My dad used lecture us on not tossing each day’s non-exercise apparel into the laundry each day. So I typically rewore nice pants and jeans once–possibly twice–but I’d toss a shirt in the dirty pile if I wore it all day. Now that I’m WFH, I wear my t-shirts for two days and then shower every 48 hours to conserve water. Sweats pants can sometimes go all five work days. 
Let’s just say that my multiple wearing days offset your sterile clothing days. Kind of like carbon credits. 
I like that.
@anon29537550 - you can have all my credits, too. I wear the same clothes for ages, and @subextraordinaire ’s “shower every 48 hours” seems aspirational at the moment! 
You’ve got plenty of wiggle room if you need or want it.
I’ll add my ‘credits’ to your ledger page, @anon29537550! I can go days without seeing another person, so my water usage is a fraction of what it used to be.
If I have to go somewhere like the dentist, I definitely take a shower. Or if I exercise harder than my daily walk. In the summer, I’ve been known to take a quick shower every day that’s warm. It’s a combination of general laziness and water conservation from October 30 through June 30. 
Next topic: people who think it’s i necessary to bathe because our bodies will eventually clean themselves.
If I only wash my clothes when they start to smell or I manage to spill stuff on them… I would wash them more often than once a day 
I’m pretty clumsy and I work hard.
I’m not going to go into great detail about my personal laundry situation but I’ll just say that clothes that aren’t worn against the skin don’t have to be washed as often as ones that are and things like wearing an undershirt or a slip can shift them from one category to the other.
… well that just sounds like all the wear and tear of washing without getting anything clean 
We remove our shoes, but this isn’t something I’m familiar with.
So if you’re coming home with a friend, you all drop trou before sitting on chairs?
Reminds me of the BB article a few years back about how we should all give up soap and shampoo, and within a couple of weeks our skin will be naturally “self-cleaning.” Bollocks.
I don’t know what all y’all do for a living, but not bathing or laundering and yet still being around other people without embarrassment speaks to either a remarkable amount of unawareness, privilege, or both.
But maybe I’m just in the club of folks who need to shower at the end of the day instead of the beginning.
I do a citric acid empty rinse on a short hot cycle about once a month. I also do the Affresh tabs about every 3 or 4 months (those things do a good job of scouring the drum as it tumbles them around). The biggest thing with a front loader is to just leave the door and drawer open.
I also do the citric acid in the dishwasher about every month or two.
Nobody drops trou, we change clothes.
Since covid we have no visitors inside, we have plenty of outdoor gatherings but no one goes inside except to use the bathroom. They take off their shoes to do that. The bathroom gets cleaned and sanitized immediately after the everyone goes home.
Our daughter is the only one allowed in our house to visit, she actually brings a change of clean clothes to change into. She knows her dad has issues and has no problem humoring me.
Before covid when we had get togethers or company everyone removes shoes, all of our upholstered furniture has slip covers, they get washed when everyone leaves and hard surface chairs get wiped down.
I know it’s odd but it’s my house so I get to do what I want.
Taking off shoes seemed weird to most Americans ten years ago, but we always did it, so I’m not going to call anyone else’s policies odd.
I know hospitals try to wash their stuff thoroughly, at high temperatures, because of hygiene issues. Good for them.
Every now and then, one should do that at home. Clean the machine thoroughly.
I heard a lecture some years ago by Hans-Curt Flemming who worked on biofilms. He dissected and analysed his own washing machine and provided slides. And an analysis of several biofilms on several parts of the machine.
It wasn’t just not pretty, it was amazingly gross. I can’t remember if he did show research to prove the statement, but he was quite clear in his assessment that using a biofilm-infested washing machine is a great way to spread disease (e.g., in a family). Interestingly, he even mentioned the different common cold viruses which IMO shouldn’t be able to infect anyone after a surfactant treatment. He advised to have a 90°C cleaning run at least every two months, and with bleach. Also separate clothes if someone in the family is sick. Additionaly, reduce the amount of laundry detergent, as the biofilms live of the residues.
(Fast forward several years, when I was living in Switzerland. TIL: if you rent a flat in any building with more parties, you very often get a timeslot to use the communal washing machine in the basement. Basically no-one I knew had a washing machine in their apartment…)
Another thing he had in his lecture was a strange case of hospital hygiene. Long story and forensical detective work short: germ count after cleaning in some parts of the hospital was consistently higher than before, and it turned out that there was a biofilm in the pipes delivering the desinfectant within the whole hospital, and which would only come loose and be distributed by cleaning staff at a certain pressure or velocity, i.e. only in a specific part of the building under specific circumstances (like opening the valve fully or something like this, can’t remember properly). They found out after they had tried to fire several cleaners who insisted on doing everything by the book, and then did prove to the hygiene medical staff that they, indeed, did everything by the book.
I, for one, steer clear of washing machines I don’t own, and clean. I invested in a Miele for my family some years ago, and I think it already paid off, including environmentally. Only wash when really needed, cool cycle, but adding a cleaning cycle every now and then (whenever the drain pump shows a yucky biofilm).
Something I’ve wondered is if copper piping actually helps reduce biofilm and other growth on surfaces. I grew up in a house with all copper plumbing and have lived in one house with copper plumbing. The rate I saw film form on any damp surface (like in the bathroom) was significantly less for the copper plumbed houses than my current PEX house.
I have only ever used a laundry mat when there’s been an issue with our washer, and I suppose this goes for communal situations like when I was in the college dorms, but perhaps the frequency of use impacts the film growth? I will say my old GE non water conserving fill it all the way up top loader didn’t exhibit much biofilm growth. I did leave the top open a fair amount, but I probably cleaned it no more than once a year and I never saw gunk build up or musty smells.
My septic tank would just love that.
And by love, I mean it would be an expensive fix.
Oh, yeah!
Irregardless^ of the larger environmental implications, messing with the balances in the septic tank are both costly and smelly. Definitely smellier than a t-shirt that’s been worn for 10 days.
^(I did that on purpose, it’s pedant trapping season)
This reminds me of 20 yrs ago George Bush Jr told us the way to win a war is to go shopping.
Damn easy to forget that there are many areas which do not have the wastewater treatment available around western central Europe.
Unintended consequence of water-saving appliances like dishwashers and washing machines, BTW, is that the wastewater piping system in some areas is not working properly or even breaks down.
