Why Wash Clothes That Could Be Worn Again? Disgust and Laundry Decisions

“I could probably wear this again, but the smell bothers me, so I will wash it.” Laundry decisions involve not just the amount of dirt, but discomfort, other people’s perceptions, and ideas about cleanliness. A 2024 study suggested that these psychological factors may relate to washing frequency through everyday behaviors such as how many times clothes are worn and whether people run small loads.

However, this was not an experiment showing that manipulating disgust increases the number of washes. It was an exploratory study using three Swedish investigations to develop questions measuring laundry-specific psychological factors and a model explaining their relationships.

Looking at decisions made before the washing machine runs

The researchers examined disgust toward dirt and odors, shame about being perceived as unclean, cleanliness norms, environmental attitudes, and habits preceding washing. They considered the tension between wanting to act environmentally and feeling reluctant to wear a particular garment again.

The first online survey reported analyzing 994 Swedish adults involved in household laundry. It collected responses about monthly washing frequency, number of garment wears, small loads, and psychological factors.

Next, to explore specific reasons leading to laundry, 39 people participated in four groups, each holding a two-hour anonymous text chat. This was a purposive investigation selecting people with strong reluctance to wear dirty clothes or habits of washing small loads or washing after few wears.

The questions were revised using those findings, and a second online survey analyzed 927 people. Environmental factors were also measured in greater depth, moving from beliefs about laundry’s environmental burden toward self-perception: whether being environmentally friendly formed part of one’s identity.

People reporting more disgust washed more, but simple and adjusted comparisons differ

In the first survey, comparing the lowest and highest quarters of disgust scores gave mean monthly washing frequencies of 4.23 and 5.38 cycles per person. The later survey similarly found 4.33 and 5.61 cycles, with higher disgust associated with more frequent washing.

In similar simple comparisons, higher shame and cleanliness-norm scores also tended to accompany higher washing frequency. Environmental beliefs and environmental self-identity, by contrast, showed no significant washing-frequency difference between their high and low groups.

However, when household size, number of children, income, and behaviors preceding washing were included together in regression analyses, none of the four psychological measures retained a significant direct association. Once household composition and behavior were considered, an explanation based on disgust scores alone was insufficient.

Number of wears and load size lie in between

The group discussions suggested that immediate triggers for running the machine included needing particular clothes, a full laundry basket, or having time to wash. Psychological factors might matter more when clothes are put into the basket or when deciding to run a small load than at the moment the machine is switched on.

The researchers therefore examined models placing number of wears, machine loading, judgments of dirtiness, and intervals between changing bedding between psychological factors and washing frequency. After investigating psychological measures individually, they moved to structural equation modeling to address overlapping influences among them.

In the final model, stronger disgust was associated with fewer wears and more small-load washing, which in turn were associated with greater washing frequency. Environmental self-identity, meanwhile, was associated with lower frequency through number of wears and loading practices.

In other words, a relationship that was difficult to see by comparing environmental awareness directly with washing frequency emerged when intervening behaviors were considered. However, this statistical model was constructed from questionnaire data: the direction of its arrows does not itself establish real-life cause and effect.

Distinguishing shame from cleanliness norms is itself a challenge

The development of the measures produced another important finding. Shame overlapped substantially with disgust and cleanliness norms and was removed from the final model. This does not mean shame was found unrelated to laundry, but rather that these questions made its independent contribution difficult to distinguish.

The direction of the association with cleanliness norms reversed across models. In the individual analysis, it pointed toward higher frequency, but in the final model it pointed toward lower frequency through small-load washing. Overlap with other psychological factors and insufficient questionnaire items are possible explanations, and no stable conclusion was reached.

The final model met some fit criteria, but its CFI of 0.865 fell short of the adopted threshold. The questions were also developed exploratorily for laundry, so validation in other populations is needed. Developing and testing these measures and models was itself a principal aim of the paper.

Consider reluctance, not just environmental explanations

The authors propose that efforts to reduce washing should address resistance to wearing clothes again and the circumstances behind small loads, rather than simply explaining environmental benefits. This is a proposal based on the findings, not an intervention trial demonstrating that such an approach reduces washing.

The measures were self-reported washing frequency and judgments, not bacterial counts on clothing, actual odor, or hygiene requirements. The study does not establish a universal number of times clothes may safely be worn; it investigates how washing decisions are made.

Summary

A simple association between greater disgust and more frequent washing appeared in both surveys. However, the direct effects of the psychological measures became unclear after adjustment for behavior and household composition. The final model instead showed associations through fewer wears and small-load washing. Environmental self-identity was associated with lower frequency through the same behaviors.

Decisions about washing clothes cannot be fully explained by knowledge of cleanliness and environmental responsibility alone. By measuring feelings and habits before clothes enter the laundry basket, this study sought to understand an everyday behavior that can be difficult to change.

The research was based on Formas funding, with support from Electrolux Professional and HSB Levande Lab Utveckling HB; Chalmers University of Technology covered publication costs. The authors declared no competing interests and stated that funders had no role in study design, analysis, publication decisions, or other specified activities.

Reference

Klint E, Peters G, Johansson L-O. (2024). Pro-environmental behaviour is undermined by disgust sensitivity: The case of excessive laundering. PLOS ONE, 19(6), e0302625. Original paper and open full text