Let’s face it, doing laundry sucks. No matter how often you do it, it always seems to pile up more and more until you spend the majority of your weekend folding underwear and looking for socks.
But, did you know you don’t have to wash everything every single time you wear it? In fact, you can basically wear things more than once–without smelling/looking like a dirtbag. Trust me, I do it all the time (pro-tip, wash your underwear every single time). Insider posted a chart that easily describes how often you should wash every single item of clothing and, it’s wildly helpful.
T-shirts:
After every wear.
Socks:
After every wear.
Underwear:
After every wear.
Tights:
Handwash after every wear.
Bathing suit:
After every wear.
Workout clothes:
After every wear (even if you don’t get sweaty, you should, because you can get rashes/hives/breakouts if you don’t).
Whites and silks:
After every wear.
Dress shirts:
After 1-2 wears (if you wear an undershirt).
Blouses:
After 1-2 wears.
Bras:
Handwash after 2-3 wears.
Shorts:
After 2-3 wears.
Dresses:
After 1-3 wears–formal dresses dry clean after every wear.
Pajamas:
After 3-4 wears.
Suits:
After 3-4 wears for wool, after 4-5 wears for synthetic.
Skirts:
After 5-7 wears.
Sweatshirts:
After 6-7 wears.
Pants:
After a few wears (3-4).
Jeans:
As soon as they smell/you drop something on them.
Sweaters:
After 2-3 wears for cotton/silk/cashmere. After 5 wears for wool.
Hats/Scarves/Gloves:
3-5 times per season.
Shoes:
When they’re dirty.
Jackets/Coats:
1-2 times per season.
Clearly, if you’re washing everything after every single wear–you’re doing extra laundry that you don’t have to do. Take it from us, you can double down.