Recycled Tip of the Day – Wear Play Clothes
Posted on August 29, 2008 by
When you were a kid, did you have to change into play clothes when you got home from school? Well, keep it up. It’s a good practice.
Change into old clothes when you come home. You’ll keep your good clothes stain free while you cook, clean, and eat. You’ll also cut down on your need for stain removers, and may even be able to wear your “street clothes” another time before you wash them. And over all, you’ll prolong the life of your wardrobe. As your street clothes wear out, you can give them play clothes status and get more use out of them.
I always do that for myself… but my kids come home just caked in grime, no matter what they’ve been doing during the day… so I just leave them in squalor while I microwave their dinners.
I suppose some people might consider it gross but I usually get a couple wears out of dress and play clothes before washing them. In the summer it’s a little bit harder but the rest of the year clothes don’t smell after wearing the one time and if I haven’t gotten them dirty there really is no reason to wash them after one wear.
Good grief, people don’t do that any more?!!? My husband does that, and he’s a computer guy at the University of MN — he gets to go to work in jeans and a t-shirt if he feels like it. He STILL changes into something more comfortable/less work oriented when he gets home.
I suspect some of that is due to the more relaxed dress codes in a lot of places. When I was in school, I was expected (by my parents) to dress up a little most days. Then I came home and changed into play clothes. Same thing when I did office work — look nice for your boss and your co-workers, come home and change into something that won’t be damaged by the tomato-based pasta sauce you’re making.
Now that I work at home, I still try to dress up for my clients, although not so much when I have a day where I’m not seeing people. I still, however, wear something dark when I make spaghetti sauce! 
So, yeah… it really IS a good idea. And I also get a few wearings out of my “good” clothes before I wash them. Saves wear and tear on the clothes AND water.