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Subscribe to RSSTODAY's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb chat about a survey that says nearly half of men have no problem wearing clothes, including underwear many times before washing them and that they rely on the "sniff test."
More evidence that single guys are gross: A new survey shows that one in eight men wears his underwear two or three times between washes. Even grosser: More than half of the men surveyed admitted they rely on the "sniff test" to determine whether they wear their clothes over again, without washing.
Clorox paid for the phone survey of 1,200 people, and presumably wants us to be so disgusted we douse our respective men in bleach.
Watch Kathie Lee and Hoda discuss the survey results (starting at about 5:22 in the above clip).
To be fair to the guys, single women may be cleaner than their male counterparts, but the survey suggests women may be just as lazy: Single women were more than twice as likely as married women to buy new clothes -- instead of bothering to do the laundry. In fact, more than a third of unmarried women own more than 20 pairs of underwear -- presumably another way to avoid the chore.
We're sure your personal hygiene habits are nowhere near as gross as those of these survey respondents, but you should vote in our (anonymous!) reader poll, anyway.
Follow msnbc.com health writer Melissa Dahl on Twitter: @melissadahl.
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
Isn't sniffing clothes the Gold Standard for cleanliness?
I always thought so...
Don't be silly. It is the combination of sniff and look. Does it look clean? Does it smell clean? If yes and yes, then it is clean. QED.
I usually throw them against the wall. If they don't stick, they're clean!
Darn it - already used below.
Boy - they didn't even mention how we use baby powder instead of taking a shower!
Men are the best environmentalists - think about all the water and energy that is saved by not washing your clothes after every use!
Went on vacation with my brothers and everyone's wives a few years ago to OBX. my middle bro only brought like three pairs of underpants, and a few other things... I commented about his light packing and he said he'd do laundry mid week and save the lugging. Ok, sort of made sense. I saw him a couple days later sniffing his undies. I asked, what was THAT??? He said he was trying to see which were clean, which were dirty. GROSSED ME OUT!!!
I sniff my clothes all the time, if they smell funky, they are definitely funky. As far as wearing my underwear more than one day at a time, Oh H*LL NO!!!! socks either... shirts, and pants, yeah, more than 2 or 3 times if I haven't sweated like a filthy dog, they get worn again.
I'll use the "sniff test" on a shirt or something every once in a while, but not underwear! Ew!
Allielcea...I'll make a deal with ya..I'll.......no....best not go there.
How about not wearing any. ROCK IT COMMANDO STYLE!
Free balling... yeah, that could work. Only a problem when it gets really hot out.... things stick to each other that shouldn't. Svetty Balls, ya see.
I use the skid mark test on my underwear. No skid mark? No problem.
She wondered why I threw out all the black underwear in an assorted pack.
I told her they aren't as flattering to my junk, but you and I know the real reason!
(just kidding)
Damn it Jim, that is just plain nasty man, nasty, nasty, nasty, I say....
Whither the squeamishness about skid marks? I daresay it's a rare man that never has them. The Founding Fathers had them. Male CEOs, heads of state, those guys in the White House and Congress... Heck, most of the world is run by men - all with skid marks.
Really, who cares?
People are much too concerned about such issues. Do you think pilgrims washed their clothing every day? They had no deodorant and IF they washed, it was with creek water using soap made from animal fat. We're animals, we stink whilst alive and even more after death.
While we're running low on resources like water and electricity, people want to insinuate we should wash all our clothes each time using a machine that consumes....water and electricity?!?
In pioneer days, mothers sewed their kids into their underwear for the winter. At least that is what I heard. What did people do who had no running water? What do they do now in the third world? When I was in Korea at a missile site the water in the well was at the same level as the rice paddy. I wear my jeans for a few days. Everything else is worn once and washed in a frontloader that uses less water and detergent and gets out more of the water so the dryer doesn't work as hard. The clothes last much longer too as the rotation of the drum does much less damage than an agitator. The amount of lint from the dryer proves it. Sniff.........never.
They had to do a survey for this? I thought everyone already knew men did that.
it was a just a way for Clorox to make some more money!
What's wrong with the sniff test? It's reliable. Reliable enough...
Wait - guys smell their shirts to see if they're still GTG?
In other news, the sun is hot, and ice cream is delicious...
Blue Jeans don't even feel right until you've worn them twice.
Clorox actually spent money running this survey? wow.
And in other news, a new survey suggests a high percentage of people think water is wet.
Wearing underwear more than a day is gross, but the sniff test is perfectly sensible.
There's always the "adhesion test" as well: You throw your underwear against the wall and if it sticks, it's time to wash it; otherwise you are good for another day.
What annoys me is that thrift stores wash their clothes before selling them. That throws a wrench into why I buy them in the first place, for the aroma! Stopped buying women's wear because of that. There's always someone out to destroy another's pleasure.
Actually, most (if not all) places reject soiled clothing. They don't have the time or money to wash the crap they are given from slobs.
Source: my volunteer work.
This is stupid. The average American showers every day. Underwear is inexpensive. You can buy a month's supply for $30 at Walmart if you don't like doing laundry each week instead of wearing dirty underwear.
I bet those nasty idiots who wear dirty underwear wouldn't think of not changing their oil filter after an oil change.
They needed a survey to tell us this?
Next time, maybe they should "outsource" the poll & poll-takers ... save some money and create a few useful, good jobs here in US -- for US. Maybe TV news reporters could try reporting "real, pertinent" new for a change? Maybe this is why I watch British Broadcasting for news & info?
Unless the clothes are visibly dirty, there's no reason to wash them if they smell fine. Most of us don't exercise enough during the day to get our clothes smelly anyway. The less you wash something, the slower it wears out. And it saves on water, electricity, and pollution from detergents. More people should employ the sniff test.
The only clothes I absolutely wash every time I wear them are my scrubs. You can't trust clothes that have been in a hospital. All sorts of terrifying germs are there, and I don't want to bring them anywhere with me.
I'm not sure whether to agree with you, or wonder if my next nurse is wearing dirty underwear.
What a dumb way to fill a news page...
Buy USA made underwear that is rinse & wear and you only need 2 pair; use 15 seconds of sink or shower water = gtg! (Well ... unless .....oooops dried in) In that case there are non bleach natural detergents with baking soda I expect will work with or without the infernal machines.
I think it is incredible that buying new clothes in lieu of doing laundry is considered "gross" and "lazy". This is clearly the opinion of some suburban yuppie with a washer and dryer in the home. When I've bought clothes instead of washing them, it's because I'm working 60 hours a week, can only launder my clothes at the laundromat, and don't have a day off (or the energy left over) to spend a day down there doing laundry.
For that matter, suggesting that it is "gross" to wear clothes (not underwear obviously) more than once is just another ignorant suburban "everything must be doused in bleach including the hamburger meat" prejudice. There's nothing wrong with wearing a sweater, an outer t-shirt, or even a pair of jeans more than once if you haven't been sweating like a pig in them.
The whole way of life that is presupposed by this article just disgusts me, really.
I wish they would write an article about how to get a grant to conduct research about commonly known facts. I think people are just dying to know the percentage of sighted Americans that think the sky on a clear day is blue. I think I deserve at least a few thousand dollars to look into that.
Totally! I'll split the work and the paycheck with you-easiest job ever.
You mean commonly-repeated wives' tales?
The only reason I clicked the headline was for the comments, and I must say I am disappointed in the high brow level of humor so far (aside from AnOzofTruth's black underwear [thumbs up!]). We have been delivered a slow pitch right down the middle of the plate and we need to take advantage of it! No more stating the obvious jokes; we are talking dirty underwear here! We need to bring in the dead animals, more skid marks! Don't stop until our jeans stand up by themselves and kick us in the junk to make us! Who's with me?!
But if you're coming, make sure you have clean socks. That's just nasty.
Yeah, the jokes here really stink.