About the same, except coats are washed less often
Exactly!
I carriage drive so I don’t get a full-body workout like most of you, so my regular clothes are fine for the barn. I did “invest” in a new long quilted vest in navy (which looks smart but doesn’t seem to show dirt as much as black would) to wear overtop which catches most of the filth and I might wash that once a season.
Yes, you read that right 
I like to think my clean clothes otherwise balance out the filthy vest …?
I’m riding once or twice a week up in the midwest - it’s cold and there’s lots of layers. Underwear/socks/sports bras are always washed. Breeches go two rides (I’ve noticed some of the silicone full seats are losing the silicone - not sure if it’s my washing or i really do put that much more weight on one seat bone). Base layer always washed, second (or third) layer is usually OK to repeat with the breeches. Vest/coat/gloves/hat are washed maybe twice during winter?
In the summer - everything is one wear because I am too sweaty to repeat anything
When I was a kid my mother declared this point invalid. They had to be washed and then get dirty again, and then cycle the process again.
She had the same attitude about taking baths.
Funny story about this. One time my SO and I were with some people we didn’t know very well. SO turns to me and says casually “you smell like a horse, dear”. Omg, you should have seen the LOOK on those people’s faces! They obviously had no idea we had horses because they thought SO was just being incredibly rude to me 
5 Likes
Not disgusted at all. Seems pretty normal to me. (Although, I’m sure there was more than one time when strangers looked at me oddly during an after-barn grocery store run).
Yard owner here- so full on immersed in horses and the delights they bring to hard working clothing 
Undies - daily, sports bra - depends on just how sweaty for either one or up to three wears, socks daily.
Riding tights & undertop / t-shirt - two wears usual, +/- one day either way for minging / not minging.
If not riding jeans will go on until the smell/ dirt is too much for me.
Flexothane overtrousers - get sort of cleaned in the rain 
Gilets & coats - I have several weights / types on the go dependent on weather, but yard ones get washed when filthy enough to really need it maybe once or twice a year, riding ones every couple of months or so, hi - viz ones more often to keep them bright.
I live in a properly rural community- think tractors down the high street and in the supermarket car park if I need to go to the shops or out for yard supplies I go as I am .
I’m still probably less smelly shopping in my yard clothes than most of my farming neighbours are.
4 Likes
-Socks and undies are washed every time.
-Breeches 2-4 wearings. Less in the summer.
-Undershirts - 1-2 wearings.
-Vest - as little as humanly possible. I have an old Marmot vest I LOVE, and they don’t make it anymore. I’ll be so sad when it’s dead.
-Fleece overlayer - until I can smell it when I open the closet door, normally ~3 wearings.
-Top layer - when needed, I’m honestly trying to kill the coat because I don’t really like it, so more often than it needs.
The stinkiest part of everything are my boots. They double as chore and riding boots, and man-oh-man when I’m driving with the feet vents on - YIKES. Doesn’t stop me from going into stores with them on if I have to, though.
2 Likes
Can I sit with you on the “pleading the fifth” bench.
In the summer everything gets washed when I get back from the barn. During the winter? Well we live in the freezer, I don’t often do enough to break sweat…and I’m trying to save the planet by running the machines less often.
3 Likes
Very similar to OP but in the summer I do not re-wear anything, because clothes that smell of dried sweat are icky IMO.
In winter, bra, breeches/pants, and flannel shirt get washed every 2-3 wearings. Base layers, panties, socks get washed every time. Everything else gets washed… rarely.
I just got ski pants as an outer layer and my guess is they’ll get washed maybe once a month at most.
1 Like
Lol yup, that’s me! My knee jerk response to the original question: “Not very…”
My breeches are stained, my barn coat if I let it out of the car would likely walk itself to the washer. Yeh, it’s pretty bad and no, I’m shy about heading from the barn to the grocery store or wherever in my barn gear. I stuff my wallet into a pocket and a lot of the times I have to shake out the horse cookie crumbs when I open it up. The stains will never come out so I don’t bother (slob alert).
It’s funny if I go into places where dogs are allowed in. I tend to get mobbed as they check my out and all the ‘interesting’ smells on me 
Frequent washing will cause it to wear out sooner I believe, that’s my reasoning and I’m sticking to it 
3 Likes
Makes sense to me!
3 Likes
In dealing with my horse’s asthma, I went looking for reviews of various types of stall deodorizer. I had gone away from various ground minerals because no matter how careful I was to apply when they had time to settle, there was still mineral dust in the air. Changed to baking soda - meh, not as good, but safer to inhale, but really, meh to sub-meh on odour suppression.
So I found a bunch of reviews and went to Home Depot to pick up a jug of Odoban. Holy odour elimination! I put it straight into a spray bottle and each time I dig down (I do semi-deep litter so once a week in winter) to remove wet I spray the floor (mats) and the lower walls of the stall, let it sit a few minutes and then re-bed.
My boots no longer stink. Huge game changer.
4 Likes
About the same as you. Jackets less often. Outerwear really only gets washed if some sort of cream or dewormer got smeared on it, or if I picked up one of the chickens without realizing they had a poopy bum.
One of my vests got a tear in it back in 2012. I slapped a piece of tape on it because I was a groom who just needed warm, functional clothes. I can’t wash it or the down will all come out. So ya, that vest is kind of yucky. I have a nicer vest that I wear at clinics, lessons, shows, etc.
2 Likes
My down coat has a tear in it. I use gaffer tape on it before throwing it in the laundry. That seems to hold the down in. I’m thinking of seeing if I can get it repaired this spring so I can finally give up on taping it together semi regularly
No blue jeans here - I am much too old for anything but elastic waistbands so I wear leggings- cheap Walmart leggings that I don’t cry over when they get worn out from too many washings.
It depends on the season regarding how often I wash leggings or shorts; 3-4 days is max. Summertime sweat equals in the laundry pile at the end of the day.
Coats and outer flannel shirts are another matter —- lollol. I have a habit of wearing them until they’re ready to walk by themselves, lol
If I have to pull the face part of my snowmobile mask over my face in the cold weather, I will put it on the wash pile after a couple of wearings — all that snot gathered on the inside is not only unhealthy but disgusting.
Socks — I don’t mess around there either. Socks get changed every day during the cold seasons, twice daily during the warm seasons.
All that said, if I have run to Walmart in big hurry, still in my barn clothes, and STILL looked/smelled better than some customers. Since I’m retired, I try not to make a habit of that but sometimes that old adage “time is of the essence” prevails, lol
2 Likes
Designated hook on the back of the closet door for “used” clothes. Barn outerwear in the mudroom on hooks. Non barn outerwear in a closet.
Have to say that time management and logistical burdens have encouraged me to reconsider any sensitivities I may have to running errands, and even meeting people, in barn clothes. Before or after being at the barn. I’ve carried changes of clothes and wet wipes around for so long, I’m over it. And it isn’t convenient to go back home to change.
So … we will all just have to bear up as I walk through Walmart. If it’s a dry day, no mud clinging to things, it’s not so bad. Or how would I know, anyway.
I’m fortunate that a mild winter climate means I can hose mud off of things before leaving the barn. When I used to live in frozen winter, I did not like to do that in the wash stall and clog the drains, and it wasn’t possible to use the outside faucets. So frozen mud hung on to things when leaving the barn.
1 Like
I have a really nice down jacket that used to be my only winter jacket. After it started getting stained with horse snot (and worse), I made it my around-the-horses jacket and bought another nice winter jacket. My horses were originally at home, and later, the last one was boarded.
I only used the down jacket once or twice in South Carolina, and just hung it up in the coat closest as usual. My last horse died a few years ago, so no more barn trips. At this point, I’d never cleaned the down jacket.
In planning my return to Colorado, I pulled it out and OMG! I’ve never seen a down jacket so thoroughly covered in mold.
DH figured out a way to get it clean in the washing machine, and I haven’t used it since. I don’t know why I hang onto it, except that it really is a nice jacket and I like to keep the option to wear it. But it is still clean.
Rebecca
Me too. If I tossed my clothes in the wash every day I’d go nuts. If I have to run errands after barn time, so be it. Lucky I guess, I live in an area where there are still a lot of folks doing manual labor, so boots and dirty outerwear are more normal than not.
Even at that I change clothes 3x a day! Gym, barn, home…. I’m a minimalist so it makes me a bit crazy to say that out loud!
2 Likes
