My friend and I were talking about laundry today and she commented that she, with her big, non-33 wardrobe unlike mine, could go about 2 weeks between washing days, at which point she would divide everything between a few different washes (dark colors, lights, etc). I didn’t think about it at the time but I realized as I was putting laundry away tonight that even though I don’t usually, I could also go about 2 weeks without doing laundry most of the time too.
You know what the big difference is though?
At the end of 2 weeks my closet would be almost empty. I would have worn almost all of my clothes.
The average person will probably still have a closet full… Full of stuff they don’t like, that doesn’t fit very well, is out of season, or inappropriate to their “season of life” right now (business clothes in a SAHM’s closet, or painting clothes in a busy professional’s closet).
The stuff that’s left over in your closet after 1-3 weeks of wearing your favorites is the stuff you can pack away…
Just a thought.
Jo:)
adventures in the here now 
I am really impressed. I’m sure I have less than the average person too, but could probably go 2 weeks without doing laundry. I think it is great you have been able to streamline your wardrobe, I just started working on this yesterday. I actually have a nice bag of clothes to take to the donation center today.
Thanks! My wardrobe is still a work in progress, with plenty of things in there which I barely wear, even though I only have about 40 items each season. But I think that’s the way it is for most of us. We wear the same things over and over, but we like to have more variety and keep those “just in case” and “but I love it” pieces.
And yay for you! – I’m sure lots of people will be thrilled to find the things you’re donating. Better to send those things along to have a good life with someone else, right?! :)
Though I have streamlined my wardrobe a lot but not counted, I do know that I could not go two weeks without doing laundry – esp if I was going to work the entire time and I def could not do the underwear part of 2 weeks not washing – I have an extremely minimalist underwear dept – 3 cotton bras and 5 cotton panties. I cycle through a couple of fav items for home and non-work days and wash in my tiny apartment sized washer on average every second day. I could not imagine leaving dirty clothes for two weeks before washing for other reasons than having enough. My clothes would get stinky, grow fungus and rot where I live with the combo of sweat on the cloth, heat and high humidity. Joys of living in a steamy tropical climate. I wash my sporting stuff almost daily too: 2 sports bras (for gym) – they get hellish sweaty. I donʻt want fungus to grow on them (or on me). 3 cotton bikini tops which can double as halter neck bras if need be – but they are for canoe paddle practise or kayaking and also have to be washed immediately after wearing to get the salt water and sweat out of them. Fortunately my rainwater catchment water is pretty unlimited and free and no drier costs as my laundry is hung under cover in the carport to dry so no drier is involved
I certainly wouldn’t recommend that anyone go too long without doing laundry – I think that’s what makes it such a chore. And obviously not in a climate like yours.
My friend washes less often because her washer only works well when it’s really quite full, and since she likes to split her loads into several categories she has to wait some time to gather a full load. Personally I am more flexible about mixing colors and darks, and my washer doesn’t need to be so full. I do laundry about every 5 days or so, depending on the season and what I’ve been doing (cleaning, gardening, and exercise clothes make loads much faster).
I think many people don’t realize that their wardrobe size should be keyed to the frequency of their wash, and that a streamlined wardrobe will ideally be fairly empty on the day that laundry is done.
I have heard that some people solve the problem of nothing to wear as laundry day approaches by buying more cheap clothes, especially if they have to go to laundromat to wash. That’s very quickly going to lead to an overstuffed closet and a monumental wash day.