Doing chores is one of the most annoying parts of being an adult. What do you mean I’ll have to mop my floors, dust my shelves, and do the laundry every weekend for the rest of my life? We truly don’t know how good we have it while we still live with our parents, and, well, some adult children might still take advantage of that if they haven’t moved out yet.
This 20-year-old guy certainly did, but his gross laundry habit was beginning to drive his parents insane. One day, they finally put their foot down and banned him from using the washing machine. What followed was a bizarre yet hilarious string of events that served as a good wake-up call for the coddling parents and the man-child son.
These parents had enough of their 20-year-old son’s gross laundry habit and banned him from using the washing machine
But their ultimatum caused a rift in the relationship, causing them to wonder whether they acted too harshly
“I don’t know how he hasn’t broken out in a rash or gotten athlete’s foot or something,” the dad described his son’s poor hygiene in more detail
Some commenters sided with the parents, urging them to stand their ground
Some believed the parents were to blame too for coddling their adult son for so long
Others thought the parents were being jerks
The average American does their laundry one to three times a week
Hygiene is personal — what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Some people sweat more; others are blessed with having virtually no body odor. Then there’s physical activity: some folks work physically demanding jobs, go to the gym, or just live a very active life and may need to shower twice daily. Others, who sit at a desk all day and then plop on a couch at the end of the day, might not need to shower that often — so personal hygiene really depends on a lot of different factors.
Whichever group you belong to, doing laundry once a month probably still sounds mental. Even the biggest slobs would most likely agree that Jake’s hygiene habits are questionable. Most people do laundry way more often than he does.
According to the American Cleaning Institute’s survey, 43% of American households do one to three loads of laundry per week. 37% of Americans do the washing even more often — four to six times a week, and 10% go even crazier: they wash seven to 10 loads every week. Only 5% of American households wash their clothes less than once a week, and 1% use laundry services.
When it comes to clothes, you can, of course, overdo it. That doesn’t really apply to underwear, socks, and activewear, which each of us should change daily, but items like jeans, pajamas, and shirts don’t have to be washed that often.
Pajamas, for example, can be washed once a week if you shower before sleep and don’t sweat much while you’re sleeping. Jeans are often a hot topic — many people prefer not to wash them at all. Experts say that if it’s not an undergarment that isn’t dirty and doesn’t smell, it probably doesn’t need washing yet.
Poor underwear hygiene has medical repercussions, not just social ones
In that context, Jake’s laundry habits really do seem wildly unhygienic. However, that might make sense after you learn about how often other people change their underwear. It seems like common sense to do it daily, but not for everyone: when clothing retailer Tommy John asked its customers about their underwear habits, 45% said they have worn the same pair of underwear for two or more days in a row. Another 2023 survey by the UK electronics retailer Currys found that men have the unfortunate advantage in this field: one in five change their undergarments only once a week.
You might think that adults should know basic hygiene and the risks that come with wearing the same underpants for a week, but we’re here to remind everyone. As the clinical lead for Chemist4U, Ian Budd explained to VICE, changing underwear only once a week has medical and social ramifications.
“Wearing dirty underwear can lead to a build-up of bacteria or fungi on your skin,” he said. “As sweat, dirt, faeces, and oils from your skin accumulate in your boxers, this creates a perfect environment for the growth of these microbes.”
It’s really a miracle that Jake never developed any medical condition from his poor hygiene. Budd listed infections, rashes, urinary tract infections, balanitis, thrush, and “jock itch” as other possible consequences of poor underwear hygiene. And that’s not even including the processes that may have taken place inside Jake’s week- or month-old socks.
And for the mystery of why the washing machine reeked so bad every time Jake used it — let’s leave it unsolved. Some stones are better left unturned, especially the smelly ones.
After a laundry fiasco at his grandma’s, the son came back to the parents with some surprising news
Commenters couldn’t hide their sarcasm: “This is also the reaction he’ll get from his new roommate”
In a final update, it turned out that the son lied to his parents
“Good for you for standing your ground,” the commenters gave kudos to the parents
Surprisingly, some commenters had similar stories to share
