Ideal Bite

I live in a 3rd floor walk-up apt. without a washer or dryer so I try not to wash too often. I have a cycle for the clothes I take off. If dirty they go in the hamper if not they are hung on the shower rod so the wrinkles will steam out & any odor I miss will have a chance to leave. From there my blouses are hung either on the fire escape or in a window as I am sure the extra airing will help them. The wrinkled clothes are swiped through the shower an allowed to hang until dry--this usually takes care of wrinkles--and after they all look & smell like new they go into the closet. This works on the wrinkles so well that I only realized last week that I'd loaned my daughter my iron when she moved out 4 months ago.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who does this. Our communal machines are expensive and really hard on our clothes. Besides, I'm a telecommuting, stay-at-home mom who isn't being seen by many people anyway. But even when I did have an office job, I would hang clothes back up for a couple of wears. Pants can go for ages. I just didn't know we were allowed to admit it.

I found this tip repulsive!! Body oil will stay in the garments and eventually cause more harm than washing them. the part about astronauts changing their underwear every three days made me gag!!

Does anyone have any experience using soap nuts instead of regular, chemical-filled detergent? Does it decrease any of the wear and tear? I know that simply washing clothes causes wear but I'm just curious if fewer chems when you do have to wash might help also. Or in general, if you've tried soap nuts do you recommend them? Thanks.

great tip- I've been doing this since I was a kid. As far as the repulsiveness of this, if you go in any designer jeans store- they will tell you the same thing: wear your jeans 2-3 times before washing to extend the life of the fabric." If you've never tried this out- just try it once. I swear you'll get hooked after seeing no difference in your clothes and having extra time (& money)- not to mention the benefit of helping to save the planet. ;)

I do this with my pants, sweaters, and jackets. Sweaters & jackets usually go right back in the closet (I don't wear these outside the office on warm days). Pants get a quck spray down with a squirt bottle and are hung to dry (freshen)before I put them away. Clean and "slightly worn" are separated by a colorful hanger in my closet. If you think about it, most days you are wearing several layers and only one touches your body.

The Laundress Stain Solution is fabulous, but I found the Crease Release to be a waste of money. It smells like a clean baby diaper, and doesn't release wrinkles just by spraying, patting, and hanging to dry, as the bottle indicates.

I always rewear my clothes as much as possible! I mean honestly they are really not 'dirty'. Undies and socks etc. are the exception of course. I normally wear my pants until they get a stain on them. (which happens often). and how do you even get your jeans comfy w/o wearing them at least 2 or 3 times. By the 5th time they are usually too stretched out to wear. My other comment was about the wrinkle releaser. i have an awesome awesome trick that my friend taught me. In a spray bottle just mix water with a tiny bit of fabric softener! I'm talking a tiny bit. Like a tablespoon maybe? It might take some trial and error b/c i dont actually know the ratio. If you have too much fabric softener it will make spots on the clothes (which jsut come out in the wash of course). But otherwise it gets out wrinkles great on cotton items! Def dont use it on sweat wicking type items. It does take a little bit of time to dry but a lot of times i will spray and smooth the fabric and then hang it over the heater vent or a fan and its dry in minutes. It is great for things like t-shirts. Cause who wants to iron a t-shirt but the it looks dumb when its wrinkly. And throwing it in the dryer just wastes energy. I recommend you try it!

I love the fab softener spray bottle tip for cotton! Thanks for passing it on, Mearph.

Washing clothes after each wear is way overrated and just a waste of time, money, and mostly water. I will wear something until it smells, has a stain, or is just to stretched out to look decent anymore. And no, I'm not even a dirty hippie! As a culture we are so obsessed with everything being clean, and it's just a total waste of time and resources. There are so many things we can be more lax on - selective laundry, selective flushing, selective showering, etc. I seem to have an obsession with conserving water!