If you put on a pair of jeans for the who-knows-what-the-number-is time and can’t remember the last day you washed them, it might not actually be a bad thing. While general hygiene and cleanliness are fairly important, there are times when certain clothing items can be thrown into the washing machine unknowingly more often than they should be.
It does bring to light the question, then, of how frequently one should wash a pair of jeans.
Dallas-area resident Sarah Wilson said she wears jeans approximately three times a week and washes each pair after she wears them, generally doing laundry every other day.
“They can go a few days without being washed, but I still like wearing clean laundry,” she said.
Dallas-area resident Adrian Acevedo said he doesn’t wear jeans as much as he used to because he now more so prefers athleisure pants, but when he does don some jeans, he washes them after wearing them three times.
“I don’t feel like it’s good to wash them each time I use them since it will wear out the jeans,” he said.
He is accurate in that assessment, as frequent washing can ruin the type of denim and lead to much more rapid fading. And according to Martha Stewart’s apparel experts, too much time in the washing machine and dryer can break down denim’s fibers through abrasion, causing the fabric to wear prematurely.
Dallas-area resident David Recker said he finds himself in jeans every day, especially now that he is back in the office three days each week, and “manufacturing business casual” translates to a workday ensemble of jeans and a polo shirt. Recker has previously read about denim wearing out with too much washing, so he doesn’t keep a rigid record of how many times he’s worn any particular pair.
“I wash them every few months, unless they are visibly dirty or pick up a particularly gnarly odor,” he said. “I have a few pairs of jeans of different colors and washes that I rotate regularly, matching with the shirt or jacket I’m wearing, so I don’t wear the same pair every day.”
Obviously not every article of clothing should be treated the same as jeans. Recker said he washes underwear, undershirts, T-shirts, socks, and workout/running clothes after every wear, as it’s important to clean off sweat, body oil, and “pit-funk buildup.”
“With polos, collared shirts, etc., if you wear an undershirt underneath, every few wears is generally fine, unless they are smelly or visibly dirty,” he said. “But they aren’t as exposed to sweat and body oils.”
Other individuals, including Acevedo, though, prefer to wash other items of clothing following every single wear.
“It’s important to wash your clothes that are dirty, sweaty, or used throughout the day,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense if you’re not washing your clothes after each time.”
However, Acevedo believes that the frequency of washing jeans is more of a personal preference than a hygiene concern.
“I don’t think jeans get dirty enough or as dirty as other clothes to wash them every time,” he said.
Wilson, on the other hand, prefers to wash all clothes after each time she has worn them for sanitary reasons. For her, this includes jeans.
“I would say it’s more of a hygienic practice because jeans can get really dirty, even though they’re durable,” she said.
Some clothing experts pose the notion that jeans only need to be washed every 10 or so wears to maintain cleanliness while also avoiding weakening the fabric and frazzling the appearance. This is good news for Recker and others who opt to toss their jeans in the washing machine less often. There are certainly exceptions, though.
“In general, I think pants, especially denim, don’t need to be washed as frequently because of the materials they’re made out of,” he said. “But definitely wash them if they don’t pass the smell check.”
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