The rise of the 'no-wash' movement

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Ultramatic

Ultramatic

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Yeah, I guess that is right up there with not bathing.

 

<h1 class="article-headline__text b-reith-sans-font b-font-weight-300" tabindex="-1">The rise of the 'no-wash' movement</h1>
 

www.bbc.com

The rise of the ‘no-wash’ movement

There's a growing cohort of people who believe in washing clothes less – or not at all. Matilda Welin talks to the 'no-wash' and 'low-wash' believers.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
I'm part of the 'lo-wear' community. I'm nudist (but not an exhibitionist). As a result I'd be perfectly happy being nude all the time if it were practical.

But the clothes I do wear <span style="text-decoration: underline;">will be</span> properly cleaned (in soft water with the appropriate amount of detergent and rinsing), matching, in good repair, will not be black, will not contain stupid sayings or company advertising, will not be heavily wrinkled, will not contain bleach stains, acid staining and other such tacky nonsense.

And there is still bedding, rugs, curtains, towels, etc.

Does the article say anything about how these rather disgusting sounding people handle that?

I couldn't read any more than a paragraph in and started picturing some malnourished, drug addicted, only-bathes-with-flushable-wipes homeless people with lice and skin infections and started to feel sick.

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bradfordwhite-2023053023522709487_1.jpg
 
This is nasty! Outer clothes can be worn a few times if they’re still clean and odor free, but to wear jeans for months on end knowing they stink, nay! And it goes with out saying that underwear should be changed daily.

Saving water can be taken to extremes.

Its true that wool can be worn several times between washing, but not endlessly.

Eddie
 
As always, be it to pre rinse dishes or not, cold or hot water washing or the frequency of changing clothes, whatever works for some folks very well may not work for everyone.

My grandparents generation used to bath only once a week followed by a daily touch up with a wash cloth.
Outer clothes were aired out and brushed out many times before they finally went into the wash. My dad told me when they were kids in the 40`s nearly no one possessed underwear, they just had very long undershirts which they tugged in in a way to serve them as underwear too. Worn for a whole week!
It was just considered adequate hygienic measures during the war and no one was bothered by the stench as everyone was used to it.

Unthinkable for me but it also puts things into a different perspective somehow.
BTW for as long as my memory goes back my dad took a shower every day and changed clothes frequently.
 
Fruitarian Steve Jobs . . .

 

. . . was notorious for bathing as little as possible, claiming an all-fruit diet made his body so pure, he wouldn't stink.

 

Of course, he did and that's why he and Steve Wozniak were allowed to write code overnight at Atari instead of during the day with everyone else.
 
Absolutely not. If people are really that worried, then have a large enough wardrobe of clothes to the point when you will only have a few loads of laundry a month which won’t only save water but wear and tear on the machine and the clothes themselves. That’s what I’ve been doing the past month since I only wash laundry when needed and can squeeze a bit more stuff in my Maytag A806 since I have the load sensor agitator in it.
 
How do these people live with themselves?

Very well I think.
They`re getting used to their own stink in no time and won`t notice anymore.

The same thing happens if someone never changes their favorite perfume, cologne, laundry scent beads or whatever not noticing the smell anymore hence using more and more until everybody else literally gets knocked out by the smell.
 
Whether it’s wash, don’t wash, wipe, don’t wipe or never wash and never wipe, I’m keeping distance away from tails and even watch where I stick mine, keep my back straight crouching down as opposed to the bending over and not caring what or who’s behind of others I see…

There just needs to be a conscious movement of such…

— Dave
 
As much as I find this to be a joke now, I feel like I may one day have to face this reality once electo-mechanical washers, dryers and dishwashers become unobtainable. I refuse to wash clothes in electronic let alone microprocessor based machines. Perhaps these movements aren't spontaneous but inspired by the modern lineup of appliances which are all code and no show. 
 
Washing less is one of the things many try to push and might even make sense for some.
But I don't think I'll be one of them.

I don't think I will judge anybody for wearing their pants a week between changes in a office job.
Or wearing their dress shirts twice, thrice or so.
You wear underwear, you wear undershirts, you don't do much while wearing them, sure.

I wash my winter jacket like - once every two months tops?

But I sweat like crazy even in winter.
I currently change T-Shirts 3 times a day because I sweat so much - I drink a gallon or more a day with this weather.
My dark unterpants have those white salt outlines after I wear them a day because I sweat so much - I can't wear those more than 24h.

If you sweat less by nature - yeah you might get away with one shirt a day?

What I think many could improve without sacrificing cleaning their clothes is when and how they wash.
I wash a load of shirts and underwear every 2 weeks - that's a full load then. I change my towels weekly and wash a load every 4 weeks - that's a full load then.

I wash my towels and beeding in hot.
My shirts and underwear - because I change them so damn frequently - go on a warm, but long wash with oxygen bleach. Sure a hot wash would be more hygenic - but between the EU wash times, and the dryer/sun, I never had ANYTHING start smelling much even after sweating it through.

As I have said before: Saving the climate by being more mindful of what you buy, how you use it and how you take care of it is something YOU CAN DEMAND of people today.

I don't ask ANYBODY to not change their clothing frequently. I don't ask anybody to get rid of their vintage machines. I don't ask anybody to skip all hot washes.
But I do ask that maybe washing 4 once worn shirts in a TL with a full tub of water should not be done so that maybe when I turn 65 I can still enjoy a nice hot bath once a week without feeling to guilty.

Not washing/changing your clothing FOR weeks - yeah no that is to far.
 

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