We grew up fairly poor...at one point we lived in a house with no indoor plumbing and so picked up the habit of only bathing once a week since water had to be drawn from the well, heated on the stove, poured into a tin tub that Dad brought in from the pack porch. Clothes washing was done on Saturdays...we had a old winger washer and line dried. So 'school clothes' were taken off when we got home and carefully hung up and we put on 'play clothes'. During the summer, we took 'spit' baths before bed...Mom didn't want us getting the sheets all dirty.
I think it was when I was getting the youngest two ready for bed, having just bathed them and put them into clean jammies, that I realized just how wasteful I had become. Bathing every day, clean jammies and towels every day, clean clothes every day (undies and socks are different). So I started by bathing every other day, wearing jammies for a week, changing out towels every three days, checking clothing for dirt and rehanging if good.
I'm in my late 50s now and am not nearly as active as I used to be and work in an office. I shower once a week and 'wash up' in the middle. When I get home from work, I change out of my 'work clothes' and put on my jammies. I do four loads of laundry every two weeks. I use cold water to wash clothes except for 'whites'; I hang my bras up to dry. I quit buying 'antibacterial' soaps several years ago.
My electric bill is lower, my water bill is lower, I'm not spending as much on shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, Bounce sheets, etc. Our skin and hair isn't as dry. Our clothes are lasting longer and hubby, who used to get sick twice a year, hasn't gotten sick in three years. My way isn't for everyone or every circumstance.
