Minimizing Your Wash Will Maximize Your Savings 3by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 25 Jun 2008 08:16 AM
Let's continue with our daily scenario... Now try this. Wake up in a t-shirt and shorts. Putter around the house, then change to a more presentable outfit to take the kids to the park. Return from the park and change back into the shorts and t-shirt. Hand the presentable clothes up, since you only wore them for an hour or two. Change into clean t-shirt and shorts for bed. Total number of outfits to be washed: one. This is just one scenario. Other ways to extend wear of clothing might include wearing PJs for more than one night or clothes for more than one day (I still have a hard time with this), airing out clothing instead of washing it, using the same bath towel multiple times, and using an old adult t-shirt on kids to protect good clothing for messy meals and play and using that t-shirt a few times before washing it. Another way to cut down on laundry is to be neat and organized. When laundry isn't put away on time, it tends to drift to the tops of furniture, beds and on the floor. Then the laundry gets dusty or dirty and has to be laundered again. If I leave any laundry out over night, even if it is just in a basket, the cat will happily determine that the clean laundry is a comfy cat bed. When my eldest son's drawers were overstuffed with clothing, it would tend to go everywhere. He would pull out three or four t-shirts looking for the one he wanted, and the others would wind up on his bed or the floor, get mixed in with other clothes he changed out of and wind up needing to be rewashed. We solved the problem by de-cluttering the drawers to include only the clothing he loved and made it a point that special activities, such as time on the computer, playing board games or television couldn't take place unless all dirty laundry was in the hamper. Thanks for coming along with me as I discussed this topic. What are your thoughts about minimizing your wash? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don't miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Frugal Laundry: Make Your Own "Detergent" Dry Your Clothes Twice as Fast Alternatives to Hanging Laundry Outside Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 26 Jun 2008 11:21 AMI think these posts are great. Even though it seems like common sense, I know it must not be by the looks I've gotten when I've suggested rewearing clothes. Even though I try to look really stylish outside of the house, around the house you'll find me in my pjs/lounge/work clothes: a t-shirt and some gym shorts or yoga pants. I wear them till they smell which, depending on how long I wear them and what I do while wearing them, could be a few hours or could be a few days. I also rewear my outside clothes a lot since I might only wear them for a few hours -- though that gets harder to do when it's so hot out. But if they are hardly worn at all, I'll put them back on the hanger or into the wire drawer in my closet where I toss clothes that can be reworn. Having a place like that really helps.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 26 Jun 2008 12:33 PMHaving a special place for clothes that have been worn but aren't dirty is a great idea! Tashi (1013) 29 Jun 2008 07:52 AMI admire your devotion to wearing reasonably clean clothes multiple times. I haven't quite reached the level of commitment as you two. Usually for me, it's just a sweater, cardigan, sometimes trousers, and sweatshirts. When traveling, however, I usually do much better. I need to work harder on it at home. Mary Ann Romans (26886) 30 Jun 2008 10:10 AMIt is tough with kids, too, because usually something gets spilled. StBridgit (322) 30 Jun 2008 05:03 PMFor the kids' clothes, I have found that pre-treating stains the day they occur helps reduce the number of clothes they need, because stains come out and fewer clothes are designated as "play clothes only". Additionally I only do laundry once a week. If someone dirties something and wants to wear it again, they will have to wait for Laundry Day. This way I can get it all clean, folded, and put away as part of that day's routine. My husband and I also have special places where we put clothes that have been worn briefly but can be worn again. And all bath towels are used for two weeks before being laundered. Mary Ann Romans (26886) 01 Jul 2008 04:25 AMI can't get myself to use bath towels or sheets more than a few days after I saw a show on the bacteria and dust mites that live in these places! But I am trying to get over it. amandapace (20) 11 Aug 2008 06:52 PMWe always use bath towels for a week, but washcloths get washed more frequently, mostly because DH wads them up instead of hanging hem, so they get musty. Hand towels probably hang a good two weeks before I take them down, lol. We rewear pjs. We don't rewear other things for the most part because we live in a very hot, humid area, so clothes get yucky quickly. DH would rewear more if I let him, but he throws them on the dresser or floor rather than hanging them, so I pick them up and put them in the laundry. In the future, I think I will pick up his clothes that he wants to rewear and hang them on the clothes line with the laundry so that they can air out. At least that way it seems like I washed them, lol! Community Tags clothes, frugal, laundry, save money, wash Discuss this article
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