While we continue to spend most of our days at home, it can become comfortable and easy to just lie around in your trusty pajamas or sweats all day, guilt-free.
But even if no one in the public is seeing you wear that old high-school gym shirt all day, every day, you still need to change those for-use-at-home-only clothes to keep some semblance of hygiene.
There actually is data on how often it’s advised that you change out of one set of clothes — especially during the pandemic when it’s important to keep up hygiene of all kinds — and when they become too dirty to stay in. The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) says that how often you need to change out of and wash your clothes depends on factors like what you’re doing while you’re wearing them, fabric type, weather, etc.
When it comes to pajamas and/or sweats particularly, the ACI suggests washing them after three or four wears (if you shower before bed, you may get a couple more wears before it’s laundry time). There are always exceptions to this general rule, of course; for example, if your pajamas or sweats are soaking in sweat stains, they should be removed and washed immediately. Or if you’re wearing white pajamas or sweats, you’ll want to avoid re-wearing them too often since they’re more prone to getting dirty.
Related: Should You Stop Washing Your Clothes
If you’re doing exercises, yoga, or anything else that’ll get you sweating at home, it’s a good idea to change to an alternate set of clothing so you’re both comfy and clean.
For those that prefer robes, they should also be washed regularly – about four wears before you should run them through the laundry. Finally, when it comes to bed sheets, you should be washing those on a weekly basis – after all, there’s no point in washing your clothes, only to jump into a bed with unkempt sheets for eight hours.
At the end of the day, there’s nothing shameful if you need to be as comfy as possible and don’t want to wear regular clothes, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore proper hygiene precautions!
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