I finally realized what’s wrong with clothing. They never get wet, dirty or anything else for that matter. Much less recover from these effects. Here are some of the temporary status effects each piece of clothing could have:
FRESH
Clean clothing. Morale boost.
DUSTY
Could be removed manually, or by waiting it out as most of the dust would shake off by itself over time. Potential disease vector. Minor morale penalty.
STAINED
Needs cleaning. Food stains, oil, blood… you name it. Some morale penalty. Smells bad, too.
BLOODY
Fresh blood. Creatures will smell this. Potential disease vector. Becomes stained if not rinsed early.
WET
Dries up like the towel. Adds encumberance, weight and fire resistance.
SOAKED
Really wet (with water). Only for certain materials: wool, cotton, fur. Becomes ‘wet’, then dries. Heavy encumberance and weight penalties. Same fire resistance as ‘wet’. Potentially causes drowning if obtained while swimming. Leaves water puddles behind. Could be squeezed manually to ‘wet’.