Like so many of us living in the developed world, I have enough clothing. More than enough, as a matter of fact so that I don’t have to do laundry every week. This may be surprising to those of you who met me through cruising where I take the minimum and do laundry fairly frequently. The result on ship is that I wear the same things over and over, especially noticeable on those voyages of more than 14 days. If you are also prior Forces, of course I have excess civilian clothes, I just didn’t need them for years and years, but they did pile up.
But today, Thursday, I have no excuse about needing to be somewhere else. I don’t have to head to San Francisco, I don’t have to shop. I would like to stitch a bit. But what I really need to do is find the laundry basket under the pile of discarded clothing. So off I went, basket in both hands, shopping bag stuffed with the extras slung over my shoulder.
Now, there are as many ways of doing laundry as there are people who manage it. But there are some constants. It is always smart to check pockets. Tissue is an awful thing to wash; money, while useable, is not as nice to handle after it has made a trip through the washer and dryer. And coins? I am so glad we rarely use cash (except for BART parking) as I absolutely detest the sound of coins in the dryer. Then there are the credit cards, Clipper cards, size 24 needle packages and all the other things that can be forgotten. Since I am the one doing the laundry, I usually check my pockets as I toss things into the basket.
Not so other people in my house. Then there is the “turn things right side out.” Again, if I am the one doing the laundry, I have to turn it now or later. But if those particular items belong to the guy I married? He gets them back the way I found and washed them. It jus shouldn’t be that hard to take t-shirts out from under a sweatshirt or turn socks right side out.
Curious. I always make a point of turning corduroy or denim inside out before laundering so that the outside surface wears a little longer, but then I’ve got a Speed Queen, and while it’s fast and washes things really well I’m told the high speed of its agitation and spinning wears clothes out faster. So I try to make the wear and tear more on the inside where it doesn’t show.
Now, pockets: I don’t do pockets. I tell family do your own, and if I find any money in the laundry it’s mine. Which in real life became an excuse to go to the local ice cream shop to blow said spare change (with a little more thrown in.)
Then there was the time my then 18-year-old babysat an overnighter for a couple we knew well, and she was doing laundry afterwards. I checked the lid and casually sauntered through the family room and said something about ice cream money and her face was instantly stricken as she made a mad dash for all those twenties floating at the top of the water.
I was nice that time.
Oh, that was nice. Returning the money…
And, as Pat pointed out – turning things inside out to protect surfaces makes sense for stitched or printed items. But underwear? Nope…