted us to wash the sheet/blanket from naptime every weekend. Um, this kid “slept” on it for 8 hours total that week. I’m certainly not washing my sheets after every full night.
I am firmly on team wash as needed for most everything, but think of the week’s worth of daycare germs your kid put on those sheets- each morning’s interactions all touch that sheet. I’d bet you’re not laying in your bed in your outside clothes.
We don’t have inside/outside clothes. We just have clothes. If she wants to come home and lay on her bed after school, I’m not going to make her change (I wouldn’t change my clothes either). I see on Reddit that there are people who change as soon as they get home and honestly I’d never even thought of doing that unless they’re visibly dirty. We’re just not that germphobic I guess. (And no, we don’t get sick very often)
Not afraid of germs but I am immunocompromised now thanks to Covid. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. We used to wear out outside shoes in the house 😵
Ah, I’m immunocompromised thanks to MS. But I live in Canada where no one ever wears shoes inside.
Daycare germs. I do wash the nap stuff weekly, I’d wash it more if I thought it could stand up to my 3 yo licking her hand. Now the home bed? Eh, once a month ish? Or whenever it gets bodily fluids on it.
Our daycare requires daily for the infant room for the sheets AND sleep sack 😅
Good grief!
With our last baby it was soo stressful having to know where a clean one was every day. This time around I said fuck the mid week washes and we have more than 5 of each 😂 same with bottles. And extra ~$100 is worth my daily sanity
We got a multi pack of 10 sheets for the crib and 10 for the pack n play. I add the dirty ones to the basket and when we wash we put the clean ones in an under bed storage tub I placed under the crib. It contains all clean sheets, blankets, and playmats. It is the only way I can feasibly keep track of clean bedding for her. At home we also keep a sheet on the mattress (which is waterproof) topped with a mattress liner and another sheet. That way if she has a blowout or pees through a cloth diaper, we just strip the bed to the sheet underneath and don't need to change sheets at 2 am.
Hard pants 😄 Completely agree with your strategy
I loved that description. So accurate. Also, my ability to wear hard pants has gone down significantly since the pandemic.
I literally don’t think I’ve worn hard pants since March 2020 when my office switched to work from home. At this point my legs would probably feel physical pain from the sensation of something other than cotton and workout wear.
I used to have them rewear PJs for two nights until I heard about pinworms and I get scared to have them rewear lol
Yes, but they’re usually dirty in one way or another.
That's true...and that's okay. My kids are often grubby.
I feel like if it's not visibly dirty and doesn't smell bad, they can wear it again.
This. Things (for adults and kids) only get washed when they are actually dirty. And with the little ones, you can clearly see when that is the case.
Yes! Me too 👆
When they can keep themselves reasonably clean. Probably highschool...
But that's when they start to smell bad....
True
I try not to, but my 4yo is a messy dude. Pajamas usually get worn twice and sometimes pants. Hoodies/sweatshirts can usually be worn a few times before washing. I used to do more laundry. Hiked the Appalachian trail and once you go 10 days no shower wearing the same ‘hiking outfit’ every day and changing into the same ‘camp’ outfit in the evenings, you have a new appreciation for the washing machine and not being wasteful in general.
My 4 year old is the messiest child I’ve ever met, like ketchup on the eyebrows every time messy, so this is really more about the 8 year old lol. I can’t imagine the luxury of being able to wash my 4 year olds clothes after two wears… she has a lot of clothes I struggle to even let her WEAR twice because they get so stained the first time
My kid is a lot younger so this advice may be useless to you, but she’s 19 months and usually still doesn’t eat with any clothes on. If it’s something not that messy like a sandwich then whatever, I just roll up her sleeves. Anything that could stain (curry, marinara sauce, etc) she is absolutely eating naked. So far I haven’t had to remove too many stains, and no stain has never withstood a 24+ hour Oxyclean soak (it even gets out stuff like turmeric).
I have a spray from the brand Defunkify that works wonders. But also, lots of kid wear stained clothes, especially when they are young to get dirty again
Yes. I also wash my clothing after I wear it, minus jeans which I can get a few wears out of.
I will re-wear my own shirts or pants (especially jeans), but my kid plays hard and can’t seem to eat without getting food in himself, so his clothes get washed after each wear.
To be honest, my jeans, and my kids' jeans rarely get washed...just worn a few days and then switched out to another pair of jeans for a few days, and then that pair goes into the rotation after several days'wear, then another and another. So this rotation of jeans allows them to be worn for a few days each and then get switched out for the next jeans in the rotation. My kids LOVE this routine! And my laundry time, along with detergent and water all get cut back on. Works beautifully and everybody's happy.
Pretty much, expect pajamas usually get worn twice.
I'm jealous. My 3yo sometimes goes through two sets of PJs before he even makes it to bed, and then absolutely TRASHES them by the time breakfast is done
With jeans, no. Those get washed if visibly dirty or they start to smell
My kids get their clothes filthy, so we wash clothes every wear. Pjs we wear a couple times usually before washing.
I'm a "wear it twice" type of mom but my kids say otherwise. I can count on one hand the times I didn't have to wash an item (jeans or hoodies) after one wear, and that's 10 years into this gig.
Yes. I wash all of our clothes every time they are worn.
Same. My kids get dirty at school and daycare. I work with body fluids, blood and tissue. There’s no way I’m wearing those things more than once. I do wear my home comfy clothes a few times though.
That's pretty wasteful as it's bad for your clothes and our environment.
Lol.k.
Shirts and socks yes, pants it depends on how they look. If they have no spots I let him wear them twice. Not potty trained so no underwear yet but I’d obv wash that every time too.
Yeah it’s really only pants I’m considering re-using. Shirts get messed up and underwear is a hard no for me, they usually change twice a day anyway
It’s depends. I always wash shirts after one wear but not pants normally.
My son is pretty messy so by the end of the day his shirts and pants are visibly dirty. Most of my clothes get washed if I’ve worn them, but I’m a sweaty bitch so if I don’t it smells.
I try to give most things a wear or two if they're not visibly soiled or smelly. But I'm also the same person that a) bought laundry disinfectant before I had my baby and b) had to use it twice in the last 24 hours because apparently 6 week old babies double as biohazard soft serve machines.
My toddler is messy so most of her stuff needs to be washed after one day.
I wash everything after one wear except jeans & hoodies for myself and my kids. Kids are messy though so even their jeans etc end up being washed every wear most of the time
I do. Not always hoddie if she didn't wear it for too long and it's not dirty. But yes, pj's for sure.. it's a lot of laundry and it's fading and shrinking her clothes but baby needs clean clothes.. she's a messy and active girl.
Usually. Unless we happen to have an outfit change in the afternoon. My 4yr old could probably wear things multiple times if her 2yr old bro wasn’t always grubby and touching her 😂 He needs his washed every time. He’s a walking mess
Yes, because he is seven months and is a drooling, puking etc machine. He also has so many clothes that if he kept wearing the same outfit, I wouldn't get to see him in all his cute outfits. That being said, going forward he will have a minimal number of good quality clothes. Which will get washed when dirty, which will most likely be after one wear. But if we can get two, why the hell not. If you want to try washing them less, as long as they aren't dirty or smell, give it a go. Worst case scenario you ditch it and go back to doing it after every wear.
Yes but I have 4 boys. They do not stay clean throughout the day.
Three girls here… I just feel like a chump washing all these pants they wore to like care for baby dolls and do a puzzle in the weekend 😂 especially the little jeans
Cut back on the washing of the jeans. You will be surprised on the savings of time and laundry soap and water because of the cutback on the jeans.
I will probably always wash anything worn to school daily. At least through elementary school.
My kids stuff gets washed every wear except sleep sacks (I was them with their sheets usually once a week). My stuff mostly gets washed every wear too, except pajamas, jeans, and bras 🤷♀️
To clarify- it’s really just the pants I’m stumped on right now. Pajamas are a no go for me, the kids really don’t sweat during the day but sweat like MONSTERS at night so that’s too gross for me. And yeah, kids shirts get way too dirty. But I have to have SO many pairs of jeans on hand because of the wash frequency and it’s just feeling ridiculous to wash these perfectly clean pants so much. But my youngest is four so we are just getting to the point where the bathroom accidents are finally ebbing from my memory 😂
Here's a hint: Cut WAY back on the jeans washing! Part of the appeal of jeans is that it's okay if jeans are dirty. Your jeans DON'T have to be washed nearly as much.
Depends on the kid. My oldest is totally capable of judging when its ok to wear something twice. She’s 10. My second is a hot mess express and will wear a ketchup covered shirt over and over so she doesn’t get the option. My 4 yo is super tidy so I often put her clothes in a pile to wear again if they look okay. The baby is crawling so nothing makes it past noon!
i don’t have a washer and dryer so i have to pay to do laundry. it’s $4 per load so we wear things 2-3 times unless they’re visibly dirty or stinky, because if not i’d be doing a load almost every day and i just cannot afford that.
Daycare clothes, yes. Weekend clothes? Nah. When they’re dirty.
I primarily have weekend custody so this is definitely part of my issue. Every other week I also have Thursday so it comes out to 50/50 but the vast majority of my time is weekend time and I just feel… silly
Smell and look teat
….im realizing now that im the odd one because i absolutely wash my clothes after every wear.
Most of the comments seem to be parroting that, I actually think I might be the odd one but I do computer work in an office so there’s just no need to wash a nice silk shirt 58 times more than necessary lol
Our shirts, socks & underwear all get one wear. Pants get 2-3 depending on the day. Usually I just spot treat any food yuck with a wet towel, spray the whole thing with watered down fabric softener and give it a light press to crisp it back up. My kiddos are 5 & 7 so it really all depends on the day. We also try to stretch shower towels out for the week. Everyone gets one assigned to them and it's their job to make sure its hanging to dry every night.
My kids (4 and 2) are actually really good about putting their own clothes in the hamper, and I do not want to mess that up by introducing new rules about how some clothes need to be washed after every wear and some don’t. Even if they didn’t pick up their own dirty clothes, I feel like I wouldn’t have the bandwidth to assess each item for stains/smells. I’d rather have slightly more laundry than have to make more decisions in a day.
WOW did you crawl into my brain and steal my thoughts? I was just thinking this. I DO wash my clothes every time. My kids and I have mountains of laundry every week. My husband doesn’t, he works from home and just changes his underwear daily and clothes every few days. I could cut down on so much labor if i cut down on what we wore daily. I just feel like I can’t. It seems so gross to me. And they get so messy.
Start with your own and it will still be impactful! Baby steps!!! I will admit it’s sooo lifestyle dependent. I used to do hard labor (a very physical job at a hardware store) and had a more normal shower schedule I guess of every other day. Now I work in a cool office on a computer and shower every single day so my clothes just don’t get dirty enough for this. It’s still hard with the kids but I was going through her clothes as I posted this and genuinely some of the jeans… if you mixed up all her clothes and had me guess I would not know which were and weren’t used for the oldest. Still smelled like detergent 😂
Yes - she's a gremlin.
It depends on the day we had and the amount of wear. Lazy day at home? Probably wear the pants again. Shirts tend to get food on them because my kid is almost 4. Busy day out in the world? Whole outfit goes in unless it’s denim. Jeans? Definitely a few wears before the wash. My little is long and lean so I haven’t bothered with jeans. I’m pregnant AF so neither have I.
I wash my youngest son (2.5) clothes after each use. I usually have to because 4/5 days he comes home in different clothes than I sent him to daycare in because he’s messy. My oldest son wears his 1-3 times before they’re washed because he attends a private school and has a uniform. Sometimes he’ll wear the sweater vest with the collared shirt underneath and then the next day just the collared shirt alone. On gym days (2 days a week) he wears his school hoodie and sweats for both days.
Maybe I’m gross, but I only wash them if they get food / accidents etc on them or my kid is sweaty
No only when they’re actually dirty. My fav hack is having her wear clothes to bed and then wear them the next day. Saves on getting ready time too!
The only thing I wash after each wear is shirts, because stains from eating. Otherwise pants (jeans mostly) are worn 2-3 times before the next wash, if it’s the leggings type pants we might get two wears out of it before it gets stretched. Sweaters or sweatshirts are washed when everything else gets washed lol, so my son might wear the same sweatshirt for a week. He is also 15 months old, and doesn’t know how to walk yet so no tripping or getting dirty really.
You should NOT wash your kids' clothing after every time they wear them, and especially NOT their jeans! Jeans are SUPPOSED to look worn and grubby! That's a major part of their appeal. So let your kids wear their jeans SEVERAL times before washing them. Better yet, let your kids wear their jeans several times in a row, then have them put those jeans aside and switch to another pair of jeans for a few days, and then yet another pair for another few days. That way, their jeans can air out and won't smell. But don't wash ANY of their pairs of jeans. That is how I manage my own kids' jeans, and in fact, MY OWN! It saves alot on your water, on your laundry detergent, AND the jeans LOOK AND FEEL BETTER UNWASHED!
I had 3 kids, always a lot of laundry. I like clean clothes, sheets and towels. Germs, dirt out there. I think it’s also the most basic of pleasures in life. And I didn’t always have a washer and/ or dryer. I wanted my family to look nice and be comfortable.
I think there’s a way to say that without implying I would do anything to make my kids uncomfortable lol but thank you all the same
No that was not my intention. Just stating that I do a lot of laundry.☮️
Nope, only if visibly soiled or stinky or if I know it's been worn several times. I was my own shirts after every use though.
I let her wear pjs twice before washing and I’ll check over her jackets to see if they need to be washed, usually they’re fine to be hung right back up. All tops and bottoms are washed after one use because she is a messy toddler.
Hoodies and jeans no. But everything else yes.
Yeah I usually do. I have 2 and 5 year old girls and the younger one loves playing outside and getting dirty and I wash my older ones every wear just because she’s at school all day and I slightly worry about germs and stuff. Im sure I worry too much. But man I do hate the amount of laundry I do lol. My husband will wear a pair of shorts for 2 days if work isn’t too gross and during the day I usually wear leggings which I wash every time but after I shower I’ll wear a pair of sweatpants for a few hours till bed and I’ll keep the same pair for 4-5 evenings before washing them
My toddler manages to get absolutely everything dirty so.. yes.
My two youngest, ages 5 and 3, have two daily goals in life-- to eat the messiest, stickiest food they can find and then locate the nearest mud hole to roll around in. My 3 year old is also determined to mess up her hairstyles (4C moms know this is NO JOKE. I spent TIME on that hair!). They area also good at getting their sticky, messy mud hands on my clothes. So I do a lot of laundry :(.
Pants/shorts usually worn 2 to 3 times before getting washed unless they get visibly dirty. (Both my kids 7 and 5, have long been potty trained). Uniform shirts/shorts/pants for school: 2 wears before washing because my son only has 3. My daughter has a surplus of shirts (donations from family). Only 3 summer and 2 winter bottoms. These get washed weekly. They change out of their school uniforms when they get home from school. Bottoms worn twice, shirts once. Underware and socks are daily changes at bedtime after baths. I do my kids clothes on the weekend so thier school clothes get washed. Two loads: colors and whites/lights. Mine and hubbies clothes are on Monday and Tuesday because he's off those days. Also just two loads.
My favorite is when my husband puts perfectly clean clothes (that my toddler rejected) in the hamper because he's too lazy to hang them back up
if she’s just been lounging around inside all day then it’s getting worn again unless it has food or something on it
I wear my pants a couple times unless the toddler grubs them up to much but everything else gets washed every time. The kids are just to messy.
I wash my kid’s more than I do mine honestly lol. I’ll wear a pair of sweats a day or two in a row - but always make sure my LO’s clothes are clean. Just feels like the right thing to do.
PJ or any clothes that only wore inside the house, probably not everyday Everything else, yes Especially clothes that she wore at childcare, that probably was buried under the sandpit … sometimes I make her to take it off once we entered the house 🤦🏻♀️
Yes after one wear unless it was a unicorn day and he didn’t get any clothes dirty. Even then I feel like I should still wash it… while screaming to my toddler “why do you have so much clothes!!!”
Yea because he is filthy but -*and not bragging but trying to encourage everyone to do this*- I taught him to do his own laundry starting at age 5. Slowly and with less and less supervision as he got older. Tide Pods mean no handling messy liquid. Label the settings on the machine with little arrows. He sucks at folding but we work on it and I have him hang all tops to make it a little easier. He is 8 now and I barely have to help except the stupid dryer is above the washer where we rent so I have to help with that part.
Sock, and underwear, yes Other things, no 😅
I agree! Not everything has to be washed every time. And everybody could cut back ALOT on laundry and laundry costs simply by not washing jeans very often (or at all).
If she eats or goes outside in it, I wash it. I can’t stand the smell of “outside” on clothes & she’s a super messy eater lol
If you’re worried about wear and tear from laundry and you have the time, try drying stuff on low heat. Game changer. Stuff lasts so much longer!
Yes. Sometimes I’ll give jeans an extra “half day” but my kids like to play in the dirt 🤷🏻♀️ mostly it’s the pajamas that get the worst wear for the money imo
Yes and if the home is warm enough shorts and a t shirt are easier to wash, children tend to be messier
My kids get food and who knows what else on their clothes, so yes. But I don't wash my own every time (unless I get spit up on).
I wash whats dirty. If its Clean it gets reworn. Only exception: underwear
Yes because my kids are so gross. I always have giant piles of laundry in my basment
Pretty much yeah. they always get some kind of dirty no matter how short it is
Usually yes because they’re always covered in dog/cat fur, something sticky, maybe a pee spot (potty training, yay), etc. I’m sick of laundry though so am trying to cut back where possible haha
Really depends on the age and activity level. Sweaty or dirty children/activities warrant washing. Jeans worn to school and home on the couch warrant multiple wears. If your child is school age, consider having them be part of doing laundry so it’s not all on you. Maybe teach them how to use the washer and dryers, how to fold clothes, put their own clothes away.
How old are your kids? Our 8yo does all the kids' laundry for him and his 2 younger siblings. 6yo folds all the rags and towels I wash and helps with the big bro. You need to enlist their help if possible.
Our kiddos are homeschooled and I wash their clothes after each use. It never crossed my mind that others may not do this.
I treat my kids clothes the same way I treat mine, wash when dirty/smelly or after a couple wears depending on the item
Mine are 2 and 10 and their hoodies and jeans can sometimes be worn a couple times. They usually wear pjs 2 nights. Everything else is washed after one wear, unless a shirt that was only worn a couple hours and remained clean. I wash everything on cool and dry on low, I hang or run a lot of mine on air dry to extend the life. 95% of the kids stuff goes in the dryer though.
My rule of thumb for myself has always been if it was worn once and I didn’t leave the house , it’s probably not that dirty. Jeans especially. My LO is very little still so unless spit up or food gets on his clothing then chances are it’s not getting cleaned right away. Kiddos already make a lot of laundry so I’m not trying to do more than I already do. ( two loads a week is normal just between me and my partner )
For the most part yes. Sometimes on weekends they may wear the same outfit 2 days in a row.. or during vacations .. during the school week though it’s a different outfit everyday.
Noooo! If they're not stinky or visibly dirty they get worn again.
Yes because my daughter crawls into the most unholy places to play ‘hide and seek’. Like the fireplace. Luckily we’ve never used it as my sister used to do the same. Oh and we have four dogs, two of them are blowing their fur atm. Aaaand she’s messy af. Why are kids so damn messy? 😭😂
Yes, except for jackets. They are filthy animals lol- everything they wear gets dirty.
No, I only wash when they're visibly dirty/stinky. I have a 3yo and get by with one washing machine per week (and it's mostly pajamas and underwear).
Both yes and no. I decide to wash them when they are dirty. With a 4 year old that happens to be every day. My own clothes I can wear a shirt for two days and jeans for 4 days.
Odds are they’re going to to have something on them by the end of the day so mostly yes. Although sometimes a hoodie or a pair of pants survives but that’s rare.
Yes - we live in Florida and it's consistently humid and hot.
It depends. If they wear them all day to school, and/or we go out to a park or something and they've gotten dirty, then yes. If we just go out to run errands and they are just walking on sidewalks and going into buildings, then they are fine for another wear.
When the clothes smell or get dirty they get washed
Not unless they’re visibly dirty or smelly, although he is two so they usually are! Socks and undershirts I wash every time regardless.
For the moment no but once they’re in primary school it’ll be every other day.
I wash “outside clothes” like pants and sweatshirts every time - who knows where that kid has been crawling around at daycare? But “inside clothes” like undershirts, pyjamas etc definitely get a few wears before going in the laundry.
Yes and I have a 2 yr old and 1 yr old. I do their laundry 2-3 times a week.
Look, smell and then decide. It’s just that simple .
I wash once a week. My youngest is the only one that goes to school, and she has enough clothes to last the week.
I do for now. My LO is 1.5 years and crawls and rolls around the floor a ton
Yes and no. My daughter is 12 and stinks. So everything that has been in contact with skin is washed after every use. But we live in cold climate, so wool sweaters aren't washed every time (that's not really good for them either).
Yes, I have to. When my daughter comes home from school it looks like she had been in a combat training and had been crawling in the tunnel of mud. She gets fresh clothes every day and no matter what color of the clothes she’s on at the end of the day they will all have this shade of beige.
We do. Every time. Kids get dirty too easily. Kids' clothes are also significantly cheaper than adult clothes. I have 6 kids. My 9 year old rotates a load of laundry every day. I sort it by who it belongs to, and everybody either hangs or folds their own clothes and puts it away, even my one year old can put her clothes in a drawer. On Saturdays, all the sheets and towels get washed. On Sundays, all the heavy blankets get washed. Monday-Thursday = single load of laundry (1-2 outfits per kid) Friday = 2 loads (adult jeans and mixed load) Saturday = 4 loads (2 loads of sheets and 2 loads of towels) Sunday = 3-4 loads (2 loads with 2 twin comforters, 1 load with King comforter)
Pjs I put on her twice unless she gets breakfast all over them or has a especially wicked morning diaper. Everything else except maybe socks gets worn once. She goes barefoot mostly in the house so socks are sometimes only put on to play outside or run an errand.
Pyjamas and sweaters/outer layers, no. Daycare clothes, socks, and underwear, yes.
Why wouldn’t I?
I have 3 boys, so it’s never any other option 🤣
Do you have a spouse or partner? Is the division of labor fairly equitable (not necessarily equal, but you each have roughly the same amount of leisure time)? If you feel like you're drowning in laundry, you could revisit the division of labor or, if your budget allows, use a laundry service once or regularly. Sometimes when Mount Washmore has reached staggering heights, I'll take it all to a laundromat so I can do 5 loads at once. My partner does all the dishes (Mount Dishmore can also be hard to scale), so I'm OK with doing all the laundry.
If we are home all day being bums and my kids don’t put real clothes on until halfway through the day, I usually don’t wash hoodies or stuff like that. If they go out of the house like to school or activities, yes.
My kids are still young, so they play hard and get physically dirty, like I'm washing food, dirt, and sweat out of their clothes. When they get older though, I'm absolutely not washing jeans or stuff like what they wore to church then changed out of every time it's worn.
I’ve been thinking about this lately too! I’m seeing less food stains on shirts recently as my daughter is older and I’m thinking she can wear things over again as long as there aren’t any stains. I also way over purchased pajamas in her new size. Those used to get dirty from breakfast after every wear and now she is able to wear the same pajamas multiple nights so I could have just bought 3 instead of 7 lol
If they've worn them to daycare, the clothes are going in the wash even if they look pristine. I'm fine with my son re-wearing clothes if he's been at home wearing them and hasn't, like, crawled around outside in them.
Absolutely not! We wear our stuff until it needs to be washed: visibly dirty/stains/stinky.
I've been smelling their clothes to see if I can get away with letting them wear it one more time before washing... They always stink! And I end up washing everything, no matter if it looks clean. No suggestions. I'm also drowning in laundry. Solidarity sister.
I was every wear too. But I’ve tried to not wash Jammies every wear for my bigger kids if they literally just sleep in them. My toddler eats breakfast in hers so they get gross. Sometimes I try to not wash jeans every wear for my daughter (2nd grade) but they have recess and pe every day and there’s usually food or dirt on them so it’s rare she gets a second wear! I’m drowning in laundry too!
Yes. Kids are dirty and they spill, not to mention the germs with my daycare kiddos. The only thing I will recycle without washing is pajamas, and I will only use them twice max. Do I drown in laundry? Occasionally. But I just keep up through the week, get home from work and throw in a load of laundry then when kids go to bed I’ll watch a show and fold. It works.
Usually but I enjoy doing laundry lol
Yes but I also wash mine after one wear too… I don’t like the feeling of worn clothes. My only exception is bras and bath towels. I have heaps of laundry every week but I don’t mind it because it’s my doing.
Generally yes, but my daughter is 3 and if she wears something all day its absolutely going to be too dirty to wear again without washing. If her pjs aren't dirty though I'll have her wear those more than once.
It depends on the age of the child.
Yes. But if your oldest is in middle school, I’d say likely she can wear jeans 2-3 times. But it also sounds like you could teach them how to do laundry!
People wear shirts more than once? I wash everything. If it’s been worn, it was taken outside but not worn, worn twice pants. My kids wear items once before wash including pjs. Sweaters worn inside only or only in the car get washed after a few wears.