When to Get Rid of Underwear

Most men go far too long without thoroughly cleaning out their underwear drawers. This is a problem due, in part, to the fact that underwear drawers are inherently “an out of sight, out of mind” thing. With all your underwear balled up in a drawer, you may not realize what exactly you have in your collection. Furthermore, you may actually be hanging onto pairs that you should have thrown away a long time ago. Here are just a few of the many signs that you should throw away any given piece of underwear:

• Is it broken beyond repair? Obviously, tears and rips happen, especially to underwear. Some tears, if the elastic becomes separated from the rest of the underwear, for example, can be easily repaired with a needle and thread. However, if your underwear starts to even remotely resemble a piece of Swiss cheese, it may be time to say goodbye.

• How bad are the stains? Skid marks happen. We all need to accept it and move on. Sometimes, however, skid marks get out of control on a pair of underwear and no amount of washing will make them go away. (Actually, drying a pair of underwear will set the skid mark stain, making it nearly impossible to remove it in the future.) If you have permanently altered the color of your underwear, it is time to let go.

• How do they fit? You would never dream of holding onto a shirt or pair of jeans that were way too big or way too small. Why do you do the same thing with your underwear? If a given pair of underwear has not fit you in years, please lay it to rest.

• Are they comfortable? In the course of getting dressed in the morning, do you pick up a pair of underwearand then immediately put it back in the drawer when you realize that you never enjoy wearing them? Why do you bother putting them back in the drawer? If a pair of underwear is extremely uncomfortable to you, throw it away. All it is doing is taking up valuable space that you can fill with a pair that you actually enjoy wearing.

• Do they have awkward sentimental value? If you are reading this and know that you have a fabulous pair of bloomers that was given to you by a former romantic flame: run, do not walk, to your underwear storage device and throw them out. There is no reason to keep tangible remainders of a relationship gone sour. Besides, how else will you have room for any of the fabulous things that a new interest might buy you?

Underwear drawers rarely get cleaned out, although they most definitely should. If it has been a while since you have gone through your lingerie wardrobe, take half an hour this afternoon to take inventory of the situation. You may be shocked by how much freer you feel when your underwear drawer has been freed of the pairs that are not worth keeping.