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How often do you wash your jeans, sweaters or shirts? Swedish researchers conducted the survey to find out why we tend to do laundry several times a week, even knowing that this may go against our ecological principles. Social shame and disgust would be the main drivers.
If you have the reflex of sending your jeans to the dirty laundry basket out of pure automatism even though you have only worn them once, this probably means that you are washing your clothes too often. But know that you are far from being a unique case. “The quantity of laundry washed by European consumers has increased excessively for reasons that cannot be explained solely by demographics (…). Initiatives to curb this trend have repeatedly failed“, note researchers from the Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden). They point out that in terms of laundry, the practices of European households are relatively stable: 4.7 cycles per week in 2000 and 4 cycles per week in 2015 .
Social conventions stronger than environmental awareness
To try to better determine the reasons that push Europeans to wash their clothes so frequently, Swedish researchers carried out three separate opinion surveys on a total sample of 2,000 people. The questions focused on two specific aspects: the ecological beliefs and laundry habits of those surveyed. The results of this study, published in the journal Plos One, reflect an important place given to hygiene and the societal view of the cleanliness of clothes. Increased sensitivity to disgust, shame or non-compliance with hygiene standards is associated with higher washing frequency per person. The fear of contaminating laundry with the presence of infectious pathogens would also be an important motivating factor.
“It is interesting to note that no such effect could be observed for environmental beliefs“, the researchers also point out. Which, according to them, means that it is “practically impossible“to motivate a change in laundry practices based solely on pro-environmental arguments. In short, the image we send when going out into the street with a bad-smelling t-shirt or stained jeans would act more strongly on consciences than being confronted with figures relating to consequences on the planet of frequent use of the washing machine.
Air clothes after wearing them
“Policies aimed at reinforcing pro-environmental behavior will inevitably force consumers to prioritize conflicting interests. People face an implicit dilemma when deciding whether to wash: reduce emissions, but risk social repercussions“, conclude the researchers. With this in mind, they recommend focusing more on the underlying behaviors that create a need to wash rather than on the action of running the washing machine.
There are indeed solutions to lose the reflex of throwing your clothes into the dirty laundry a little too quickly. Although it is complicated to apply this rule to underwear, it remains valid for most other items of clothing. To avoid odors and/or germs, you can, for example, air clothes after wearing them. As for stains, some can be removed dry, without needing to put the garment in the machine.