Do I really need to re-wash my laundry?

Posted by kimba-the-tabby-lion@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 50 comments

I left some washing outside on airing rack, and woke up to some fleecy clothing being dripping wet. Whinged to my friend, and she said

Boo! Rewash, dry and sunny tomorrow

I confess I didn't rewash. I just moved the whole airer inside and then outside when the rain stopped. Is there reason to rewash?

(I didn't want to ask my friend, I don't want her to know how lazy I am!)

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

I don’t rewash unless it smells funny when it’s dry

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Scatterheart61@reddit

I quite like it when it rains on my washing. I just leave it there until it drys, even if it's the next day!

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GordonLivingstone@reddit

Why would you wash it? In most cases it has just had a second rinse in clean, fresh water.

If you live beside a steelworks or a factory spewing pollution into the air then you might have a problem

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takesthebiscuit@reddit

If it’s really heavy rain the clothes get really saturated, a wash and spin takes the bulk of the water out

But they will dry if it’s nice enough

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mronion82@reddit

As long as it's dry before you take it in. My mum- my guide in these things- told me that rain makes clothes softer.

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CptnBrokenkey@reddit

It got darked. You've got dark on it. You have to re wash it to get it off.

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Miserable_Witness_19@reddit

Once you've had your clothing darked on, you never do it again.

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jelly_tots_11@reddit

OMG if it got darked on then you definitely need to rewash. Daytime rain, maybe just respin, but darked, then that's a rewash.

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

So? It’s not like it’s mud. Clothes dont need to be sterile. As long as they look and smell clean, it makes no difference.

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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

Yes particles of dirt such as Saharan sand and bacteria all get caught up in rain water.

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/about-us/responsibility/education/the-water-treatment-process/the-water-treatment-process.pdf

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Exactly, if there’s Saharan sand/dust being deposited you will see it and therefore wash your clothes again.

But there’s bacteria everywhere, it’s not going to kill you to wear something that’s had some rain on it. As a society we are becoming overly sterile and this is causing health issues such as allergies and creating resistant pathogens.

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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

Depends on who it is - baby clothes ? Immunosuppressed person! Diabetic with foot ulcers etc. Best not to risk it.

Not the mention risk of mould forming!

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Obviously. But those are specific cases where they are vulnerable to infection more than the average person, therefore OBVIOUSLY you would be taking extra precautions. Not the average person. But as someone who is qualified in children’s care learning and development and maternity nursing there is a LOT of research showing how the over-sterilisation in early childhood is causing catastrophic damage to children’s long term health. It’s encouraged not to overly clean or sterilise beyond the necessities (eg sterilising bottles for newborns recommended, bleaching every surface of your home daily not recommended)

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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

I dont disagree with you but I absolutely would he rewashing my clothes in these circumstances!

I am not an over steriliser in fact I don't think I ever did (breast is best) until I had a child develop a serious long term health condition which requires sterilisation processes (Jejunum fed) even then we do the bare minimum required.

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

Do you get tap water I. Your house? Cos it got here via rain in most cases. I don't think they distilled it for you.

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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

They literally do mate that's why we pay the water companies so much money !

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/about-us/responsibility/education/the-water-treatment-process/the-water-treatment-process.pdf

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pip_goes_pop@reddit

You guys are getting rain?

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kimba-the-tabby-lion@reddit (OP)

A little. So little I didn't bother to check the forecast. Overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, and apparently at 3am tomorrow.

Grass is still yellow!

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EllieW47@reddit

Does it look dirty? Does it smell dirty?

If you answer no to both questions then why would you rewash?

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Capital-Database-993@reddit

Are we still talking about laundry?

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RuthBaderBelieveIt@reddit

I might put it on a spin of it's really wet, the spin cycle on washing machines is pretty good at getting the majority of water out.

That said it would depend how quickly I needed it dried vs how arsed I could be to go through the process

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TEFAlpha9@reddit

Depends if it smells damp or not. Next question

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jemjabella@reddit

If my laundry gets rained on, I leave it out there til it's dry again. I am quite lazy though.

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123bmc@reddit

I think rained on laundry smells SO good

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Electronic_Cream_780@reddit

if you are lucky, the creases fall out too!

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jemjabella@reddit

Lots of people saying it depends where you live; I'm fairly rural and have never had issues with clothes smelling weird after being rained on, so there's likely something in that notion.

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Technofable@reddit

At my parents also in rural area, it does smell kinda like grass or something. But i also don't think that's a good enough reason to go through the effort of rewashing!

If you live next to a factory or smth with chemicals, it's better to rewash though, some stuff can get in the rain in big enough quantities that you can get rashes

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Smelling of grass sounds like a good thing to me lol

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Mcby@reddit

I don't think the issue is with dirty rainwater, it's with the clothes potentially smelling mildewy. That smell will stick if they're wet for too long, at least until you wash it again.

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mentaldriver1581@reddit

Yeah, the smell of mildew in clothes is awful!

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

If it was dangerous then rain in general would be dangerous, so if you've survived being rained on I'd say you're safe.

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Boldboy72@reddit

been there, seen that and bought the whole shebang.

Rainwater does not smell nice when the clothes dry.

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evilcnut@reddit

Personal presence I guess. I always dry my clothes inside on aiders next to the windows or the radiators in winter. Rain water is dirty. I don’t want it on my clothes because they get that “dried in damp smell”

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

The only time my clothes smell damp is from drying them inside without a dehumidifier. Never from being rained on.

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legendarymel@reddit

Rainwater isn’t clean so I’d definitely rewash.

Also, if your clothes were dripping wet, I’d be very surprised if they don’t smell mildewy

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

I’ve never had my clothes smell like mildew after being rained on.

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

My laundry often gets left out in the rain. Never rehashed it… it’s never had a negative impact.

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Awesomeandkindaweird@reddit

I will sometimes do a rinse and spin if I feel I need to but most of the time I just hang it out again when the rain stops.

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Freedom-For-Ever@reddit

The only time I would suggest you need to rewash, is when we occasionally get airflow from north Africa and we get a fine red dust falling with the rain.

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Chimpy20@reddit

Unless you live near an industrial city spewing out pollution, it's probably fine. Rain will have tiny amounts of pollen and dust in it, but probably nothing you'd notice.

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TooLittleGravitas@reddit

100% depends where you live.

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r_keel_esq@reddit

I wouldn't bother with a rewash.

If it's very wet, I'll spin it again. If i've ignore it for a couple of days and it's been rained on a lot, I'll probably rinse-and-spin.

But a full wash with detergent? Nah, bugger that.

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Didymograptus2@reddit

Rain in the Scottish Highlands is pure and clean (and much better than London tap water).

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

Might depend where you live and the wind direction. In a town or city, or if the wind was coming from the direction of one, the rain will be more acidic and potentially dirtier due to air pollution, so I'd do a quick rewash, or at least a rinse.

If you live somewhere rural, just do a spin to get the excess out.

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therealonnyuk@reddit

Unless you live in some place with extremely bad air quality and known dirty rain I'd wager the rainwater is cleaner than your tapwater, so just leave it out to dry, if it rains on my washing and it's already soaking I don't even bother to bring it in, it just gets left out to drip dry

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