A question that often goes unasked is how often should laundry actually be washed. First, it is worth establishing what we are trying to achieve. We live in an increasingly affluent society, even considering how we lived just 30 years ago. Largely thanks to the media we are frequently striving to better our image. If there are visible stains, chances are we may be judged harshly. This is particularly of significance if we are working in a commercial environment. The other consideration is body odour, which can cause considerable discomfort according to a person's sense of smell. We cannot smell our own body odour and people's sense of smell can vary significantly. My sense of smell, for example, is very poor. Washing clothes can improve hygiene though research into just how much and therefore how often to wash, what temperature etc appears to be lacking.
Unfortunately, body odour can be a touchy issue and quite bluntly, people often don't know how to talk to each other. These two factors combined mean it often simply isn't discussed. However, we can always rely on family for honesty! Fortunately I have family members who have a good sense of smell. It may have been brought up when I was a teenager when my sense of inferiority was highest and I probably put a wall up most times it was brought up. For the purpose of controlling body odour, I asked and these washing frequencies were recommended:
Socks and underwear - daily
Shirts - normally daily, or get someone to check
Shorts and pants - every 2-3 days
Jumpers - every 3 days
These are worth refining based on feedback but broadly agree with a washing machine manufacturer's recommendations.
Now, we can be judged for wearing the same clothes twice in a row - people can assume we didn't shower. Therefore, it is recommended to cycle through shorts, pants and jumpers to avoid this perception.
I hope this helped you to maximise your time, effort, money and taking it easy on the environment against taking it easy on people's noses 😁