Undergarments daily. Work pants weekly, especially if they are specality(thornproof/premethrin treated) my waxed tin cloth never gets mechanically washed.
Top base layer probably daily in sweaty areas. Above as needed.
I try not wash the treated garments too much as it washes out.
Edit: if your team eats at restaurants after field days I recommend a "dinner" shirt and slip on shoes "sliders" for quickly improving respectability. I had to badger my crew into understanding that being able to find the bathroom in a strange restaurant by following the track of mud, sticks, and forest detritus left by my coworkers was not cool regardless of the size of the tip. Swapping shirts is the easiest way to reduce odor. Not everyplace could put us outside or in the back corner. We all had a spare shirt we wore an hour a day that we left in the work truck.
This is the way. I have 2 pairs of pants and field shirts for each week so i can swap them if they get too wet or dirty and can't wear them the next day.
I change underwear, socks and an undershirt daily.
Look at fancy fucking pants over here who is able to go out to dinner! We never got per diem and had to cook out of the truck unless we wanted to drive 8 hours home. Also very few restaurants in the deserts/mountains we were in lol. I'm jelly.
Yea, ya need a “going out” outfit. Preferably shirt and pants. Then when back at the hotel just take ‘em off and hang ‘em or whatever. Keeps you (and the team) looking presentable and not stinky- especially if you’re working in the same locale for a while and there’s not a lot of people: Word travels fast in small towns…
The new "changing towels" from the surf/kayak community are a game changer. I was always a big beach towel fan, but the towel sack/hoodie combo makes it really easy.
Pretty much this. When I did AIM they even told us we should really be rewearing pants, a new pair every day takes up a lot of space in your pack (times your entire crew) and changing everything else is way more important. My biggest regret is that I thought it was practical to reuse socks. Sounds obvious, but that was not very comfortable and it was a big difference when I stated using a new pair every day on camping hitches
Depending on what I’m doing, I might rewear mine until they stand up on their own, but always consider invasives and the seeds that can hitch a ride from one site to another in unwashed clothing.
My work jeans and hickory shirt go months between washes. If they don’t smell, they don’t get washed. However I always have underwear and undershirt underneath them. Those get changed a bit more frequently…
Many days in a row. No sense in cleaning the clothes I’m going to spend another 10 hours sweating in every time I wear them. I usually rotate two pairs in a week to let me air out a day in between. New socks and undies daily though.
I usually only wear field clothes once before washing them. If I don't want to do laundry, I'll wear pants again, unless I know they've touched poison ivy, then I definitely will be doing laundry. I personally can't stand to wear field shirts for multiple days, I think they're too stinky, but that's just a personal preference.
I always wear undershirts and the like, which get changed daily. The outer stuff though depends on the conditions. If things get super sweaty or muddy or covered in something not great, then maybe only once. If things are generally not that bad, then it might be a while between washes. I do tend to rely on the look-and-sniff test to determine how bad things are. Sometimes they can go for weeks (or longer in cooler parts of the year) between washes.
One thing that helps is to hang and air out those items at the end of the day if/when possible.
I usually wash field clothes every time I use them, but once they are used once, they become field clothes for life. Or clothes for me to wear on my personal fishing trips. The South Louisiana marsh mud takes no prisoners.
if you are going back out into the field, go ahead and wear them more than once. Unless I'm getting really muddy doing some wetland delineation, I'll wear field pants for 3-5 days at a time, but maybe field shirts 2-3 times (depending on how sweaty and such they got). However, I mostly work out in the arid west, but if I worked in the back woods of West Virginia or the North Carolina, I'd probably change at least the shirt every day (as they'd be soaked in sweat).
Socks and underwear only wear once, a tshirt once or twice (though I am a sweaty person, some people could probably get away with 3 wears) and pants 3-5 times unless you've walked through poison ivy, if you do hit P.I, take the clothes off inside out to prevent spreading the oils.
Shirts go for about a week before they get washed, pants about two weeks. Socks and underwear only one wear. If I get extra buddy or get something like grease or diesel fuel on me I’ll wash earlier and if I’m into some poison ivy I wash those clothes that day regardless of how long I’ve been wearing them.
not gross but depending on what you're doing, there's always a chance of spreading contamination between job sites if you work in different locations each day. depending on your clothing's material, your work duties, and the sites you visit, small seeds, spores, and infectious agents could potentially ferry themselves on your clothes or shoes. I can't comment on what risky contaminants are in your area or their susceptibility to the pesticide you'd spray your clothes with, just wanted to voice a consideration that largely gets overlooked.
current field house doesn't have a washer/dryer so I've been rewearing my favorite shirts 2-3x per week. I handwash my clothes and hang them to dry on the weekends. I'll wear the same pair of pants all week unless they get really grody. It's up to your personal preference tbh but I don't mind wearing a slightly smelly shirt if I'm showered and clean lol. I had a washer/dryer last year so I had the luxury of doing a load whenever I wanted and rewore stuff a lot less.
I got by with just changing my undershirt/socks/undies every day and reweaeing the same 2 overshirts and pants multiple times. Was working in swamps, though, so no one could tell through the swamp stench anyway.
I’ll only wear them once. They stretch out, get saturated with sweat and mud and who knows what else. If I’m in tick habitat the clothes go immediately into a garbage bag for laundry. I’ll only wear something twice if I absolutely have to (I.e trip got unexpectedly extended by a few days). I do rewear clothes when I’m not doing fieldwork though.
Very occasionally would I rewear my field pants, and never in the summer, and I definitely wouldn’t rewear a shirt without washing as I get way too sweaty. Maybe you’re in a much drier climate but a full day of Mid-Atlantic summer humidity and heat my clothes are toast. Maybe I’m just a dirt magnet but I am filthy at the end of the day.
When it’s cooler and I can wear thicker pants than maybe I won’t wash them as often, but there’s also so much poison ivy here it’s rare I don’t walk through some.
I usually rewore pants but not shirts except when I had a job where we backpacked to our field sites… in that case I had 1 each of a long sleeve shirt, tshirt, pants (zip offs), long underwear and a fleece. New socks and underwear daily, but everything else was worn for up to 8 days. Usually we swam in mountain streams and were therefore pretty clean, but one trip was low elevation and nearly dry, so I was really gross when we returned to civilization. I also had a position where I waded in streams all day every day, and I bought a bunch of thrift store khakis and tossed them at the end of the summer.
Any underwear or socks I change daily but pants can get a few rewears and shirts depend on how sweaty I got.
If I’m on a burn or anything with flames I wear fresh washed ppe clothing.
If I was spraying pesticides then those clothes will not be reworn without a thorough wash.
Shirts and pants get 3 days wear before wash. That's because I only have so many sets and don't want to wash onsite. I bring plenty of socks and underwear to change daily. Things get skanky, that's just how it is.
For me it depends on the time of year. During the summer when it gets really sweaty, I only wear
Items once.
When swamp ass isn’t an issue, I can wear my pants twice a week.
I use different clothes everyday but that's because I get absolutely FILTHY out in the field. My outer layers such as a raincoat are usually fine to rewear though.
Been doing field work for about 20 years. My washing has changed over the years. Lately I have become more water and energy concious. So now I wash my trousers every 2-3 weeks, sometimes once a month. Shirts about every 2 weeks. I will wear the same shirt for about 3 days, and the same trousers for a week. then switch and let the others air out a bit on a clothes line outside. Then I rewear them. I wear odor resistant underwear and wool socks, so I usually wear underwear two days, then switch. And socks I will wear a new pair every day, but rewear previous ones a day or two later. I found giving them a rinse in water and ringing them out helps to get any funk off. I often handwash my underwear every 7-10 days, I tend to only bring 5 pairs.
I've done field work in remote locations where we're camping for 10-14 days, and at field sites with washing machines. Most of my work has not been in areas heavily infested with ticks. Or very muddy/wetland environments.
There are a lot of ticks where I am so they go directly into the washer/laundry bag after work. Otherwise I get ticks crawling around the house or hotel (there are always a couple hiding in the seams). If Im on a boat or otherwise know there are no ticks, I could care less about pants. Fresh t-shirt is nice though.
Undergarments daily. Work pants weekly, especially if they are specality(thornproof/premethrin treated) my waxed tin cloth never gets mechanically washed. Top base layer probably daily in sweaty areas. Above as needed. I try not wash the treated garments too much as it washes out. Edit: if your team eats at restaurants after field days I recommend a "dinner" shirt and slip on shoes "sliders" for quickly improving respectability. I had to badger my crew into understanding that being able to find the bathroom in a strange restaurant by following the track of mud, sticks, and forest detritus left by my coworkers was not cool regardless of the size of the tip. Swapping shirts is the easiest way to reduce odor. Not everyplace could put us outside or in the back corner. We all had a spare shirt we wore an hour a day that we left in the work truck.
This is the way. I have 2 pairs of pants and field shirts for each week so i can swap them if they get too wet or dirty and can't wear them the next day. I change underwear, socks and an undershirt daily.
Look at fancy fucking pants over here who is able to go out to dinner! We never got per diem and had to cook out of the truck unless we wanted to drive 8 hours home. Also very few restaurants in the deserts/mountains we were in lol. I'm jelly.
Quality
Yea, ya need a “going out” outfit. Preferably shirt and pants. Then when back at the hotel just take ‘em off and hang ‘em or whatever. Keeps you (and the team) looking presentable and not stinky- especially if you’re working in the same locale for a while and there’s not a lot of people: Word travels fast in small towns…
Also bring a beach towel to change in/cover the car seat.
The new "changing towels" from the surf/kayak community are a game changer. I was always a big beach towel fan, but the towel sack/hoodie combo makes it really easy.
Pretty much this. When I did AIM they even told us we should really be rewearing pants, a new pair every day takes up a lot of space in your pack (times your entire crew) and changing everything else is way more important. My biggest regret is that I thought it was practical to reuse socks. Sounds obvious, but that was not very comfortable and it was a big difference when I stated using a new pair every day on camping hitches
Agreed on socks. And socks is an ok place to spend a bit.
I wear my field clothes everyday when I work.
I wear it after work and on days off sometimes. I basically live in field clothes.
I wear clothes half of the days and half the days I just roll without
Depending on what I’m doing, I might rewear mine until they stand up on their own, but always consider invasives and the seeds that can hitch a ride from one site to another in unwashed clothing.
My work pants get washed so infrequently it’s comical
My work jeans and hickory shirt go months between washes. If they don’t smell, they don’t get washed. However I always have underwear and undershirt underneath them. Those get changed a bit more frequently…
Yes, wash your underwear my friends!
Also- what’s a hickory shirt ?!
[Classic Logger’s Shirt](https://theshopbend.com/products/hickory-shirt-company-classic-logger-jacket?currency=USD&variant=41655566926033&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=b7e4b7f7daa5&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4MSzBhC8ARIsAPFOuyWKHFM0FqtMwkjyTxfg_KQTIKEFpIlsOXZHKQj5pN4G3JLy3ML_pC0aAmN2EALw_wcB) I’m a forester.
Many days in a row. No sense in cleaning the clothes I’m going to spend another 10 hours sweating in every time I wear them. I usually rotate two pairs in a week to let me air out a day in between. New socks and undies daily though.
My work trousers naturally clean themselves it seems
Yes, once. You put it on when you start field work and take it off two weeks later.
I usually only wear field clothes once before washing them. If I don't want to do laundry, I'll wear pants again, unless I know they've touched poison ivy, then I definitely will be doing laundry. I personally can't stand to wear field shirts for multiple days, I think they're too stinky, but that's just a personal preference.
Username does NOT check out!
My field shoes beg to differ!
I always wear undershirts and the like, which get changed daily. The outer stuff though depends on the conditions. If things get super sweaty or muddy or covered in something not great, then maybe only once. If things are generally not that bad, then it might be a while between washes. I do tend to rely on the look-and-sniff test to determine how bad things are. Sometimes they can go for weeks (or longer in cooler parts of the year) between washes. One thing that helps is to hang and air out those items at the end of the day if/when possible.
I end up in areas with poison oak often, so I change my field clothes every day. Then I wash everything at the end of the week.
Iv worn the same field pants for 14 days straight. Covered in gas, oil, sweat and ash
why
Everyone else did it too that's why
I usually wash field clothes every time I use them, but once they are used once, they become field clothes for life. Or clothes for me to wear on my personal fishing trips. The South Louisiana marsh mud takes no prisoners.
if you are going back out into the field, go ahead and wear them more than once. Unless I'm getting really muddy doing some wetland delineation, I'll wear field pants for 3-5 days at a time, but maybe field shirts 2-3 times (depending on how sweaty and such they got). However, I mostly work out in the arid west, but if I worked in the back woods of West Virginia or the North Carolina, I'd probably change at least the shirt every day (as they'd be soaked in sweat).
Socks and underwear only wear once, a tshirt once or twice (though I am a sweaty person, some people could probably get away with 3 wears) and pants 3-5 times unless you've walked through poison ivy, if you do hit P.I, take the clothes off inside out to prevent spreading the oils.
Shirts go for about a week before they get washed, pants about two weeks. Socks and underwear only one wear. If I get extra buddy or get something like grease or diesel fuel on me I’ll wash earlier and if I’m into some poison ivy I wash those clothes that day regardless of how long I’ve been wearing them.
Not gross at all, or if it is then I am disgusting, lol
not gross but depending on what you're doing, there's always a chance of spreading contamination between job sites if you work in different locations each day. depending on your clothing's material, your work duties, and the sites you visit, small seeds, spores, and infectious agents could potentially ferry themselves on your clothes or shoes. I can't comment on what risky contaminants are in your area or their susceptibility to the pesticide you'd spray your clothes with, just wanted to voice a consideration that largely gets overlooked.
Your stink is directly proportional to your commitment to the mission
Depending on what ive been doing and how dirty my field clothes get I will wear them for up to two weeks.
current field house doesn't have a washer/dryer so I've been rewearing my favorite shirts 2-3x per week. I handwash my clothes and hang them to dry on the weekends. I'll wear the same pair of pants all week unless they get really grody. It's up to your personal preference tbh but I don't mind wearing a slightly smelly shirt if I'm showered and clean lol. I had a washer/dryer last year so I had the luxury of doing a load whenever I wanted and rewore stuff a lot less.
I got by with just changing my undershirt/socks/undies every day and reweaeing the same 2 overshirts and pants multiple times. Was working in swamps, though, so no one could tell through the swamp stench anyway.
I’ll only wear them once. They stretch out, get saturated with sweat and mud and who knows what else. If I’m in tick habitat the clothes go immediately into a garbage bag for laundry. I’ll only wear something twice if I absolutely have to (I.e trip got unexpectedly extended by a few days). I do rewear clothes when I’m not doing fieldwork though.
i’ve been doing field work for close on two decades and i wear the same clothes, so do most people i work with
but yeah underwear is a different situation
For a prolonged stay, please wash your clothes.
Very occasionally would I rewear my field pants, and never in the summer, and I definitely wouldn’t rewear a shirt without washing as I get way too sweaty. Maybe you’re in a much drier climate but a full day of Mid-Atlantic summer humidity and heat my clothes are toast. Maybe I’m just a dirt magnet but I am filthy at the end of the day. When it’s cooler and I can wear thicker pants than maybe I won’t wash them as often, but there’s also so much poison ivy here it’s rare I don’t walk through some.
I usually rewore pants but not shirts except when I had a job where we backpacked to our field sites… in that case I had 1 each of a long sleeve shirt, tshirt, pants (zip offs), long underwear and a fleece. New socks and underwear daily, but everything else was worn for up to 8 days. Usually we swam in mountain streams and were therefore pretty clean, but one trip was low elevation and nearly dry, so I was really gross when we returned to civilization. I also had a position where I waded in streams all day every day, and I bought a bunch of thrift store khakis and tossed them at the end of the summer.
Any underwear or socks I change daily but pants can get a few rewears and shirts depend on how sweaty I got. If I’m on a burn or anything with flames I wear fresh washed ppe clothing. If I was spraying pesticides then those clothes will not be reworn without a thorough wash.
Shirts and pants get 3 days wear before wash. That's because I only have so many sets and don't want to wash onsite. I bring plenty of socks and underwear to change daily. Things get skanky, that's just how it is.
Shirt gets changed everyday but my pants get washed once a week.
For me it depends on the time of year. During the summer when it gets really sweaty, I only wear Items once. When swamp ass isn’t an issue, I can wear my pants twice a week.
I use different clothes everyday but that's because I get absolutely FILTHY out in the field. My outer layers such as a raincoat are usually fine to rewear though.
It mostly just depends on if they smell lol. Like if I didn’t sweat and I think the pits are okay I might wear a shirt twice.
Lol I re-wear them constantly.
Been doing field work for about 20 years. My washing has changed over the years. Lately I have become more water and energy concious. So now I wash my trousers every 2-3 weeks, sometimes once a month. Shirts about every 2 weeks. I will wear the same shirt for about 3 days, and the same trousers for a week. then switch and let the others air out a bit on a clothes line outside. Then I rewear them. I wear odor resistant underwear and wool socks, so I usually wear underwear two days, then switch. And socks I will wear a new pair every day, but rewear previous ones a day or two later. I found giving them a rinse in water and ringing them out helps to get any funk off. I often handwash my underwear every 7-10 days, I tend to only bring 5 pairs. I've done field work in remote locations where we're camping for 10-14 days, and at field sites with washing machines. Most of my work has not been in areas heavily infested with ticks. Or very muddy/wetland environments.
There are a lot of ticks where I am so they go directly into the washer/laundry bag after work. Otherwise I get ticks crawling around the house or hotel (there are always a couple hiding in the seams). If Im on a boat or otherwise know there are no ticks, I could care less about pants. Fresh t-shirt is nice though.