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My FIL is recovering from a serious illness and staying with another relative right now. I am picking up his laundry once a week to help out. The first week I was shocked at the amount of laundry he had, but thought perhaps he had some left over from his stay in a nursing home (even though I was doing his laundry during that time too and actually felt bad that I might have missed some). This week I was beyond shocked. In one week, he had 3 pair of slacks, two pair of jeans, four sweat suits, 10 tee shirts, 5 pair of pajamas, two more pajama pants, 3 long sleeve knit shirts, 5 sweaters, a jacket, 10 pair of socks and 3 handkerchiefs. That is more laundry than my husband and I have combined in a week. Does anyone else see this happening to their elder? I haven't tried to approach him about this yet because I'm not sure what to say. His 'dirty' clothes still smell fresh and clean like they did when I washed them the last time, so hygiene isn't a problem. Thoughts? Is this simply quirky? Is he just a clean fiend? I have no idea, but I've never seen anything like it.

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Oh goodness, you don't have to be old to have this problem, my BIL might change clothes several times in one day and never sets anything aside to wear a second time, even if he has only had it on for a couple of hours.
It could be either the relative or FIL who is at the root of it all. You might want to ask (carefully) about all the laundry to see if you can discover why there is so much and whether there is something they can do on their end to minimize it.
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Does he have enough, easy to use storage for his clean clothes at the relative's house? My guess would be that he's getting muddled about where things go, and everything's just getting lumped together. The list didn't seem that extreme to me at first, but I was allowing for 'accidents' - if most of these items are basically clean, then if you politely can I should check out how his things are being organised.
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I might do a little detective work to see why there's so much. Why was he recently in the NH? Stroke? Does he seem to be forgetting that he might have already done something?

I might chat more with the person that he is staying with and just see if they comment on him changing his clothes a lot. I wonder if he may have trouble hanging things up or folding and even if something isn't dirty, he just tosses it in the dirty bin, since that's easier than hanging it back up or folding.
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He has a large walk in closet that he carefully organized himself when he moved in with them. He hangs all of his own clothes, and puts socks, underwear and PJ's in a dresser. He doesn't care for the way I fold things, so everything gets re-folded LOL.

He had pneumonia and was in the hospital then in a skilled care facility for two weeks, so no stroke. He does have some minor short term memory issues, but nothing that would lead to him wearing this enormous amount of clothing.

I am going to ask the relative if they notice him changing clothes 2 or 3 times a day. It may be he has always been like this, and won't wear anything after it's been on his body even if it's for 30 minutes. Even though I am primarily the one taking him to appointments, to the store, shopping, pharmacy etc., I don't live with him so that's why I am perplexed.

I know there could be FAR worse problems so I am grateful that this little oddity is all that is going on with him right now. In years gone by he has been very difficult and even aggressive at times, but he seems to have mellowed in the last couple of years and for that I am EXTREMELY grateful.
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Hannah, if they start throwing in 5 changes of bed linens, then I would inquire about the load of laundry.

It could be in the nursing home, the patients clothes are put in the hamper after wearing them for one day.   I was always surprised at the amount of laundry my Mom had, but I had noticed she was wearing her breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so that made sense.
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Well, there are far worse things that washing already clean clothes ( as you well know)....this is a problem I had when my kids were home--too lazy to put away the clean stuff so they'd drop in into the hamper (grrrr....times that by 5 kids and I was living in the laundry room).
I, for one, would have GRATEFUL had my FIL changed once a week! I would have to beg, threaten and finally just "lose it" to get him to understand that he HAD to shower 3 x's a week and while he was in there I'd take all his clothes and throw them in the washer. He was divorced and never handled the "laundry" stuff well. When he was "ok" it was bad by day 3 or 4, when he became bowel incontinent, and still wouldn't change out of his "thong" underwear after an accident....I had to bring it up with the dr.
Overcleanliness is not something we see a lot of on these boards. Maybe just be grateful and know it could be 100xs worse!
Just an oddity--for sure. Be grateful that's all you're dealing with!
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I have been his primary caregiver for 10 years. I have been the one to take him to all doctors appointments, relay information between doctors, been subjected to his rages, been physically assaulted, screamed at, threatened, and spent more time and money on him than I had to give. So yes, I am grateful that this quirk is far gentler than anything I have put up with from him in the past.
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Have you been able to discover why he has so much laundry Hannah?
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My mother has a lot of "laundry" laying about. Most of it is disorganization. She'll look for what she wants to wear and toss things about while she's looking. She'll hang some things on the door or drawer handles. Other things get tossed on the bed or floor. She'll open drawers and pull things out. It used to be hard to tell which were dirty and which weren't. My mother's room always looks like a bomb went off in it even if I straightened the day before. If something looks and smells clean, I hang or fold it again.
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I think I'd just wash all the clothes without comment. Does it really matter why he does this? If you find out the cause is A you'll wash the clothes but if you find out is it B you won't? How would things be different if you knew why this was happening?

I am so glad that he has mellowed!
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Heck I'd just take the "clean clothes", run them through the dryer with a dryer sheet, refold them and take them back. But then I'm a rebel. :)
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If they are clean you could always refold them,, and return them for the next time!
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My dad was like that before he passed. He used it as a ruse to get me to come to the facility more often. I ate one meal with him per day, often two, and he would try to finagle an extra trip for me to pick up laundry. We had many discussions about the clean clothes going from the drawers to the hamper until he found what he wanted.
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Ahhhh, I love the idea of simply running obviously clean clothes through the dryer! I am definitely going to do that for the ones that still smell fresh and clean!

My SIL says he gets up and puts on a clean sweatsuit, then after breakfast he takes a shower and puts on slacks or jeans. So he puts everything in the dirty laundry as soon as he wears it, even if it's for 20 minutes. No wonder some of his clothes are so worn out and faded so soon after he buys them! He also wants everything washed in hot water, which I just nod and smile and then wash the way the labeling indicates.

Thanks to everyone who provided constructive advise!
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Sitting here chuckling. I went to pick up his laundry this morning and carried it all home. As I was sorting, I looked for spills, stains, or smells. HALF of his laundry (four pair of slacks, two sweat suits, and four shirts) was perfectly clean, still smelled fresh and didn't appear to be worn! So I put some fabric softener on a wash cloth (I don't use dryer sheets), threw them in the dryer and VIOLA, out they came nice and wrinkle free and smelling great. WONDERFUL IDEA. So big thanks to Blannie for that suggestion, worked like a charm!
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My MIL is in assisted living and we do her laundry. In a week she has more laundry than my husband and me combined. Often clean clothes are mixed in with the dirty clothes--a few times I've found them still on hangers. She calls to say her laundry needs to be picked up.
Often she'll call to say she's out of underwear and we go there to find the underwear in her drawer as it should be. Sometimes the underwear is stuffed into a couple  of other drawers so the underwear drawer is empty.
What do you make of that?
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My MIL is in assisted living and we do her laundry. In a week she has more laundry than my husband and me combined. Often clean clothes are mixed in with the dirty clothes--a few times I've found them still on hangers. She calls to say her laundry needs to be picked up.
Often she'll call to say she's out of underwear and we go there to find the underwear in her drawer as it should be. Sometimes the underwear is stuffed into a. Iuoke of other drawers so the underwear drawer is empty.
What do you make of that?
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Older folks (mine is 93) do develop an odor if not kept very clean. Even with bathing, including daily washing with special cleanser, and daily laundry change I fight this issue. I am grateful for a good washing machine and dryer (knock on wood) because I wash every day--the bedding, towels and the like, and his clothes. No way around it because the walk-in closet wouldn't be big enough for all the clothes to cover a week. I can't afford to fall behind on the laundry.
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DeborahSue4, when dad was in rehab at a nursing facility he would also say he was out of underwear because it kept getting moved around...by him or staff I don't know. Solved that problem by putting a sticky note on the drawer that held his underwear. We wrote "drawers" on it which he thought was hilarious. After a few days the sticky note fell off, but by that time he was able to remember which drawer his drawers were in. :)
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I didn't see where anyone thought about the person soiling the clothes. That would not explain the socks, but could account for the pants and PJ's.
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Hi Hannah, my best suggestion, as Jeanne Gibbs mentioned, would be to go through the clothes and use your best judgment on what needs to be washed and what doesn't. Then simply fold and stack them with the rest. Save your time and energy from washing clothes that are obviously still clean. I had the same problem with my mother, so I would sometimes re-freshen a few things, by adding the dry items with a load in the dryer :)
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If the items pass the "whiff" test, just toss them in the dryer to freshen up and move on. He won't know, and you save a lot of time.
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I looked after someone who did their own laundry. Tons of soap and then the dryer for an hour or two for 2 little pair of undies! Yes, this is all not surprising but beats bad hygiene any day!
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If things look and smell clean, especially in the underarm and crotch areas, just toss them in a dryer with a damp towel for a bit of a steam clean, or, if your washer has a steam cycle, use that. The rest should come down to just 1 load, or maybe 2 if you have a smaller capacity machine. Not too much to do.

From what you posted about the way he set up his closet and how he refolds his clothes it sounds as though he is picky about his personal clothing. That is better than the folks who wear the same thing for days on end. Maybe the relative he is living with can help a bit by letting you know about what he only wore for a few hours. It is a game - play it well.
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My 84 yo uncle has a 'leakage' problem after prostate surgery few years ago. He uses a pad but does a lot of laundry for pants. and then throws in the shirts as well. I'm guessing that the pad does not contain the leakage or he not as mindful as he should be as dementia has started.
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I went through this with my MIL before she was in a care home.Part of it was her not remembering if something was clean or dirty, part of it was her being too lazy to hang up something clean and part was her desire to do something that she knew irked me in order to still feel in control.And part was her getting to say her favorite line when I mentioned the situation to her " Well just throw me out in the street then if you don't want to take care of me".
Your FIL sounds like he's got a similar personality and I suspect the reasons for the excess laundry are the same.
People who say you shouldn't complain about it haven't been through it. The only thing I could do was re- hang and fold obviously clean clothes, and I suspect that's your only option as well.
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My Aunt is almost 97. Though she does have some dementia which I'm sure makes my situation different, I found she had trouble deciding when something needed washing. One time, she would want to wear something for a week, even though it got stained and other times she would put things in the dirty clothes if she only had them on 30 minutes. There was no rhyme nor reason. So, I would get her clothes hamper. Check the clothes to be sure whether or not they needed to be washed. If not, I just put them on a clothes hanger. If so, I washed them. Of course, in my instance I also had to look through the closet, hopefully remembering what she had warn the past week so I could check what might need washing. It was just easier this way. And, I avoided making her feel bad.
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Whatever clothing is clean & still smells fresh, fold it up & give it back to him.  I would wash his underwear & socks, and give the clean clothes back to him the same way you received it.  I wouldn't even concern myself with it, unless---like another person commented---5 sets of bedsheets start coming in with his clothing.
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Well, I gather that your elder is wearing clean clothes. I would rather see them changing daily rather than wearing dirty clothes and stinking. Be glad he's staying clean because some of them don't
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Dad does that. He forgets they weren't worn long and all he thinks is clothes in the hamper (which I am happy they end up there). It happens when I send him for respite care...Goes through a lot of clothes.
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