Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

[geojen]

My husband doesn't do laundry very often. I think he knows full well how to do things like this, he just does it wrong on purpose so I won't ask him again!! Case in point: When he cleans the bathroom, it takes him about 1 hour. He has to sit and rest while he's doiing it cause it takes him so long. We have a small bathroom! Should not be this big of deal. But he makes it big deal every stinkin time. He even completely removes the shower curtain rod from the room. Why?? What is the purpose of this, other than to passively aggressively state "Hey, I am cleaning the bathroom, I need a medal cause I am doing such a thorough job."

[Ima saver]

My dh husband always cleans the bathrooms, all of them. That is something I have never done in my life. If only that wonderful man could be cloned!! I happily do his laundry!!

[b4freedom]

It's funny, between you and me (and my wife when she finds this post), I don't like it when my wife does the laundry or the dishes. I'd rather do it and let her put them away. I HATE putting away dishes and laundry. Many times, my whites have come out blue or pink and the dishes aren't clean or a bowl is full of water. (Did you know, there are actually directions with a new dishwasher on how to load it - I wish people would read them).

Oh, and at age 12, I lived with my grandmother and she forced me to learn how to cook, do laundry, and sew. My MIL can't do any of that and so I guess my wife never learned.

[nanamom]

When my DH an dI were first married I told him I would be doing the laundry that day and he actually sat down and gave me instructions on how to do it. He discovered that he had married an old fashioned girl who believed laundry was my job and he hasn't touched it since. I did teach my DS1 how to do it and will teach DS2 as well. In fact a decade and a half ago when I was deathly ill my DS1 took over the laundry and did all of it for several weeks. So it's my fault and I like it that way.

[tabbycat31]

I am single therefore do all my own laundry. I dont let anyone touch my laundry due to an incident I had in high school when my dad threw a load in. I had a brand new pair of jeans, and he used bleach instead of detergent.

[Fern]

i don't think there's a whole lot of science to doing the wash, so if my SO wanted to do it, he certainly could.

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Bookie

Bit of historical trivia: During the California gold rush, miners sent their laundry across the Pacific Ocean to be done in China.

That has to be a myth. Many people who didn't wash their own clothes used a 'Chinese laundry', but that means a local laundry run by Chinamen, not a laundry in China.

--> Caution: I'm about to go waaaaaay off topic in a historical sidenote.

Ever wonder why there were so many Chinese laundries? At that time the west coast had segregation and legally mandated racial discriminantion just like everywhere else. The Anglo and Hispanic businessmen liked having Asian imigrants as cheap labor, but didn't want them to become too powerful, and people who worked for wages feared the hoard of imigrants would drive down wages and throw them into poverty. (Sound familiar? Just substitute the era, nationality, and location of your choice and you'll find the same story everywhere.)

The upshot was that laws were passed which severely limited what kinds of businesses Asians could own and what types of work they could do. Thus we have the stereotypes of Chinese laborers, Chinese laundries, and Oriental gardeners and houseboys.

For more on this topic and a landmark legal case involving a Chinese laundry read http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/...segment5b.html and the two pages that follow it.

(BTW: Not trying to make any specific point here. I just find history interesting.)

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Fern

i don't think there's a whole lot of science to doing the wash,

That's true. But there is a lot of disagreement about how it should be done.

I've always washed everything on permanent-press cycle with warm wash and cold rinse, but the last few years I've used a slightly different method. After looking in the washer during the final rinse and seeing how much soap suds were still in there, I reduced the amount of detergent I was using to about 3/4 of the recomended ammount. Seeing how soapy that final rinse still was, I started using the 'prewash' cycle followed by the permanent press cycle. This not only reduces the amount of soap left in your clean clothes, it probably gets them cleaner because the prewash cycle includes a 10 minute 'sit and soak' time halfway through that lets the soapy water soak into the dirt really good.

So, my routine now is warm prewash cycle with 3/4 the recomended detergent, followed by warm wash and cold rinse on the permanent press cycle with no detergent. Then I dry everything using the permanent press cycle on warm.

Disclaimer: This advice is not intended for people with wool sweaters, silk undies, or similar items. But it works fine with permanent press, towels, blankets, and so forth. It works for 100% cotton too, but you may need to need to pull cotton items out while still slightly damp and press out wrinkles, or at least let them line dry.

[Bookie]

. CHINESE LAUNDRIES: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Chinese immigrants began to establish laundries in San Francisco around 1848, at the start of the Gold Rush.(15) As in other Western boom towns, the population of San Francisco was disproportionately male.(16) Laundering, however, was considered women's work, unfit for a white man.(17) Before the Chinese arrived, a few Spanish-American and Native American women engaged in the laundry business in "Washerwomen's Lagoon."(18) When the Gold Rush brought thousands of single men to San Francisco, the washerwomen began to charge extremely high fees; it was "almost cheaper to discard [a shirt] and buy a new one" than to launder it.(19) Some San Franciscans even sent their laundry to Canton, China, or Hong Kong, where foreign laundries laundered shirts for twelve dollars a dozen and then returned them weeks, or even months, later.(20) Chinese residents of Hawaii soon recognized their geographic advantage and entered into the laundry business, charging eight dollars a dozen.(21) Lured initially by gold fever, a few Chinese immigrants to the United States established local laundries. By 1850, with the arrival of Chinese competition, the price for washing shirts fell to five dollars a dozen.(22)

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=GQhbcCsJmJqWyWmqyRp1Nd7gft7H2hdf wgz5Jjz8NhschQNt8h7D!-84357642?a=o&d=5001865813

[MonkeyMama]

LOL.

I admit my hubby does all of his and the kids laundry.

But he doesn't touch mine. ; )

I See the truth in it. Of course they all wear play clothes and I have the delicate work clothes which I do not trust him with. I throw my jeans and play clothes in with their laundry a lot so I do not have to do it myself. But wouldn't let him near the rest of my clothes with a 10-foot pole. Plus it would end up in a pile on the floor with the rest and then I Would have to IRON - yuck.

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Bookie

CHINESE LAUNDRIES: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

....When the Gold Rush brought thousands of single men to San Francisco, the washerwomen began to charge extremely high fees; it was "almost cheaper to discard [a shirt] and buy a new one" than to launder it. Some San Franciscans even sent their laundry to Canton, China, or Hong Kong, where foreign laundries laundered shirts for twelve dollars a dozen and then returned them weeks, or even months, later. Chinese residents of Hawaii soon recognized their geographic advantage and entered into the laundry business, charging eight dollars a dozen....

Thanks for the background info. It seems there's always something new to learn.

I still can't imagine waiting weeks, let alone months, to get a shirt back from the laundry.

[jacquelynrose]

Bleh I do not like Laundry. I like Clothes not Laundry I do all my wash as well as my daughter...the weekend I moved into my Apartment I hired a Service to do it, this weekend my mother chose to do it and bring it to me...I have no System....I just don't like it period.

[JanH]

Laundry is easier now that it is just two of us. I pop a load in while doing something else. I don't really like folding so Hubby generally does his own folding and putting away. He does his own when I am away. He works such long hours that I don't mind doing it. I hate doing sheets mostly. But I love clean ones! Growing up, hanging out the clothes was one of my jobs. I loved it cos I got to spent the day outdoors reading while waiting on the loads. Still hated to fold them up then, too!

[shelbylovesmelby]

I don't mind doing the laundry I just don't like putting it away, cause there isn't always a home for everything @ that particular moment. SO I try not to wash towels or whatever unless we're almost out KWIM?

If dh did the wash everything would be downy soft, probably use the whole bottle & dried on HI heat for everything! Hence he shrank more than 1 sweater of mine & I can't imagaine replacing stuff cause he shrank it when we are on one income.

[contrary1]

Since our household is all adults at this point, and none are related; each person does their own laundry. Works well so far. My only gripe is the room mate person will put something in the wash & then not do anything with it.............ties up the washer. Does the same during the winter when we are using the dryer too. I refuse to do someone else's laundry, even if it is just moving it from Washer to Dryer.

I have all my clothes mostly the same color, so I don't need to sort & do seperate loads. I can keep my laundry needs to the bare minimum...... I'm not laundry obsessed by any means.

[Bookie]

Help, I have fallen into the laundry, and I can't get out.

Well, it feels that way. Switching from summer to winter clothes this week, a chore which seems to require an inordinate amount of laundering. What goes into storage must be clean, of course, and what comes out of storage benefits from airing and fluffing to get out the wrinkles.

I'm trapped between the two seasons, penned in by flannel and seersucker. Every year I promise myself I will find a better way to handle the transition, but every year it's the same. Help!

[Razzy]

thank god I live in Texas where you can wear summer clothes all year long. but I do need to get out some of the winter clothes like coats,sweats and such. At least I won't have to do the laundry you have to do.

Razzy

[LuxLiving]

Thanks Bookie for the reminder. While the boys were off this morning I had them bring the winter clothes up from the basement in the giant trash cans w/lids & cedar blocks that we use for storage in the off season. They traded out their summer for winter with a few to go to the donation bin! Got all The Hubster's long sleeved stuff up as well and he can go thru and hang it or wash it or fluff it if he so desires on his day off tomorrow. Mine stays in my closet year round, but I'm the only one with a decent sized closet.

Appreciate your bringing it up because it is much easier to do now that the guys are of an age to handle doing their own w/o Mom doing most of it IF I can catch them at home with the time. Your reminder and their time off coincided nicely today!! YEAH!

[abowers]

I do the laundry most of the time, my fiance has done it a couple times in the past year and half that we have lived together. I will gladly do the laundry if he does the dishes I hate doing the dishes. It's not an issue of me not trusting him-- If he does the laundry he always asks if there's anything special he's supposed to know (i.e. not putting certain items in the dryer).