Comments on: Avoid Clothes That Require Washing Separately (84/365)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:45:28 +0000

@Gillian: Trent would probably accept that logic. Or if you do buy a bra, it should cost $3 or less.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:49:35 +0000

I have to agree. I try really hard to avoid any clothes which can’t be thrown into the washing machine. I know that anything with more than the simplest washing instructions will just migrate to the bottom of the laundry bin. I try to discourage my spouse from owning such items as well, but with minimal luck. She has a few items that have been “dirty” for literally years – at that point I guess one of two things happens: either the germs expire somehow, or they gain sentience. What good is it to own it if it’s never clean for you to wear it? Recognize the reality of your life and get rid of the item that isn’t worth the extra effort.

By: Elysian

Elysian — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:09:11 +0000

I agree with not washing until its not dirty, except that I sweat a ton and sweaters get dirty after one wear because they will smell. I have so much stuff with special care instructions though, that its not a problem because the marginal cost in terms of time is very low for one more item.

By: J Marie

J Marie — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:37:13 +0000

Hi Trent,
Thanks for the great advice. I always try to avoid clothing that requires special handling. It’s jsut not worth it. I used to buy clothing on QVC, but no that almost everything is made in China, it seems that everything has special instructions. AGGH.

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:28:52 +0000

I agree with Josh and if it doesn’t turn out okay I turn the item into a pillow or some such thing.

By: AK

AK — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:22:04 +0000

I ignore special care instructions too. Hand wash, wash separately, dry clean only? It all goes in the washer with cold water and gets hung up to dry.

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:16:17 +0000

This seems to miss the big picture: with slightly more than minimal effort, Trent has a great looking sweater. But ocassional hand washing was too much time and work (!), so he got rid of it. All other things being equal, it makes sense to select clothes that need no special cleaning. But if you already have the item, received it as a gift, found something great second hand, it certainly seems worth the minimal effort of hand washing.

I’m guessing this didn’t really happen and is just an illustration to generate comments. This makes me sad, as this blog has, in my opinion, gone from offering entertaining, useful advice to appearing to provoke comments with silly anecdotes.

By: Donald

Donald — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:24:56 +0000

Hi Trent, great article as always. Do you know of any great coupon sites for Washing and Drying of Clothes? Thanks in advance. Donald.

By: Gillian

Gillian — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:53:23 +0000

So by the same logic, we shouldn’t buy bras. I’m being facetious here, but some things do need extra care.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:53:29 +0000

Cathleen asked : “How does washing one item separately (while you are doing other laundry) add any extra time?”

It adds the time it takes to wash the item. If you hand wash it takes however long that takes.
If you use a machine it takes however long it takes to throw the item in the machine and then pull it out. That could seem negligible but it might add a minute or two.

By: Kai

Kai — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:35:44 +0000

I have always wondered about items that say ‘wash separately’. I always wondered what they meant it should be separate from. It never occurred to me that it could possibly mean separately from everything else such that it required its own load.
I don’t buy dry-clean requiring items for this reason. But I own a number of things that say ‘wash separately’, and I put them in a normal load and have yet to find that causes a problem.
New clothes, of course, get a good soak before their first wash to bleed out the excess colour.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:10:24 +0000

I ignore special care instructions. I just throw them in gentle in the wash/dryer and hope it turns out ok!

By: Marcus

Marcus — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:31:19 +0000

All of you guys shouting about not washing clothes if they’re not dirty must not have read “365 Ways to Live Cheap.” Not washing clothes if they’re not dirty is tip #95. Since he’s going in order, that one should show up in about a week and a half.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:26:07 +0000

You guys can’t see the forest for the trees. He’s not saying you shouldn’t hand wash things. He’s saying that there is a cost involved in hand washing things or in having to specially treat things and that you should take that into consideration when buying an item. If you bothered to read the CONCLUDING paragraph, it’s pretty clear.

Are you guys saying it’s a BAD idea to look for alternatives that don’t require special washing?

By: cathleen

cathleen — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:48:52 +0000

This post does not ring true to me.
How does washing one item separately (while you are doing other laundry) add any extra time?
You say “It fit me almost perfectly, the color of it matched my complexion, it wasn’t itchy at all, and I loved the pattern.”

And that’s *not* worth $55 for FIVE YEARS? Yikes!

By: The Frugal Vegan

The Frugal Vegan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:24:41 +0000

I buy a lot of designer thrift clothes that require “dry cleaning”. When I’ve worn something a few times, I toss it in a special bag and when the bag has roughly 6-8 items in it I wash them all by hand at the same time with Woolite. If I have more items, I put them in my HE washer on “delicate” and hang them to dry. Doesn’t take me longer than 30mins. I can see that with just one item like that it would be a nuisance but if you have several, why not hand or delicate wash them all at once? :)

By: kiki

kiki — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:01:32 +0000

My first instinct was to respond “what’s the big deal with washing it by hand now and then?”. But I think the bigger picture is about your personal scale on time and value.

Personally, I find it really difficult to find such a sweater, so investing some time and energy into maintaining it wouldn’t bother me at all. But for other people it may not be worth it.

But have to agree with the other commenters…not sure why were you washing it every single time you wore it??

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:51:12 +0000

Most “nice” clothes need special cleaning. Hand washing an item or two is not a big deal.

By: M E 2

M E 2 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:19:06 +0000

The washing is rarely the problem, it’s the drying. Wash the sweater inside out with other items on the delicate cycle. Line dry said sweater. Problem solved.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:48:50 +0000

Yeah, I agree with the above people that one easy solution to this is just wearing it more times between washes. I bought a sweater last winter that I LOVE, but it’s dry-clean-only. I wore it seven times over the course of the winter without cleaning it (wearing a thin shirt under it to make a barrier from the worst of my body gunk and letting it air out between), then took it to be cleaned. It costs more than cleaning my other clothes, but it’s still less than a dollar per wear, and I’m OK with that because I love it. (And it still smelled OK after all this; I finally just took it because it was starting to look a little tired and because winter was almost over.)

But sure, if the tedium of caring for an item outweighs the joy you get from it, by all means cut it loose.