What Do You Do with Chinos In-Between Wears?

[tcmquincy]

I have been washing my chinos after every wear but am curious if I can possibly get 2 or more in before washing again. After a full day of wearing mine definitely have some creases and sometimes debris (not necessarily stains). When y'all wear a pair more than once do you do anything in between to spruce them up (Spot cleaning with a wet cloth, ironing, spraying with a wrinkle releaser, examine closely to ensure there are no stains, etc)?

Any advice is appreciated as I am pretty new to chinos and have only really worked with wool trousers and jeans before; neither of which suffer in the same way regarding creasing. I can easily get multiple wears out of those by simply folding the jeans or hanging the trousers, but going crazy figuring out what to do with cotton chinos.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Hang them back up, eventually lose track of how many times I've worn them since the last wash, give them the good old-fashioned smell check the next time I want to wear them, and then wear them anyway regardless of smell check pass/fail seems to be the routine I've fallen into over hte years.

(Half) jokes aside, you're probably dramatically shortening the life of your pants by how frequently you put them through the wringer, not to mention expending a lot of water and energy. I mean, the raw selvedge denimheads can go a year without washing their jeans, so surely our chinos can go at least several wears before requiring a clean. Beyond the smell test, I typically wash mine once they suffer some combination of big stain, accumulate a healthy patina of little stains, or have survived several hot days. Pants don't seem to get dirty quickly the way shirts do, probably because your undies are there to soak up the damage whereas upstairs, your shirt is the undies. I'll also touch them up with an iron if they've gotten too rumpled, e.g. when arriving at a hotel after a day in your luggage; just be careful not to iron over any stains or blemishes or else they'll become permanent.

 

[William Kazak]

I wash them only as necessary. I hang them straight down on clip hangars. Don't overthink this. Get more than one and in different colors. That means they are rotated. Wear jeans when doing yardwork!

 

[The_Shooter]

1. Hang them. Hang them with a clasp hanger, with the waist on the bottom. The weight of the waist helps to work out th le creases.
2. Invest in a hand steamer. $50 at your local store. Give them a hand steam between wears if you think they lack freshness.

that will take care of many of your issues without having to put them in the machine so frequently.

I don’t use the dryer much for clothes either. T-shirts and such, sure. But any button down shirts or nice socks or pants, I just hang them. Key is to do the laundry frequently enough so it’s not a lot to deal with.
I do not put pants in the dryer. Give them a day hanging, then a once over with the hand steamer or if you want to use an iron to get them looking good.

 

[Clouseau]

I only wear Chinos from time to time so I don’t wash them after every wear.
I usually let them rest one night, flat on a table near an opened window. Then fold them.
Never use the dryer of course (like with any item I like).
When I wash them, I usually do a hand wash at cold water with only a very little of liquid detergent (like I do with jeans) as I agree that each wash is shortening their lifespan. Hand washing is the more gentle way to do it. Of course when they are beginning to get old, and don’t look as good, it is time for machine wash.

 

[mak1277]

I probably average washing my chinos, fatigues and corduroy trousers after every 4th or 5th wear (absent stains). I just hang them up after and go on about life. The only issue I have is the knees starting to bag a bit after a few wears. I typically wear these in more casual situations (when most people wear jeans) so I don’t worry about them looking imperfect.