Signs Your Underwear is Past its Expiration Date

How Often Should You Buy New Underwear?

Underwear etiquette rarely gets discussed over happy hour or in the cubicle on Monday morning.

You may ask your coworker how meeting the in-laws went, or you may ask your friends about their latest love interests over drinks. But when you’re wondering how often you should buy new underwear, an internet search will likely be your go-to.

How Often Should You Buy New Underwear?

Most experts recommend buying new underwear as often as every 6 to 12 months, however, there’s really no definitive answer as there are many factors to consider when determining your current underwear’s lifespan.

You may need to do a deep dive into your underwear pile to uncover the truth, but once you’ve read the information below, you’ll know where you stand with your underwear quality, how many salvageable pairs remain, what type of underwear to buy, and how to take care of the pairs you purchase.

Signs Your Underwear is Past its Expiration Date

It’s not always easy to tell when your underwear is ready to retire. Unlike food with a clearly printed expiration date, that favorite pair of undies you own with the stretched-out waistband and the small holes have a way of feeling “still good” for one more month—and then another, and another.

There are, however, some surefire ways to know when to pull the plug on your underwear once and for all.

Holes

When you’re seeing holes in your underwear, it’s time to say goodbye. Holes can be frustrating because they may pop up six months after wearing a pair of underwear or within two weeks of purchase. Holes can happen from heavy wear, improper washing, or from low-quality fabric. Be sure to look at the tags to see the true composition of the fabric.  

Tears

Similar to holes, tears in your underwear won’t give you a solid answer for the question, “how often should you buy new underwear?” Tears in underwear can happen unpredictably, but if your current underwear has tears from your pants, the wash, or flimsy fabric, it’s definitely time for an underwear upgrade.

Stains

When your underwear is stained, it’s a no-brainer that you need new ones. It may surprise you how much better some fresh pairs of drawers will make you feel!

Stretched-Out

Stretched-out underwear may be the easiest of these out-of-date characteristics to get away with. They’re only a little loose, and they’re still comfortable, right? Well, the best is yet to come.

Your old stretched-out underwear is like sleeping on a metal spring mattress. New, fitted underwear is like sleeping on a luxury memory foam mattress.

What to Do With Old Underwear

Once you’ve accepted that some of your old underwear need replacement, you may wonder what to do with those old pairs that need to go. For health reasons, you can’t donate used underwear, but you have other options.

Throw Them Away

The easiest thing to do is throw your old underwear away. By sending old pairs to the trash, you can make room for new underwear. When your underwear is stained, has holes and tears, or is stretched out, there’s not much you can do but say sayonara. All Tani USA products are sustainably sourced, and biodegradable, including all packaging.

Make Rags

If you have trouble wasting your old clothing, you can throw away only the well-worn and stained pairs of underwear and recycle the ones that simply don’t deserve real estate on your bum. Old underwear can work well as cleaning rags!

Patch Clothing

You can also salvage pieces of your old underwear and use the lesser-worn pieces as patches for other clothing. When your jeans or shirts have holes in them, simply sew on a patch of undies and your clothing will look good as new. You can enhance your clothing by adding uniquely patterned patches.

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