Laundry sucks, for me at least. It is also a major household contributor to greenhouse gasses. So any ideas that can lead to less laundry are more than welcome, mostly for my convenience but also for the good of the environment. 

Here are three that have worked for me. 

1. Not All Clothes/Items Need to Be Washed After Each Use 

If you wash all your clothes after just one wear, you are doing a lot more laundry than is necessary. Not only are you creating more work for yourself and having a bigger environmental impact, it also reduces the lifespan of your clothes. 

For some items like underwear and shirts, it’s fine to wash them after each wear for hygiene reasons. But for things like jeans, coats, and jackets, you can wear them multiple times before they need a wash.  

The same goes for towels and linens. Please don't throw your towel into the laundry basket after using it just once and bedsheets need only be washed after every 2-3 days. 

If you are worried about your clothes getting smelly or stale, here are some tips. 

• Instead of piling worn clothes in the basket or in a corner, hang them in an airy place. They will be smelling fresh the next time you put them on. 
• For towels, air dry them outside after use, ideally in the sun. The sun’s UV will sanitize them and get rid of any odors. If you have to hang towels inside the house, open the windows to let in air. 
• A steam cleaner can freshen most clothes and remove any stale odors. 
• Buy mostly dark clothes that don't show dirt easily. This makes it easier to wear them multiple times. 

2. Buy Clothes That Don’t Get Smelly 

Some clothes get smellier than others. Clothes made with synthetic fabrics like nylon and polyester can stink even if you don't sweat much. As we covered in a previous post, this has something to do with the nature of these fabrics. 

Synthetics attract more of the kind of bacteria that causes stronger odors. They also hold onto the oily sweat compounds that cause you to smell sweatier. 

Clothes made with natural fabrics like wool, silk, cotton and bamboo tend to stay fresher for longer, even after wearing them. 

Another option is to buy antimicrobial clothes treated to kill odor-causing bacteria. Hercleon has several of these including the HercShirt and Kribi underwear. You can wear them multiple times and they won’t stink. 

Just remember to air out your clothes at the end of the day instead of stuffing them in a laundry basket. 

 3. Don’t Pile Dirty Laundry 

The habit of stuffing worn clothes in a laundry basket or piling them in a corner causes two problems. 

One, any items that you can rewear don't get a chance to air out. They’ll fail the sniff test when you are deciding whether to wear that jacket or pair of jeans again, even if they look clean. 

Two, any extra-dirty clothes will make the cleaner items dirty, rendering them unhygienic for another wear. 

Anything that goes in your laundry basket should be whatever is too dirty to wear again. For worn items that are still clean, hang them up in a closet or somewhere airy. Don't pile them on a chair or the bed. 

Additional Tips

• If you don't have a steamer, a fabric freshener spray can also help refresh worn clothes. 
• Another advantage of buying mostly dark clothes, other than that they don't show dirt, is that you don't have to separate them. This reduces the number of loads you have to wash. 
• If an item has a stain, spot treat it instead of putting it in the wash. 
• Don't do laundry everyday if it’s not enough to fill the washing machine. Running a half load is inefficient and wasteful. 
• Have specific clothes for outdoor activities like hiking, gardening or even playing outside with your kids. This ensures that only these clothes get dirty. 
• Wear an apron when cooking, feeding the baby or doing other activities around the house to prevent stains and keep clothes clean. That way, you can wear them again without having to pass them through a wash. 

Final Thoughts

Laundry is one of those things we do without thinking about much. Just toss everything into a laundry basket then into the washer. 

Taking a little more care with your laundry, including cutting back on how often you wash clothes, can have a big impact on your environmental footprint. Your clothes also last longer and you get more time to do other things.