Dirty Laundry

[twoweevils]

I had a somewhat unconventional childhood. Some of the things that most people learn to do at home as a matter of course, I had to figure out on my own -- with varying degrees of success. I'm interested in learning how other people manage day-to-day stuff.

I invite you to participate in my Laundry Poll!



[Poll #660554]

ETA: Holy typos, Batman! *blushes and curses non-editable polls*

M.

Comments

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I couldn't choose a scent, because scented products -- especially when it's an odor that's going to permeate my ostensibly clean laundry -- are horrid and I HATE THEM with an unholy passion.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Just as an aside (not trying to convince you to think differently)--I hate all scented laundry products, too. But when I accidentally put a Burt's Bees lip balm through the washer and dryer in the pocket of my jeans, I really enjoyed the scent that clung to that load of laundry. Makes me wonder if it's the scent, or if it's the chemicals it's made from.

But as I say, having lived with a mother who for years didn't understand that the smell of most cleaning products makes me physically ill (until they started making her sick, too)--I completely understand and agree with what you're saying. It's just a point that I've been pondering lately.

K.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

But when I accidentally put a Burt's Bees lip balm through the washer and dryer in the pocket of my jeans, I really enjoyed the scent that clung to that load of laundry.

Heh. :-)

Makes me wonder if it's the scent, or if it's the chemicals it's made from.

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

the smell of most cleaning products makes me physically ill

My sympathies. It's not quite that extreme with me, but I do hate walking down the cleaning products aisle at the store because it makes my head ache, and I'll avoid it whenever possible. That's one reason I find it worth the expense to hire someone to give the house a thorough cleaning for me every couple of months. Spares me the worst of the fumes.

In an odd little aside, the ex was far more sensitive than I am (which is saying something) so when we got together I switched from Cheer laundry detergent to Cheer Free. It gave me an allergic reaction so severe I ended up on oral steroids for a week. Go know. *g* Now I use All Free and Clear and have had no problems.

God, I feel so domestic. Which is just all kinds of ironic. *g*

[darthrami.livejournal.com]

I don't actually do my own laundry anymore. Of all the chores ever, I hate laundry the most, and I'm not sure I could actually tell you why. So, we split the cooking, I do the dishes and vacuum and do most of the cleaning, and in return, she does the laundry.

Where the dirty clothes end up depends on a)if the laundry basket is full and b)I've picked up S' clothes to put them in the basket, and how tired I am when I get home. More often than not, clean clothes end up on the floor, because they haven't been put away by the time the next load is done and the basket is needed.

As far as scents, I can't stand anything that's much of... anything, so if a scent is required, I usually go for the "fresh breeze" or "clean" scent. But I've got such sensitive skin that 99% of the time, we buy the dye-free, scent-free and stuff like that.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

So, we split the cooking, I do the dishes and vacuum and do most of the cleaning, and in return, she does the laundry.

And this alone is a good reason to get married. Particularly to a woman. *grin*

M.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Also, I think we need a meerkat icon!

K.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

I can deny you nothing. Especially when I'm trying to avoid working.

*smooch*
M.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

MEERKATS!!!

I love my wife.

K.

[lunaris1013.livejournal.com]

As much as I love lavender, I don't want my clothes smelling of it. Or fruit scents of any kind, which I loathe. I will use "April Fresh" Downy until the day I die! (Dryer sheets are of the devil!)

I don't follow washing instructions insofar as I drip-dry any of my "good" (newer/work) clothes rather than trust the dryer not to shrink them. Also I don't have to remember to take them out immediately to avoid wrinkles that way.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

I detest most scents. I do like the sharp, non-flowery ones like peppermint and lime, though. I wonder why they don't have detergent/softener in those flavours.

M.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

If you wear clothing more than once before washing it, where do you keep these items in between wearings?

Oops... forgot to answer this bit. My ex liked to make things (he was learning Japanese joinery) so I got him to make me a clothes post for things worn once but not yet dirty enough to go into the laundry. It's kind of like a coat rack, but only about 4 feet tall, made from a 4x6 with six pegs. I lurrrrves it. :-)

And I read the laundering instructions on new items of clothing, but then generally cheerfully ignore them unless there's some really special handling required. (But I almost never buy things like that any more, so that's rarely an issue.) Most times all dirty clothing gets tossed in haphazardly together. If anything, I tend to separate by weight rather than color since pretty much everything has been washed a gazillion times by now and nothing runs any more. The only thing I always do separately are sheets (which make up a whole load of their own) and towels (the lint factor).

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

The semi-worn clothes post sounds great. Much better than the "anything that's standing still" method I currently use.

M.

[kelly-girl.livejournal.com]

I used to be more careful with my clothes but now washing for bf and two kids I just throw everything in unless it's new and red or looks like it might turn other clothes a different color.

For scents I use mountain fresh or april fresh stuff but if I needed to use scentless detergent it wouldn't make much difference to me. Bounce and Febreeze have joined and we use that but it just seems unnatural. Like next, cats and dogs will be dating.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Bounce and Febreeze have joined and we use that but it just seems unnatural. Like next, cats and dogs will be dating.

Dogs and cats! Living together! Mass hysteria! *giggle*

M.

[capecodgirl.livejournal.com]

OMG, A very naught porn bunny just whispered in my ear as to what this picture looks like.

*blushes and fans self*

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

To explain my "Other" answers...

Wear do you keep the clothing you intend to wash before wearing it again?

Depends. Shirts I generally put back in the closet. Pants I generally drape over a chair, because I have more shirts than pants, so I tend to re-wear my pants more often. And then there are the things that I intend to wash and put in the laundry basket, and then I get down to almost no clothing and suddenly they seem okay again... *sheepish*

If you had to have a scented laundry additive (i.e., detergent, fabric softener, or other), what scent would appeal to you?

Bizarrely, the only laundry detergent I've ever liked the smell of is Sunlight's "High Efficiency" formula. It doesn't say it has a scent, but it's not labeled unscented either, and I definitely notice a difference. I actually buy the "High Efficiency" stuff for the smell!

How often do you read and follow the "care" instructions on your clothing?

Depends on the clothing. I have learned that certain instructions can be bent or disregarded, depending on the material. For example, I rarely actually dry clean my "dry clean only" clothing. If you wash it on the gentle (or "knits") cycle and hang to dry, it turns out just fine. The only exception I make to that is when the dry clean only stuff is silk or 100% wool. I also have my own rules for how colors get separated and what temperature water I wash them in.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

And then there are the things that I intend to wash and put in the laundry basket, and then I get down to almost no clothing and suddenly they seem okay again... *sheepish*

Glad I'm not the only one!

M.

PS - Cute Hodges/Nick icon. *must make CSI icon(s)*

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

PS - Cute Hodges/Nick icon. *must make CSI icon(s)*

Thanks! The icons was made by vicxntric, who made quite a few awesome Hodges icons and posted them over on dhodges.

Hodges/Nick is the tiny, bizarre pairing that seems to have claimed a corner of my brain. *g* I'm not sure how, but it's ensconced itself despite the domination of the centaurs...

[dawnydiesel.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the natural Downy scent. Well, it's not natural...I guess you could call it the original Downy scent. I HAVE to have ALL of my laundry, hubby's laundry, kidlet's laundry, and linens have that fabric softener smell. If it doesn't, I'll redo the load until it does.

Now, my towels? Different story. My towels have to have the clean smell WITH the fabric softener smell WITH a tad of bleach smell to it. I HAVE to wash towels in bleach water with laundry soap. It's an anal thing, I guess. There's nothing I hate more than a musty smell on my towels.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

There's nothing I hate more than a musty smell on my towels.

Oh man! Me too! I also DETEST that nasty sour smell that a wet dishcloth can get. *shudder*

M.

[dawnydiesel.livejournal.com]

Also? We pretty much penny-pinch around here. I'm always scouting for deals, sales, and bargains. The ONLY time we don't? Laundry items. Detergent has to be Tide. Hubby uses powder, I use liquid. He prefers original powder, I prefer cold-water liquid Tide. Our fabric softener HAS to be Downy. No, ifs, ands, or buts. Hubby likes that Downy smell so much that I buy him Downy candles on a regular basis, LOL. My house almost always smells like laundry day cuz of those candles.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Okay, I think you have a Downy problem. They probably have a 12-step program for you...*grin*

M.

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

More meerkats!

Since I've lived in NYC, I've paid others to do my laundry. Because I equals lazy.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

I love your meerkats!

I actually enjoy doing laundry -- i.e., dumping stuff in the washer and then moving it to the dryer. It's the folding and hanging up that I can't quite get into. *grin*

M.

[ozziebabe.livejournal.com]

My Mother was ultra clean. Took it to new levels ;) I change clothes every day even jeans and towels are changed daily. My kids are the same way too now *G*

Don't use Bounce as youngest child has sensitive skin. So don't use any scented softeners.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

I will only use Bounce Free -- which has no smell whatsoever. Except I can't FIND the fuckers anywhere! There is much static cling in my life.

M.

[ct]

Hmm. I have no icons appropriate to laundry or meerkats. Kermit it is.

To explain my "other" answer... we live in a two story house with a laundry chute. I get the chute since it's right outside my bedroom door; my parents get a laundry basket.

Pants get worn more than once, especially jeans. Those go on the floor because I'm lazy and because it's not as if denim wrinkles easily. Sweaters (not the little thin ones, but good winter sweaters) get worn until they need to be washed. Remembering to wear a shirt under a sweater and then airing the sweater out over a chair does wonders.

I follow the care instructions for things that need to be drycleaned, my few dressy clothes, and hand-knit sweaters. No way am I putting a hand-knit sweater in a washer and dryer. Other than that, college laundry facilities trained me to be efficient, and laundry gets sorted into "sheets and towels", "clothes that won't bleed dye", and "clothes new enough to bleed dye plus some darks to fill out the load". Mom says I should put whites in their own load so they can be bleached, but I don't bother. No one (except her, evidently) cares if my white socks are a little dingy.

And in my own defense, the only time I've bought something rather than do laundry was during finals week in college when I was out of clean shirts. A trip to the school's bookstore was much faster than doing an entire load of laundry.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

I have always wanted a laundry chute. I suppose I should be happy to have a full-size washer and dryer in a condo. But chutes of all kinds intrigue me.

Okay, that sounded way dirtier than I meant it to. *grin*

I see your Kermit and raise you an assortment of Canadian chocolate bars!

M.

[slash-girl.livejournal.com]

The how often do I do laundry question: I generally wait until I'm out of clothes and then do a few big loads of laundry. I have a lot of black clothing, too. Work clothes tend to get done before the casual, home clothes.

I often wear clothes more than once before washing, unless I've sweated in it or something. Stuff gets stored on the floor, in my dresser, closet, on the chair...depends how energetic I am when taking the clothing off. And sometimes clean clothes get put away...other times they end up on the floor.

I like plain old fabric softener scent; we use the no name brand of liquid softener. I CAN'T use dryer sheets--I break out in hives if I wear anything that's gone through with them. I haven't done so since I was a teenager and given that I've grown more sensitive to perfumes as I've aged, I really don't want to know what would happen if I tried it now!

Overall, I don't mind doing laundry, I just have this thing of putting a wash on and then forgetting about it for a few hours. I'm easily distracted.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Overall, I don't mind doing laundry, I just have this thing of putting a wash on and then forgetting about it for a few hours. I'm easily distracted.

I've actually forgotten about wash in the washer or dryer for days. Very easily distracted. *grin*

M.

[elmyraemilie.livejournal.com]

The unscented Bounce thing? It's maddening. I don't use that particular unscented product, but the older I get the more sensitive my nose is to artificial scents and flowers, so unscented deoderant, shampoo, body wash, etc. is a necessity. One week they'll have a particular brand in unscented, the next time I look for it--not available. Then someone else comes out with unscented whatever, and I snatch up about six of them, because the manufacturer will stop making it pretty soon, too.

Best suggestion would be to check with the manufacturer's website and see if it's still made; you might be able to get your grocer to stock it if you're going to be buying it.

[twoweevils.livejournal.com]

Best suggestion would be to check with the manufacturer's website and see if it's still made; you might be able to get your grocer to stock it if you're going to be buying it.

That's a good idea. Or I could just start harassing the niece who works for said manufacturer. *grin*

M.