Wool dresses

[bookbard]

So I read this article about a woman wearing a wool dress for 100 days (apparently it's a challenge or something). And she only had to wash it 3 times. I can't stop thinking about it. Has anyone tried this? I feel like I am washing ALL THE TIME. And I have so many clothes and I don't really like them. 

Bass Coast mum completes 100 Day Dress Challenge with focus on sustainability - ABC News

[bolt.]

That must be some magical wool!

(I get that it's odor resistant -- and good deodorant goes a long ways, but grime still exists, and I'm inclined to think what she reports as 'spot cleaning' probably substituted for many of the skipped washings.)

[TheReader]

Yes!! 

It's a little mind boggling. I did the 100 Day Challenge also (it's for Wool& dresses, that challenge in particular). I ended up washing my wool dress roughly 10 times (maybe?) in the 100 days. Other people wash it more, others less (the challenge is just to wear the dress 100 days in a row, no rule about washing).  I did also spot wash/spot clean a handful of other times. 

I have since also expanded my wool wardrobe & seriously destashed my regular wardrobe. I rotate between 2 maxi dresses for my teaching days, about maybe 7 or so wool blend t-shirts, and I wear wool blend leggings & tees for working out (for my fencing, under my fencing clothes, and for my "boot camp" work out, outdoors). 

For teaching, I like the dresses I got in particular because they are long/modest/I can sit on the floor with the kids, walk around, bend over, etc. The pockets on it are deep enough and secure enough I can keep my phone in one pocket, a bell (for attention getting) & stamp/stamp pad (for marking papers completed in class) in the other pocket.  

I layer a tee shirt or dress shirt over it, with/without a belt, and then I can change up the look (also gives me a place to clip name tags as kids get picked up, to the hem of the shirt) (also helps with the "don't need to wash" as much - grimy kid germs get on the top layer). 

For fencing/working out, I sweat just as much, but feel less hot.  Whether that be in the outdoor, August, Houston heat/humidity doing the Saturday morning work out, or the hour/hour & a half of fencing (with all the fencing clothes over it).  I also dry up faster - I can wear my wool blend stuff to work out, be very sweaty, but drive 15 mins to the grocery store on the way home and be unsweaty enough to get out and go in and seem presentable. Also less smelly.  

Same with fencing, I can take off the fencing stuff, and my sports br- will be wet, the rest of me dries up quickly. 

When I get home from working out, I hang my workout clothes (and my fencing stuff) (the sports br-, which is not wool, goes in the dirty clothes). By the next day, all pass the sniff test (the fencing stuff holds odors longer, but not the wool stuff). I *do* rotate between 2 pairs of leggings, and 2 t-shirts, and I do wash once/week so mostly those don't get more than one use between washing, but I *feel* better during by wearing the wool stuff. 

Back to normal wear, all the same applies, but since I'm *not* ending up drenched in sweat, I do go more wears between washing, similar to wearing jeans more than once between washing. I feel much cooler/less hot wearing any of my wool stuff vs. wearing even a thin cotton t-shirt & shorts, and certainly less hot than wearing jeans. 

Does it truly never need to be washed?? Like I said, I washed my 100-day dress more than the person in the article, and if I spilled something, I spot washed it (or if the armpits were sweaty, I'd wash that area only, using diluted dish soap), hang to dry, ready the next morning. Mostly b/c it's easier to spot wash it than to toss just the one dress in a load in the washer. 

Anyway, happy to chat more but probably won't be in/out a ton tonight. Feel free to PM me or anything though. I bought my first dress a year ago and have worn something wool almost every day since. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I have a few Wool& dresses and wear them year round. They are comfy in 105F weather and comfy in 30F weather. 
 

I also wash more frequently than once a month, but I can go much longer than daily between washes. They make for nice travel clothes in that regard.
 

I have found that I live a fairly messy life, so I often top my dresses at home with a Japanese style apron  https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Pockets-Pinafore-Baking-Cooking/dp/B08GJR4Y1G/ref=zg_m_bs_g_668145011_sccl_17/131-9261709-9560335?psc=1&th=1 so I don’t have to spot clean as much. If I didn’t garden, paint, make bread, or eat like Cookie Monster, I’d probably skip the apron.

[Ausmumof3]

I had a wool dress that I bought off one of the clearance sites and yes, I could wear it for ages without washing it although I never stretched it out that long. Eventually moths got to it which is my biggest issue with wool, otherwise I’d buy more. I do have some of the Aldi clothes with 5pc elastene and they get smelly so you need pretty much pure wool I think. I’ve had a couple of other wool things and invariably they accidentally end up on the wrong wash cycle and shrink or moths get them.

[HomeAgain]

DS started out wearing thin wool socks in his skates.  They were knit to be seamless, which was a huge plus for him when he was little. 

 

Based on that experience, though, I'm not sure I would consider wearing a dress for 100 days and only 3 washings.  I have to wonder if maybe she became slightly noseblind to 30 days' worth of body oils, deodorant, etc. even with the nice properties that wool has.

[Arcadia]

I don’t have a wool dress but do have a cashmere dress. I don’t sweat until it is about 35degC and above so my dress isn’t going to stink during the fall and winter months.

[prairiewindmomma]

Socks are different. I rarely re-wear my socks. (I wear wool socks or tights almost exclusively.) 

[Bambam]

I don't have a wool dress, but I do have one of the Wool& tees (Stella- wool with linen). I've worn it a couple of days in a row, and it doesn't smell, but I still washed it because I am just paranoid! Only issue is you are not supposed to tumble dry it by air dry, so I have to remember to take it out of  the washer before throwing everything into the dryer.  I have another wool tshirt (different brand) which is nice but not as nice as the Wool& one. 

I wear wool socks - winter and sometimes in the summer. I wear them two days in a row before washing. I hang them up to air out at night though. 

[theelfqueen]

Did she wear a slip? 

[TravelingChris]

I would fail that challenge in probably 15 minutes (allergic to sheep's wool and to lanolin too).  

[bookbard]

Thanks for all the replies - I am tempted to get one of the dresses. Not using the dryer is easy here, but being careful not to shrink in the wash is something different. I tend to pile everything in and hope for the best. 

[TheReader]

1 hour ago, bookbard said:

Thanks for all the replies - I am tempted to get one of the dresses. Not using the dryer is easy here, but being careful not to shrink in the wash is something different. I tend to pile everything in and hope for the best. 

So far I've not had anything shrink. when *I* do the laundry, my wool& stuff goes in alone, on cold, delicates. Sometimes into a mesh delicates bag, not always. 

When DH does the laundry, it's possible he grabs something he's not supposed to and my stuff goes into the regular wash. Still on cold, but not on delicates. Possibly also into the dryer. So far, so good. 

(I have 5 dresses, several shirts, 3 leggings, and one new pair of dress pants - the shirts & leggings get the accidental wash by DH most often, no ill effects yet)

[TheReader]

Oh, and yes, socks are very different! 

DH has 2 long sleeve shirts by the "brother" company, Wool& Prince, and 3 pair of their wool socks. He takes the socks on business trips, and rotates between the 3, washing in the sink/hanging to dry. He's looking to get 3 undershirts from them, to do the same with (when his trips are 2 weeks, packing 3 undershirts vs 14 would save a TON of luggage space, and with airlines getting ever more restrictive on bag size, that would be a huge plus).  

[prairiewindmomma]

We travel personal item sized bag (16L) only sometimes—like for those budget airlines in Europe. Our bags look a lot your dh’s—one spare outfit, some extra undies and socks—nighttime laundry. 
 

At home, our wool stuff goes into lingerie bags for washing. We have a euro style wall mounted drying rack hung with heavy duty hardware right in the laundry room. Stuff dries pretty quickly. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Dh wears  thin pure wool longsleved (spelling) tops under his shirt in winter. He hardly ever wears deodorant cause it gives him a rash. He only needs to wash it once a week. Doesn't smell at all

[bookbard]

On 8/29/2023 at 9:50 PM, TheReader said:

So far I've not had anything shrink. when *I* do the laundry, my wool& stuff goes in alone, on cold, delicates. Sometimes into a mesh delicates bag, not always. 

When DH does the laundry, it's possible he grabs something he's not supposed to and my stuff goes into the regular wash. Still on cold, but not on delicates. Possibly also into the dryer. So far, so good. 

(I have 5 dresses, several shirts, 3 leggings, and one new pair of dress pants - the shirts & leggings get the accidental wash by DH most often, no ill effects yet)

OK that is good to know. I think I will definitely go for a dress and leggings once my next pay comes in.