When Should You Wash? Our Guide to Everything Laundry

We wash our clothes to keep ourselves, our families, and our favourite items smelling and feeling fresh, but there is actually such a thing as washing too much or too little! There are downsides to both: laundering your clothes more than necessary can shorten their lifespan and ultimately wear them out more quickly, and washing them too infrequently can be unhygienic and lead to bacteria growth. Yuck! When to wash? We’ve got you covered. Keep reading for our general laundry guidelines for you and your family!

For your clothes

Bras: After three to four wears
Underwear: After every wear, of course!
Stocks and stockings: After every wear
Sports and swimwear: After every wear
Jeans: five to six wears, although some advocate washing as little as possible
Tops: One to two wears
Dresses: One to two wears
Pants, skirts, and shorts: Three to four wears
Jackets and blazers: Five to six wears
Coats: Once every two months of wear, and before storing away for the season
Pajamas: Three to four wears
Get your clothes fresh and clean, but don’t sacrifice your health and the environment! Wash clothes (and towels, bedding, etc.) with Nellie’s Laundry Soda, and remove tough stains with the WOW Stick. If your clothes need some extra brightening or whitening, choose Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener instead of resorting to harsh and toxic bleach.

For your kids’ clothes

Washing your kids’ clothes doesn’t need to be a massive chore! Many experts say you can wash their clothing along with yours anytime you see stains or they don’t pass the sniff test. The problem is that kids tend to get dirtier more often than adults do, so those stains and smells come up more frequently. Here’s a handy guideline: the lighter and softer the fabric, and the closer it hugs the body, the more you need to wash it. But as long as you don’t notice dirty patches or stains, kids can wear clothes multiple times before they’re ready for the laundry pile, just like you.