My friend hasn't washed her winter coat or daily baseball cap in three years and I can't unsee it
So my friend and I were hanging out at her place over the weekend, just catching up and getting ready to go grab some food. She went to her closet to get a jacket and pulled out this heavy winter coat because she wanted to show me a custom pin she got. When she handed it to me, I immediately noticed the cuffs and the inner collar looked visibly darker and had this weird, shiny texture. It was literally a stiff, built up layer of makeup foundation, skin oils, and perfume residue on the fabric. I made a casual joke about it needing a serious trip to the dry cleaners, expecting her to say she’s been meaning to drop it off. Instead, she just looked at me and said she has never cleaned it. Not even once. She bought it three years ago.
Her logic absolutely blew my mind. She genuinely believes that since it’s "outerwear" and she always wears a sweater or a long sleeve shirt underneath, it never actually touches her body, so it doesn't get dirty. I tried to explain that sweat, hair products, city grime, and dead skin still accumulate, especially around the collar where it rubs against her neck and face every single day, but she just shrugged. She said nobody washes heavy winter coats unless they drop food on them. To make it worse, I looked over at her favorite baseball cap hanging on the rack nearby. The one she wears to the gym, on bad hair days, and when running errands. The inner band was practically stiff with old dried sweat and there was a literal makeup ring mixed with salt around the brim. I asked her about the hat too, and yep, same story. Never seen a drop of water or soap since 2023.
I’m not trying to be the hygiene police, but the idea of putting on a piece of clothing coated in three years of accumulated grease, old foundation, and gym sweat every day makes my skin crawl. We’ve been close for years and she’s usually a very neat person, hooks her apartment up, does her skincare routine daily, so this weird blind spot completely caught me off guard. Now every time I see her wearing that specific hat or coat, all I can think about is the layers of ancient sebum transferring onto her face. I tried to drop the subject because it’s her business, but honestly, it’s tough to unsee it once you notice the actual crust on the collar . It’s just wild how some people have these completely separate rules for certain items.