Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Smelly Socks


How often do you wash your socks?  An article on FiveThirtyEight caught my eye.

The article makes the case for washing your socks each time you wear them.  I would agree if you're wearing cotton socks.  I disagree if they are wool. I knit a lot of wool socks, and trust me, they do not need to be washed after a single wearing.

Recommendations for other clothing mentioned were; pajamas (3-4 wears); bras (2-3 wears); jeans (3 wears).  I can live with that.  Americans probably wash their clothes more often than necessary anyway because of the convenience of doing laundry.

As a child I remember tales of an old lady who wore her dress right side out for a week, then turned it wrong side out and wore it another week.  I have known people who turned their sheets after a week and put the foot part of the sheets at the head.  I do not do that.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have no means to wash their clothes.  They wear socks, underwear, and exercise clothing a week and toss them.  They wear shirts about two weeks and pants a month before tossing them.  In weightlessness clothing doesn't cling to the body.

I think I pass the smell test so I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. How about you?

9 comments:

  1. I usually wear my wool socks only once before washing, but after reading this post I'm going to extend the wearing another time or two. Turning the sheets from head to foot after a week, though? Yuck! I don't want my head resting where my feet (or my husband's) have been! (I'd never thought about fresh laundry at the space station. Interesting.)

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  2. I don't believe I could turn my sheets and be happy with it. Underwear is a change daily thing for me, but my outer clothing is worn until visibly dirty or I have been sweaty. Continual washing and drying, fades and wears everything out - I can see how much lint is in the trap - it's visible proof.

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  3. Socks, even wool ones I only wear once. My outer clothes kind of depend on what I have been doing while wearing them. Work clothes are one day, something I only wear for a few hours goes back in the closet.
    That was interesting about the astronauts. They must have quite a garbage pile.

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  4. I change sheets every Tuesday, underwear everyday--although I let bras rest for a day and wear them again two or three times before a washing. Exercise bras get washed after each use though. I don't wear much wool anymore but since it generally requires more care than just tossing it in the machine with other laundry, I may be guilty of stretching out a wearing of wool socks or sweaters. I live alone so what the heck? I do try to be presentable when going out in public though.

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  5. I can't imagine turning the sheet from head to toe. If I were going to that much trouble, I would go ahead and throw the sheets in the washing machine. I always dread making the bed after washing the sheets especially if the sheets are hanging on the clothesline. I'll be washing supper dishes and remember I need to bring the sheets in and make the bed...tired as I am! :)

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  6. I don't even HAVE wool socks - or wool ANYTHING for that matter!!
    I do laundry every few days so I am probably right on schedule with your list. Sheets are changed every 10 days or so. Louis Dean strung us up a clothesline and I need to remember to use it for our sheets! We use flannel from October to April and really enjoy them. We have an electric blanket but it only warms the bottom area but that is nice enough. I hope to get us one of those heated throws for next winter!
    You have the most interesting posts!! How do you think up such things???

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  7. Interesting. I've never worn wool socks so never thought about that. I have heard that we as Americans wash ourselves and our clothes more than other countries. I think it might be, in part, that it is easier to take them off and dump them in the hamper. LOL. That is if you can get your family to use the hamper!

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  8. Interesting. I've never worn wool socks so never thought about that. I have heard that we as Americans wash ourselves and our clothes more than other countries. I think it might be, in part, that it is easier to take them off and dump them in the hamper. LOL. That is if you can get your family to use the hamper!

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  9. I will wash cotton socks after one wear and wool socks after two. For other clothes - I remember a gross saying from when I was young about testing suitability of wearing clothes by throwing them at the nearest wall. I think, if we had to wash our clothes in the nearest stream with a washboard, we'd be wearing them a whole lot more. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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