Quick question for the internet at large:
Say you go swimming in the middle of the day and upon your return home want to change out of your bathing suit but do not want to shower (or are prevented from showering by, say, your 10 month old child). Do you re-don the underwear you were wearing before going swimming, or do you break out clean underwear instead?
Me, I'm a clean underwear kind of girl, but it got me to wondering about you. (I promise I spend very little time wondering about your underwear. This is pretty much the only time. Honest.)




Comments (46)
Commando.
Posted by ben | June 13, 2006 2:45 PM
yes, i would put on clean underwear, most likely. there is something vaguely bathlike about swimming, and i think that post-bath instincts would kick in.
Posted by jodi | June 13, 2006 3:01 PM
My answer would be more complex...As in, "Is it laundry day?" "Are there clean underwear available?"
or maybe...
"How long was I wearing the old underwear?" "Was I freshly showered just before I went swimming?"
or more probable...
"Man I drank all night last night, a dip in the pool will cure a hangover. No time for shower. Hmm...swimming totally counts as shower. Brush Hair, Clean underwear, deodorant...good to go!"
Posted by Paige | June 13, 2006 3:09 PM
I vote for clean...thay's what I'd do!
Posted by Emily | June 13, 2006 3:10 PM
Will I have to leave the house before I get a chance to shower? If yes, then clean underwear. If not, then I'd probably circumvent that decision process altogether and just go without.
Posted by Dawn | June 13, 2006 3:13 PM
This totally depends on whether I have tons of clean underwear frshly laundered, in which case I'd put some on.
We always count swimming as baths for the boys, because it just saves us a shitload of trouble later that night. As long as their hair gets wet, I consider them clean.
Posted by Anne Glamore | June 13, 2006 3:27 PM
What? Going swimming doesn't count as taking a bath? Doh. There goes my summer hygene routine.
Posted by SMIT | June 13, 2006 3:28 PM
clean undies - it's not like they take up that much space in the washing machine . . .
Posted by Betti | June 13, 2006 3:34 PM
lol.... you amaze me with your wit and sense of humor... I opt for clean undies always ;)
Posted by corinna | June 13, 2006 3:53 PM
I'll be the dirty girl here: If I had just put on clean undies in the morning, then I'd put on the ones I was wearing before swimming ... UNLESS it is wicked hot and humid out, in which case everything must be fresh and absolutely clean and dry and untouched because I am a freak that way.
Posted by shelley | June 13, 2006 3:54 PM
Clean. Totally. No way around it. (Unless maybe I was stuck somewhere without clean. Then I might actually turn the undies inside out so that a fresh side is touching me. Or go without. Maybe.)
Posted by heels | June 13, 2006 4:08 PM
Ugh..I personally could never put back on a pair of dirty underwear...something about it just doesnt feel right. I guess thats why I have plenty of underwear!
Posted by Lisa | June 13, 2006 4:19 PM
Hmm..considering the previously worn underwear would probably be on the floor with other underwear (both clean and previously worn, what others call dirty), I really couldn't tell you. It's sad, but I have the hygiene of a teenage boy.
Posted by Suz | June 13, 2006 4:30 PM
Socks, underwear: both need to be replaced if removed. End of story.
But I'm a little odd, so don't base "normal" off of me.
Posted by Elaine | June 13, 2006 4:38 PM
Naw,
I'd break out a clean pair. Hubby however, would put the old ones on.
Posted by Maribeth | June 13, 2006 4:40 PM
I'm with Paige. It depends on a lot of factors. And as a member of the high school swim and dive team, I can tell you that going in a pool is completely unlike taking a shower in every way - unless you like showering in chlorine. (And having sunscreen residue on you.)
Posted by Liberal Banana | June 13, 2006 4:45 PM
Clean...no way I'd do otherwise. I wear underwear and socks only once!
Posted by Krush | June 13, 2006 4:45 PM
Clean, absolutely. Dirty underwear never ever goes back on once removed until it has made its way through the laundry.
Posted by donna | June 13, 2006 5:00 PM
there would be no underwear, so luckily i wouldn't have to deal with coming up with the right answer. ;)
Posted by Sarcomical | June 13, 2006 5:18 PM
Clean underwear...and, I'd probably just jump in the bath with Joey if I didn't have time to shower....
Posted by haley-o | June 13, 2006 5:33 PM
I probably would just throw my pants on over my swimsuit...but if I HAD to change (or if I were going out...) I would say clean underroos!
Posted by Amy | June 13, 2006 6:12 PM
You said "middle of the day". That says I've been wearing the undies for at least 3-4 hours on a hot day.
New undies.
Posted by liz | June 13, 2006 8:27 PM
Okay so here's my deal: I always wear pantiliners. So I'd throw the OLD undies on with a NEW pantiliner. Clean to me.
But it would be hard for me to not shower. I'd need to shower to get all that crap off me (sunscreen and chlorine). If I DID shower I'd put on new undies.
Huh. I don't know why. . . .
Posted by samantha | June 13, 2006 8:30 PM
I throw on shorts over swimsuit, at least for a while. Other than that, usually once the underwear is off, it's headed for the washer.
Posted by ann adams | June 13, 2006 8:58 PM
I guess it depends on how clean the said underwear was when I took it off.
Posted by Goon Squad Sarah | June 13, 2006 9:02 PM
Better safe than sorry.....clean underwear.
Posted by JJ | June 13, 2006 9:28 PM
i could go either way on this one, ya know...considering there was no shower. if i planned on showering soon, like that night or whatever, old undies. if i saw no shower coming in same day of swim...i would put on clean ones just to help me feel clean!! lol.
Posted by lizabetty | June 13, 2006 10:13 PM
ok, so i replied without reading other peoples replies....i get the whole i dont rewear underwear...but as far as i am concerned...they are only MY underwear...i could go on and on, but really i am just trying to justify my apparent grossness, lol.
Posted by lizabetty | June 13, 2006 10:18 PM
i put on clean underwear because i won't get a chance to shower until i go home after nannying all day
Posted by laquetha | June 13, 2006 11:28 PM
(HEAVY SIGH) Okay, I don't want to like you because you're like (note the Valley Girl accent) my "competition" over at the Club Mom blogs (note the sarcasm), but you're damn funny Beth.
I tried and failed. I'm loving this blog and you're going in my daily blog feeds.
Damn you! ;)
Posted by Lena | June 14, 2006 1:23 AM
Oh! Oh! Also, new underwear. Never repeat the chonies.
Posted by Lena | June 14, 2006 1:24 AM
Lately, I've been working the sarong to ease over those tough calls.
Posted by Vaguely Urban | June 14, 2006 1:55 AM
It depends on how many pairs of unders you have left clean before you have to do ANOTHER load of laundry and of course when you showered last, which is totally a mute point really by the swimming, but still matters in that illogical kind of way.
Posted by Jazzy | June 14, 2006 2:30 AM
Why the obsession with extreme clean? If the old undies don't stand up on their own they must still be clean. Or you could always try the sniff test.
I wonder how many people will think I'm being serious? (in case you're wondering - I'm not :) LOL)
Posted by Lynanne | June 14, 2006 6:50 AM
Clean for sure! every morning I get up, take a shower and put on (clean) underwear and a t-shirt while I let my hair air dry a bit and make my lunch. Then I go get dressed. If the underwear I have on dont "go" with the outfit I decide to wear (wearing low rise jeans, undies are fugly high waisted ones, or wearing white pants and black undies)I change my underwear and put the ones I had on for all of 10 minutes in the hamper. it just doesnt seem right to put them back in the drawer.
Posted by Lisa | June 14, 2006 8:26 AM
If I take underwear off for whatever reason I always don new clean as new pair. Unless I am at his house and only brought the one pair (though I always bring a spare, you just never know).
Posted by Red | June 14, 2006 9:26 AM
Clean. Clean underwear, clean socks and clean clothes. Nope- not joking.
Posted by Island Girl | June 14, 2006 10:43 AM
I think I might be disgusting because I'd choose re-wearing the clean undies. I have an infant child and it takes a long time to get organized enough to do laundry.
Posted by Jessica | June 14, 2006 1:01 PM
today. I blogged about you.
Posted by speckledpup | June 14, 2006 1:16 PM
new undies. always.
Posted by suze | June 14, 2006 2:18 PM
Hahaha!! Don't you know that if you re-wear undies you have to turn in your second x-chromasome?? It's TRUE!!
Posted by Deepblue | June 14, 2006 11:32 PM
Well, your pre-swimming underwear have only accumulated a partial day of intimate-area-touchage, and even if you did put them back on post-swimming, at the end of the day they would only have one (1) day minus swimming time of naughty-bits-proximity, which is actually quite better than their normal quota. So you'd actually be ahead of the game, mathematically. Who knew there was math to underpants?
Posted by Gavin | June 15, 2006 9:01 AM
Clean! :) But generally I go swimming at other people's pool's, and I use my bathing suit as undergarments, so I just toss my shorts/shirt back on and go home to worry about it. My hair's usually gross after swimming (chlorine! yay!) so I have to wash it before I can do anythign else.
I'm also freaky about socks. If they've been worn (even a little bit, and I take 'em off) I can't put them back on... must have clean, new socks. :)
Posted by Manda | June 15, 2006 2:43 PM
I would definitely be putting new underwear on. I get the chills and shakes when I think about having to re-don.
Posted by dawn | June 16, 2006 3:01 AM
Didn't have time to do more than glance at the other comments-- I turn mine inside out.
Posted by Jen | June 16, 2006 12:07 PM
Re-wear fo'sho! I am a firm believer in dirty living. Seeing as I haven't been sick in 3-4 years and have never had any female nether region problems ever, ever, ever (really not even a yeast infection) I think it's working. I mean how dirty can it be down there? It's your own body. No offence to the clean people but as a dirty girl I'm feeling a little underrepresented.
Posted by CrissyWrong | June 17, 2006 4:46 PM