Can someone explain this to me?

Ema of 5

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:02 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

I used to tell my cleaning lady not to wash and give her only a few specific things to wash. Now I just don’t tell her anything and she does what she wants. The stress used to get to me and make me so anxious. I just don’t believe that’s what Hashem wants from us.

Same!!!

amother

Pearl

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:34 am

amother [ Fern ] wrote:

I honestly don't think most people wash their Shabbos dresses each time they wear it. I mean, many are dry clean only, do you send to the cleaners every single week?

Wear shells underneath even if it's long sleeves and high neckline, and then no need to worry about it getting smelly.

Many people send to the cleaner every week.

southernbubby

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:35 am

I didn't read every post and everyone should ask their own Rav but I don't think that it's a problem to spray clothes with fabric refresher or put dryer sheets inside of clothes to remove odor during chol ha moed. Again, ask before using my advice.
It probably helps to wear an apron when cooking and eating.

amother

Candycane

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:39 am

Ema of 4 wrote:

Same!!!

Same here - I wash the stuff needed for YT. I struggle to understand, so perhaps if someone can explain it to me, I'll change my ways. On Chol Hamoed, we cook, we clean, we wash up floors, and wash up ourselves, every malacha that's needed for YT is allowed. So why can't we wash the clothing that is needed for YT?

Wearing unfresh or slightly stained or wrinkled clothing is not B'kovodig for YT. My budget doesn't accommodate 5 outfits for YT for the entire family, and besides I don't see how buying so many outfits for shabbos for kids make sense. You don't need 5 shabbos outfits all year round, and by the time pesach or next year rolls around, they will likely not fit. Does one literally need to go out and buy 2-3 extra shabbos outfits, just for a 1-2x need?

I would really like to understand this, so I can look at this from a different angle.

imaima

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:43 am

Ema of 4 wrote:

My teenaged daughter, of her own accord, won’t wear something twice without washing it in between. She thinks it’s gross. Nothing to do with imposing my perceptions.

Well I was not responding to you but to a poster who said that if something is gross for her, then it must be gross for her kids.

amother

Forestgreen

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:47 am

amother [ Candycane ] wrote:

My husband explained to me that it was a gezira so people wouldn't go into yontif with dirty clothes planning to wash them on chm.

My kids have 3 outfits per season (at <$25 each), so succos and pesach they wear the last of the previous season and the new stuff for the upcoming season- I preplan based on the weather report which ones go which days.

amother

Candycane

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:51 am

amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:

Why isn't it the same for cleaning up the house, washing floors, etc.?

amother

Ginger

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 5:54 am

I wash what is needed for growing children. Yes, even if over bar/bas mitzva. Once growing slows/finishes they wear previous seasons clothing etc. My older teenage girls have enough shabbos clothing that I don't need to wash. (I do wash shells as I consider them underwear) Only 1 or 2 things are new this season but they have a couple years of clothing to mix and match from. My 11 year old daughter doesn't own enough shsbbos clothes she can fit into to last all days and even though I'm not buying expensive outfits (H and M and Zara are her current shabbos wardrobe) I still see no need to buy her 5+ new outfits every season when she doesn't need them most of the year. And I didn't buy winter clothing yet this year because she's growing at an incredible rate so she probably won't fit into it when it finally gets cold. So I wash for her and probably will still wash for her next year unless her growth slows by then (I see no sign of That happening)

When it comes to men/boys. My husband owns more than one suit and more than a dozen white shabbos shirts. He doesn't wear the same clothes for the entire YT. But I can't afford to buy my 14 year old son multiple suits every 6 months (he can't squeeze into too small clothing at the rate he's growing) and even with 2 pants to match his jacket the pants get dirty. He can't change into casual clothes because he goes to shul 3 times a day. So I washed his pants on CHM. (Yes, I buy suits with washable pants)

amother

Candycane

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:22 am

dankbar wrote:

Some people don't wash floors on chol hamoed either only before lkobod shabbos/yt. Meaning only on erev shabbos/erev yt but not other days.

So within that same frame of mind, why can't clothing be washed l'kovod YT too?

dankbar

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:28 am

Once upon a time laundry was very labor intensive, washing clothes by the lake, but they also only owned one shabbos dress & one weekday dress & they didn't wash the dress after every wear just hung up & wore it again multiple times till washing time. For house chores & field labor they wore house clothes.

amother

Blushpink

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:33 am

I still have little kids so I do laundry on chol hamoed. My bigger girls have shul clothing and stay-at-home clothing. They're not into robes. The shul dresses they wear for a couple of hours at most and they change right away when they get home, before eating, so the dresses stay clean and can be reworn. The stay-at-home clothing is more casual and comfortable but still nicer than weekday clothing. It's also cheaper so I have no problem buying extras. My boys are still little so I have at least 3 Shabbos type outfits to get through a 2 day Yom Tov before they get washed yet again to be ready for the next one.

amother

Candycane

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:35 am

dankbar wrote:

So the point was that they shouldn't purposely designate Chol Hamoed as the day they wash laundry when laundry wasn't done on a frequent basis. Nowadays people wash laundry daily or multiple times a week, and laundry is less labor intensive than cleaning and cooking. So both in terms of labor and frequency, the reasoning doesn't apply anymore. If anything, the reasoning more likely applies to some cleaning tasks. Additionally, the outdated reasoning affects both the kavod of YT (wear unfresh clothing) and family budgets.

Shouldn't the reason why something was done be prioritized over how it was applied to the specifics limited to certain generations?

amother

Marigold

Mon, Sep 27 2021, 7:44 am

Why don’t you all ask a Rav if you want to do the right thing, and/ or understand the Halacha?
It bothers me when people (shamelessly) admit to just doing whatever the hell they want when they know it is against Halacha. If you said your rav allows it, I have no questions. But it’s weird to me when frum people disregard Halacha so callously. (I wash what my kids need on chol hamoed and spend extra on myself and dh so we can make it through without. As per my Rav’s psak.)