Does anyone wash belts?
this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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I have some shorts where a belt is built into them. So the belt gets washed when the shorts do. Does that count?
I just washed one of mine 2 weeks ago
All of my belts are leather with metal buckles. I'm not washing them.
Ok so here's the thing. Assume the outside is gross. Outside clothes are gross if they're not washed (regardless of if theyre unwashable or just not YET washed). Phone's super gross. Not to mention money. Just wash your hands multiple times throughout the day, at the very least before eating and when you get home. Then, you change and your outside clothes don't get to soil your bed or couch. And try not to touch your face throughout the day.
I genuinely get sick less the more I stick with this.
OR you just accept that everything is gross. No reason to pick out belts in particular. They're not even in the top ten of the grossest things you touch on your average day.
Phone is number 1 contender for "Things never to be looked at under the microscope"
Oh god. And it's the thing we touch after using the toilet.
???
Sniff your belt.
Does it smell bad? No, it probably smells like a belt.
Just go back to wearing your belt.
I was thinking about that a couple weeks ago when I thought I was sick. But all I did was give my belts a once-over with disinfectant spray
You make a damn good point.
Question: How would you wash a leather or other water sensitive material belt?
Leather you can wash with something like saddle soap, and then recondition so it doesn't dry out. For something like a belt it'll take a couple minutes and then you let the conditioner soak in overnight, wipe off any excess and you're back in the game.
Same for wallets, jackets, boots, whatever.
Carefully
Better question: why would you wash a leather belt? It's like the exterior tertiary layer of clothing...
Me poo, me wipe, me touch belt with sullied hands. Belt gross >:(
Phone gross
Well, some people use leather belts for alternate purposes, sometimes a bit closer to the skin..
Dry cleaning. Or buy a new one.
I think a once over with a Clorox wipe would do it.
My wife made me a paracord belt so I wash mine! Also highly recommend if you can get one, shit comfy.
Those you absolutely need to wash...
A real leather belt tho is going to be antimicrobial from not only the leather itself but the tanning process as well.
Like, there's a reason a strip of animals flesh isn't actively decomposing even if its stays clean and on a shelf.
Obviously tho if you're actually getting piss or shit on any belt, you're doing something wrong.
I have a canvas belt with a plastic buckle that I've washed before.
My belts swim with me often. The leather one I have right now is really good. Just one thick piece of leather. It's gone swimming a lot and still looks great. Very comfortable. My other belt is some sort of webbing with a metal buckle that I swim with all the time because it's made for water. It will be 20 years old in a few months.
How's that leather do on chlorinated pool water? I've never swam with leather anything butI'd think that chlorine isn't great for it.
If you swim with a leather belt on, either your pants are falling off while swimming or the belt wasn't necessary in the first place.
Real leather expands as it absorbs water, so your belt gets bigger which means it can't do its job.
That's why in an emergency overboard type deal you immediately kick your shoes off and take off your pants.
Like, if your just pushed into a pool just chill. But if there's the tiniest hint of danger like anywhere with a current, it's not worth the risk. Your pants going to your knees while swimming can, has, and will continue to kill people.
Usually it's river water on my leather belt. Brackish marsh water too. But it's held up. I just oil it whenever I oil my boots.
...
Hmm
Some JiuJitsu guys don't wash their belt for some luck/superstition thing. It's gross.