There are some great reasons to wash your clothes less frequently – they’ll last longer, it’s good for the environment, using a washing machine can be expensive – but the main appeal to my mind is that, if you do less laundry, you’ll spend less time doing laundry. It’s supernaturally boring, like a task devised by Rumpelstiltskin.
Before getting into the practicals of joining the no-wash movement, try a bit of brain rewiring. “What’s your stress test for washing clothes?” asks Richard Blackburn, professor of sustainable materials at Leeds University. “Do you smell it? Do you look at it? Or do you just wash it habitually?” He then points out that the fabric that has most contact with your body is your bedding, and you wouldn’t dream of washing it after every use.
