When to Wash

[Captain Lex]

The somewhat remarkable thing you learn when you reach adulthood is that not every article of clothing you own needs to be washed after a day of wear, which is the distinct impression that messy kids get from their parents. Obviously underwear, undershirts, and socks are to be changed daily and washed after a single use, but what about trousers? How many days do you wear them in a row? How about button-ups? When I got a tailored shirt, the tailor told me I could simply put the shirt back in the closet a few times between wears, but didn't really specify how many times was a few. How often do you take your suit into the dry cleaner's? And a layer about, what about topcoats and trenches? What special considerations do you give to your vintage items?

And very importantly: how often do you have your hat cleaned?

I'm not looking for the etiquette so much as the practical realities experienced every day by you real Loungers.

 

[Yeps]

For trousers, it is generally until I spill something on them. Shirts I will keep for a couple days unless I sweat in them (the shirts I wear for work get washed after every shift). As a general rule, I will dry clean my suits no more than once a year, and often not that. I need to invest in a good steamer though.
Jeans I wear indefinitely.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Shirts get two wears, unless as yeps says, there's a lot of sweat. Trousers pretty much until spilled upon, or needing pressed. Jeans can go for a while, but typically once every 5-6 wears.

if I've been in a pub on dirty chairs that other people have been farting into - straight to the wash! I will say, it is absolutely glorious that pubs are no longer the horrible smokey holes they used to be. It really saves on washing to not have to clean the stench out. (And I speak as an ex-smoker!)

 

[dhermann1]

Dress shirts usually 2 days, but sometimes 3 if I'm desperate. I always look at the collar. If there's visible shmutz, into the wash. Dress trousers can go a few months or a few weeks, depending on if anything spills, or if the crease has totally disappeared. Cotton summer trousers, like khakis, get a similar standard to the shirts. They'll last maybe 4 or 5 or 6 wearings before they start looking scruffy.
Never had a had cleaned, except one new vintage one that looked like it was tossed out by Harry Hopkins (the most infamous hat ruiner of all time).

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Shirts get two wears, unless as yeps says, there's a lot of sweat. Trousers pretty much until spilled upon, or needing pressed. Jeans can go for a while, but typically once every 5-6 wears.

Exactly the same as BK. It's good to have "too many shirts" to keep em in rotation.

 

[filfoster]

Work shirts (BB pointed collar) laundered after each wearing, light starch. Suits, no more than twice a year. Ditto wool trousers. Jeans? Maybe after a week's wearing. Cotton trousers, shorts, maybe after a week's wearing.
I am no authority so this is useful info only as part of a larger sample. I am quite capable of making the same mistakes for years on end.

 

[Tomasso]

It seems that the closer a garment is worn to the skin the more often it needs to be cleaned. Underwear, shirts, socks, etc..are cleaned after every use. Tailored garments (suits, sportcoats, odd trousers, outerwear, etc...) the less often the better. Baring a calamity, dilligent brushing, air drying, spot cleaning and pressing should suffice. Some recommend cleaning before storing clothes for the season to ward off moths but I've never done so.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I have always washed a shirt as soon as possible (hand wash) if it is a dress shirt, and only will wear it one time. I have many shirts, and will wash each shirt and hang dry it, when I get two or three that do need to be ironed, I will steam iron them all and place them in the closet with the rest of the clean shirts so they can be worn again. For me, if I wear a dress shirt (most of which are white) they tend to need a washing to keep the dreadful "ring around the collar" from happening.

Pants/trousers, I have been able to hand wash some of them, hang dry and steam iron, but only the ones I know will not shrink up in length and I never use warm or hot water. If I am not sure about the possible shrinkage issues, I will take them to be dry cleaned. Anything silk I always hand wash. Some silk tends to be wrinkly when hand washed and seems to dry sort of with a "brittle" feeling to it, however, when you then stream iron it, the creases seem to be much sharper and fresher than if you have had it done at the dry cleaners.

I always clean any pants/trousers one time a month, unless they have a stain of any kind on them, then they get done ASAP.

Suit coats/sports jackets, also get cleaned one time a month. If not dry cleaned, a gentle hand wash, hang dry and steam press will most of the time work. COLD water only. Light amount of laundry soap and I normally will use a soap made for handwashing such as wool lite brand.

I have an ongoing "deal" with my local dry cleaner, they give me a discount if I take a number of items at one time to be done. This was a result of a long nice conversation and a begging to reduce the cost due to the poor economy. The dry cleaner was very willing to give me a price reduction and had become a personal friend in addition to doing a very good job on cleaning my clothing items.

Helpful hint about any clothing, a washer and dryer machine are not very friendly to the fabric of clothing....as you will note the "lint" trap on the dryer, that is all the damage for the most part that washing and drying will do to fabric. So if you can hand wash, do it, just my humble opinion.

Hats, I brush them weekly and use a hat sponge, (fedora hats) and will always wipe the inside of a hat with a slightly damp wash cloth and get any sweat off the sweat band if need be. To date, I have never had to send a hat to a hatter for cleaning. That could change if a friendly bird decides to unload on my hat while wearing it outside!