Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Laundry Day

I think we may be off to a better start this week, at least food is not the focus.

It's laundry day in this house, every day is laundry day. I had not been married long until I discovered there was a laundry gene in the Bob's family line. Not every one of his siblings had it but it was strong in those who did.

For Bob it has always meant the sun must not go down on a dirty piece of cloth anywhere in our house. Toward the end of the day he usually washes a load of clothes. It's anybody's guess what's in that basket of laundry. It can be anything from blue jeans to bath towels to a silk blouse ( if he happens to get his hands on one). He is unteachable about sorting clothes.

For him it's not about how nice the clothes look, but rather that they're clean. Blue jeans and a white blouse may not make the white blouse look too great but it's clean and that's what matters. As the day wears on he becomes more desperate to find enough to make a load.

Years ago I delivered an ultimatum "Don't Touch My Clothes!" I've stuck to that and have finally put the fear of god into him about washing my things.

I never have any idea what brand of liquid laundry soap I'm using. He buys the largest container he can find at Costco, too heavy to lift and pour into the machine. He then proceeds to pour it into smaller containers to be used at the machine.

I long ago gave up my rights to be first at the washing machine.  I wash when I see the washer is free.  I listen for comments to tell me when he might be planning to use the washer and I plan accordingly. I learned early on nothing comes between Bob and his washer.

I'm actually not sure what we did those first years we were married. Probably spent a lot of time at the laundromat. The instant we could afford a washer we had one.

It's nice because I do only my personal laundry and he does the rest. A set of sheets really puts a smile on his face. He loves finding a pile of something ready to go in the washer.

One of his sisters would do laundry in the middle of the night. At least he hasn't done that but he does love to run that washer and dryer. Ours probably runs more than if we were a family of six.

How often do you do laundry? Do you enjoy doing laundry?

26 comments:

  1. I do laundry about 3-4 times a week. It's just Lou and me. Working in the shop, we have work clothes (ones that are covered in paint) and do those in one load and towels and sheets in another. Everything else sorta falls into the last load. Things that might bleed colors or items that need bleach seem to pile up until there's enough for wash. Really glad Lou doesn't do laundry too often but he will fold what comes out of the dryer.

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    1. When Bob was working for the Union Pacific Railroad he stripped every night when he came home and all his greasy clothes went in the washer together. You can imagine how awful his teeshirts looked but they were clean and that's all that mattered to him.

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  2. Linda, oh my goodness, I was hysterical reading this! Who knew there was a laundry gene? You've presented a very strong argument that the gene does exist!

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    1. I would argue for environment except Bob and his siblings did not grow up together, thus it has to be genetic.

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  3. DH does his laundry and I turn a blind eye to how he stuffs the washing machine and dryer. One of these days, we will need a new set because of over filling. I will not stick my nose into it - his problem and I don't like to argue over something that stupid. I wash my own things and hope he is home to put the stuff into the dryer - I have trouble with my shoulder and it's above the washing machine. We have used this system for a couple of years now - works for us!

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    1. I think overloading the washer is a male thing. Bob also suffers from that affliction.

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  4. Ken wouldn't know how to operate a washer or a dryer, poor thing. I do two loads of whites/lights per week and one load of dark clothes. That's about it.

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    1. It must be nice to know you're in charge of laundry. No need to worry about what gets mixed in the wrong load. No need to worry about what goes into the dryer.

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  5. I guess I was lucky that my husband didn't know how to do laundry and never had an interest in learning. My dad didn't learn how until after my mom died so it didn't bother me that Don didn't show an interest in the choir. Likewise I didn't want to change the oil in the trucks either or cut the grass. LOL

    I do laundry every Sunday---a load each of blacks, lights, brights and towels. When my husband was alive I did laundry twice a week. I could probably go three weeks and not run out of clean clothes or towels. It's not a chore I either like or dislike. It's just something that needs doing.

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    1. I like that idea of him taking care of the car and mowing the grass while I do laundry.

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  6. My husband does his own laundry - which is really surprising, considering he doesn't grill, do dishes, clean, or anything else remotely connected to housework. Like the comment from S.J.Quails, I try to turn a blind eye to his methods. Still, as I look at his wrinkly pants and shirts on the basement line (for fear they'd shrink)I'm driven to pull them off and run them for a few secret moments in the dryer to shake out some of those wrinkles.

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    1. You are a good person to sneak in a quick dryer run on his wrinkled clothes. Wrinkles are another reason not to cram too many clothes in the washer.

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  7. What a gene pool Bob came from. It is so funny to notice the similar habits of family members. My sister and I got the clean gene - especially closets. My other mother, other siblings and my children got the messy gene. Ha. It drove me crazy.

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    1. The most interesting is the things Bob and his siblings do that cannot be related to environment because they weren't raised in the same home.

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  8. Well, I'm beginning to realize how unusual our relationship is. Just as we share most jobs, we both do laundry, and we do it usually once a week. Whoever is around when the loads need to be shifted, or a basket of dried clothes comes out of the dryer to be folded, that's who takes care of it. We sort whites from colored, and do towels and sheets separately.
    Garden clothes are worn without washing until they are really dirty, then they get their own job. We don't just wear stuff once and then wash it, except underwear and socks, of course.
    Washing clothes every day seems a bit environmentally unfriendly, not to mention expensive.

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    1. I don't think the KEURIG coffee system we have is environmentally friendly either, and it's certainly expensive. Odd where Bob wants to watch expenses and where he pays no attention to cost.

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  9. At 76 years of age I've never learned to wash clothes. The micro manager won't let me touch the washer. It's nice but definitely not okay. Everybody should learn how to wash clothes.

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    1. In my view everybody should at least know how. My husband and I had a major fight when our son was little because he did not want me to make him make his own bed.

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  10. Louis Dean LOVES to do laundry! But he doesn't fold and put it up! It simply sits in piles. I am Susie Homemaker so I do most of the laundry! I shudder when LD washes the bedsheets! Once I could not find the big white comforter for DAYS! He couldn't remember where he put it! In ally found it on top of a picnic table umbrella where he had draped it to dry! I have lots of pillows on the bed all with pretty white cases! I was missing one for weeks after he did the washing! Seems he wadded it up and layered it under a stack of his white t shirts! No, it's best if he does an occasional load of his overalls and leave it at that!

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    1. That is a hoot. I can see him doing those things. I like the one where he hung his overalls by the straps along the back fence to dry. My dad always wore overalls so I have a fondness for guys wearing them. My dad always wore blue chambray shirts. LD must have very long arms, I notice he frequently leaves his shirt cuffs unbuttoned. My mother 'patched' the overalls my dad wore to his job on the tracks of the Santa Fe Railroad. Then he had 'good' overalls he wore when he cleaned up. Seen a many a pair of overalls on the clothesline.

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  11. I'm not all that excited about doing laundry, but my husband is! Kind of sounds like your hubby. We agreed long ago that we would each do our own laundry, so hands off my delicates and unmentionables :-)

    We recently had to replace our washer and dryer. I had no idea the technology had changed so much. I like the HE top loader we have. But my hubby needs oversight now to operate it due to all the fancy electronics for running it. I'm glad he asks for help before doing a load. Otherwise, not sure what would happen.

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    1. Bob only wants an off and on switch. Everything gets washed the same when he's washing.

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  12. You are lucky to have a man who likes to do laundry! Although, I agree with you, I wouldn't want him washing my clothes either. :) My hubby helps with laundry but I have a small basket of my "fine washables" that he is not allowed to touch. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment.

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    1. Love your photos. Love anything about Oregon. I'll be stopping by regularly to see what you have to show me. I absolutely love living in Oregon.

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  13. Goodness, he loves to grocery shop and do laundry. Those a pretty good genes to have. The guy is a keeper. Good that he leaves your stuff alone though especially since he is sorting challenged.

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    1. He is extremely challenged when it comes to sorting clothes and operating coffee pots as you'll see in my next post.

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