This is an OLD picture but it always made me laugh. When we were first married our first apartment did not have a washer and dryer. We would have to go to the laundromat every two weeks which would be a half day experience. I will never forget the time my husband almost let a globe spider land on my head at that laundromat. I may still be a little upset about that one. Anyway – in 2009 we moved to our second apartment. We moved into a apartment complex and we managed to get one of the apartments that had a washer and dryer in the apartment. When we first moved there, there was only one building that allowed them and by the time we moved out they started to add them to other buildings. I was so excited to have one that I hugged it and someone took a picture.
It’s funny to think back then because this apartment was the smallest place we lived in but it was the most used placed for other people to stay and hang out. Everyone we knew used our washer and dryers – we lived down the road from the college we attended. I started to call our closet “The Hays Wash and Go”. It got to a point that we had a Facebook group for everyone who used the machine so we could make sure no one was using it when we needed to use it. My best friend had an apartment in the same complex but she did not have a unit and I remember her fiance/husband would come over to do laundry often.
I was doing laundry yesterday and we have a family member visiting. I was throwing a load in when they asked if I wanted to throw this towel into the the washer. I responded with “I don’t wash towels with clothes.” Now this person would get upset with me when we would do laundry at their house because I would never add the towels to the wash, when I was allowed to do the wash. I’m pretty sure they thought I was trying to make a point but most of the time I just didn’t even think about it, because of the one rule I had. They finally did ask me about it and I told them the same thing I told them when they asked about the towel. I’m pretty they think it’s stupid but they most likely have their own rules that they aren’t even aware they have for their own laundry.
This got me thinking about what rules do we have when it comes to doing laundry. I was never really taught the “correct” way to wash clothes. I am currently listening to another book and the author got talking about laundry. I got to the portion of the book after I had my own thought but she talked about how we may of been taught we had to separate our whites from our colors. I know that a lot of people will wash their delicates in their own load. I have never really done that – I may hold off washing a red item with whites if I haven’t washed it before but other then that all our clothes go in together. The only “rule” I really have is not washing clothes with towels, blankets, and sheets. Now I do break this rule if I am doing a load of towels and I discovered I missed an item from my normal load of clothes. I will throw it in but I typically I do not combine them.
What are you own rules when it comes to laundry?
Do you use bleach?
What are some rules you have been taught that you don’t apply?
How often do you use dryer sheets?
When we have our own house someday I want to have a laundry room because I want to keep our clothes in that space. I also plan on making a sign that says “The Hays’ Wash and Go” in honor of all the times other people used our washer and dryers. Now we will be a family of 8 so needless to say we will be doing laundry almost everyday.
Thriving in Chaos 