In a lather about washing protocol

Do your undies hit the washing basket after one wear or, like clothes designer to the stars Stella McCartney, do you wear your bra at least five times before deciding it needs to be changed?

A personal question indeed but one that is a hot topic this week after aforementioned Ms McCartney decided to once again air her views that we are all washing clothes far too often.

Seems her motto is “if it is dirty wait till the dirt dries then brush it off”!

I’ve always said that I’m not houseproud, in fact, there is probably an inch of dust on certain areas of my home at the moment, but washing is something that I do like to keep on top of.

I suppose that I’m really quite a sad person but on a nice, sunny day there can hardly be a finer sight that a glowing load of white washing blowing in a gentle breeze.

My favourite vantage point to look at said pristine washing is on a sun lounger with a wee glass of something chilled in my hand, of course. Well there has to be some reward for all my hard work.

I really can’t get my head round Stella’s view that we are washing clothes too often.

Do things not get a bit, well whiffy, if they’ve not had a wash with a generous dose of Persil (other brands are available).

And it seems that she isn’t the only one to have a similar view. Chip Bergh, the CEO of Levi’s, has apparently being wearing a pair of jeans for the last ten years that have never seen the inside of a washing machine.

Given the cost of washing products and the different kinds we are encouraged to use, perhaps that’s why both of these people appear to have healthy bank balances.

But really, a pair of jeans unwashed for a decade ... I don’t think so.

Although I’m sure in my son Gary’s teenage years there were more than a few socks and t-shirts that I eventually found under his bed that had been worn several times before being discarded. Even a teenage boy can only take so much.

I think that given the amount of washing Emma will no doubt have this weekend when she and the family return from their summer holidays, perhaps I will keep Stella McCartney’s comments from her – at least until the suitcases have been emptied and the clothes are on the washing line!