68 percent of Instagram commenters say no!
Minor Issues, Major Opinions
Readers say…
“You don’t realize what kinds of germs you’re carrying around after sitting on public surfaces. It’s like wearing your dirty shoes around your house!”
@TRIXIEE_2015
“Why would you put dirty clothes on?”
@CINDY_KENNEDY2
“Yes. I just can’t bring myself to wear them again without washing them.”
@R.HART
“Wash only when stained, soiled, or smelly.”
@GGGMD
“If the jeans are for riding on a Harley motorcycle, you are to never wash them! So says my husband!”
@NORAANNCRAIG
“I’m an every-two-or-three-wears kind of gal, barring any mishaps.”
@MARYTMCCOY
The experts say…
Check out our new podcast, Minor Issues, Major Opinions! We debate this hot-button issue even further in episode 6.
Unless you got unusually filthy today, you can keep them out of the laundry. “Jeans generally don’t rub directly against the body parts that tend to have the most bacteria,” says Kathleen Stanton, a scientist at the American Cleaning Institute, who is assuming (we think fairly) that you wear undies. As for cooties from the outside world, you’re safe from those too, says Michael G. Schmidt, PhD, a professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina. What’s found on your jeans is mostly just the good kind of bacteria from your skin, he explains, adding that it’s hard for anything too icky to thrive on jeans that aren’t caked in dirt or damp. Bless, because the more you launder denim, the shorter its life span becomes.
As you wash and wear jeans, the dye fades, says Mary Pierson, senior vice president of denim design at Madewell. In fact, back in 2016, University of Alberta researchers saw significantly more color and fiber loss in jeans washed every two days versus every 20 days.
Of course, you will have to wash your jeans eventually. While some denim collectors will tell you to clean jeans by freezing them, Schmidt says that doesn’t do squat. Microbes can survive freezing, he notes. Instead, turn jeans inside out and wash in cold water. Line-dry afterward, or machine-dry on low heat and pull them out when they’re still slightly damp, then lay flat. Just remember: The longer you wait to wash your jeans, the better they’ll look (on you!). Shoot for four or five wears between trips to the hamper.