Laundry is the chore that never ends. Just when you’ve washed, dried and folded one pile of clothes, another materializes to take its place. But if you’re washing everything after just one wear, you’re giving yourself unnecessary work.
Many pieces can go a few wears before hitting the hamper — though some items might need more washing than you’ve realized. How frequently should you be washing your clothes and linens? This handy guide breaks it all down for you (but alas, it won’t help you put that mountain of clean clothes away). Sheets: Wash once a week Your sleep sanctuary is a lot grosser than you might think.
One study found that a week-old bedsheet had 24,631 times more bacteria than a bathroom door knob. Experts are close to unanimous in saying that you should wash your bedsheets at least once a week — and if you regularly sleep with pets, you should probably do laundry even more often, as they bring lots of animal fur, dander and dirt from outside along with them. Even a human partner can mean twice the amount of perspiration and germs, so if there are two of you in the bed, you might consider washing even more frequently.
Bath towels: Wash after 3-5 uses The American Cleaning Institute recommends cleaning bath towels after three to five uses and carefully hanging them to dry in between washes. If you’re using your towel to dry your hands after using the bathroom, they should go in the wash every two days, one expert told Time . Even when you may think .
