For every 5 ecomodders...

[Christ]

That's a great idea, Frank!

The alternative option that I've used before is to dry them hanging in the wood room (wood stove fire dries things very quickly) until they're just damp enough to be tolerable to wear, then toss them in the dryer on air dry cycle, sucking heat from the wood room through the intake. That was back when my Father's dryer was in a warmer part of the house, though. I'm still trying to get him to move the freezer back into the colder part of the house, the root cellar, to take advantage of the cooler environment.

Anyway, doing that with the dryer on air-dry just fluffs the fabric up enough to make them tolerable to wear comfort wise. I used to wear very heavy denim pants, and they were abhorrent when line dried.

[Frank Lee]

Well... truth be known... I do laundry about once a month through a combination of re-wearing stuff and just having lots of clothes and bedding to rotate through, and letting it pile up in the basket. Then I do several loads in succession when my laundry day finally comes up. It's a more efficient means of using both the water heater and the dryer... and my time too. There isn't enough clothesline for it all, so I'll hang the sheets and whatnot first, then clothes right on top of them, none of it with any clothespins, just flop 'em over the line then go do something else for the day. When I get back to it, it's mostly dry but of course some dampness under the "overlap" which is just dandy for the fluffing process in the dryer anyway.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Well... truth be known... I do laundry about once a month through a combination of re-wearing stuff and just having lots of clothes and bedding to rotate through, and letting it pile up in the basket. Then I do several loads in succession when my laundry day finally comes up. It's a more efficient means of using both the water heater and the dryer... and my time too. There isn't enough clothesline for it all, so I'll hang the sheets and whatnot first, then clothes right on top of them, none of it with any clothespins, just flop 'em over the line then go do something else for the day. When I get back to it, it's mostly dry but of course some dampness under the "overlap" which is just dandy for the fluffing process in the dryer anyway.

I hate clothes pins. I used to get them just to fling them at the neighbor's house off the line when we lived in suburbs when I was a kid. Was always pretty fun.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by mrsbooboo

I didn't think it was that bad. It's not really interfering with my life.

Cleaning is her life!! I didn't have the nerve to read that thread to the end, but I wonder what's with her: was she writing just for laughs (doesn't have too many posts on that forum), or is she a bored housewife? If the latter, then I feel sorry for her, and maybe her hubby (though he doesn't seem too concerned). I'd be worried not only about so much going to waste with the laundry and cleaning, but also about all the chemicals in the house and environment.

Many years ago I was talking with an Amercian father of two teenaged daughters, and he told me that his kids change their clothes 3-4 times a day! They come home from school and change. After a few hours of just sitting in the house they change and go out with friends. Come back and change. Etc. They've been known to put something on, look in the mirror, change their mind and put something else on, and throw the previous clothes into the hamper! The guy said his wife is always doing laundry. I was quite young then, so I just shook my head. Today I would have asked him where, in his opinion, is the source of the problem? Who brought those kids up and are they responible for their behavior?

My Wife often asks me how long I've been wearing a shirt or jeans. Like others here, I have house clothes and civilised clothes, the first usually being once-civilised clothes which I'm not allowed to wear in civilisation anymore. My policy is to not wear my house clothes for more than a week at time. If a t-shirt starts getting less fresh, then I use it 2-3 times for running in the morning and then it's gone. The civilised clothes are usually worn for only a few hours at a time, and after 3-5 cycles go to the hamper.

In our house of three we do about two washes (lights and darks) per 7-10 days. The Wife always tries to do the laundry before her dad can get at it, since he always uses more detergent and sets the temperature to 70-80*C. Today's detergents are just fine in 40*C, or even in 30*C, so a higher temp only means longer wash time, more energy, and a shorter lifetime for the clothes.

My Step-Dad likes to joke: "But if I turn my undies inside-out, then I can wear them for at least another two weeks"

[Frank Lee]

I don't know where all this psychotic clothes changing and washing comes from, but I believe it's related to germ/microbe phobia that's especially bad among mothers towards children. Maybe it's Johnson & Johnson's fault; they're continually bombarding moms with advertisements and commercials showing how laden their environment is with animated monster germs unless they liberally apply the latest anti-whatever miracle product.

It wasn't all that long ago when people took annual or semi-annual baths!!! And that is why perfume was invented.

The happy medium is somewhere between.

[tasdrouille]

I always do like frank. Actually I let it all dry outside and then I make it tumble for 2-3 minutes. No need for hot air, just the tumblingmotion will break the stiffness.

Who said your clothes are dirty after you've been wearing them for a day? Why is that? Why not 2 days? Why not 12 hours? Why not a week? I think this is all arbitrary. As long as my clothes do not smell or are not visually dirty, I don't feel a need to wash them.

Oh and regarding teeth, brush em, and brush em properly with an up-down motion, not front to back brushing, that is actually very bad for your gum and it wears down your enamel really bad. You also need to floss. Remember, floss only those you wanna keep. My wife used to be a dental hygienist.

[alohaspirit]

i do the line dry thing with the dryer finish as well
makes em fluffier


but weather has a lot to do with it

when i was in PA i could go a few days with the same clothes

you sweat less (or not at all) + the cold nulls a lot of smell


take me somewhere warmer (last week it was almost 90) and you sweat
which is why we live in shorts and a shirt
and the 3 piece cages hop from AC to AC

[99LeCouch]

I do a load a week. Sometimes two. I'll wash shirts worn all day after 2 or so wearings. House-clothing I sometimes yank from the hamper. Workout clothing gets reused because it's already rank, and I usually am the only one around. Plus I don't care what my workout clothing smells like because working out makes you sweat, and sweat smells. It gets washed at the end of the week with everything else.

Doing 15 loads a week is crazy. Blech.

[wagonman76]

I usually wear things a few times before washing them. Between being cold blooded at 97.0 and living in Michigan, I don't sweat much. In the summer I have a tshirt and flannel at the minimum. Winter I usually have that plus a heavy flannel plus a heavier hooded flannel. As I sit I'm at 3 layers. The outer layers rarely need washed, they don't have a place to get dirty.

For towels, I try to use one several times, till the wife takes it since she doesn't like it hanging there. I read somewhere years ago "you get out of the bath/shower, you dry your CLEAN body with a CLEAN towel. The towel is not necessarily dirty". At the very minimum, one can use the towel they last dried off with as the floor towel for next time.

My sister was just complaining last weekend about how her water bill is like $80 a month. But she's one of those like the OP was talking about.

[alohaspirit]

so the first girl went from 15 to 5 loads a week

NMMR:Critique my new laundry system

then another crazy chimed in with 37 loads a week (3 people)



and here i was feeling bad since i (only occasionally) do 3 loads a week