Like many people, I tend to do laundry on the weekends. Roughly 9 pm, Sunday evening I remember that I have absolutely nothing to wear for the upcoming week.In college, it was a matter of scrounging up quarters and cramming as many jeans and t-shirts into one load as possible and still shut the washing machine door. However, now that Keith and I have had a few years to develop professional wardrobes, doing laundry is becoming increasingly more complicated.
Our basic separation is into darks (normal/warm), whites (normal/hot), and delicates (gentle/cold). But then there’s a sweater or two that has to be Dryeled—that gets set aside. And then there’s the intermingling between the three main categories: it can be washed normally, but can’t be put in the dryer. They suggest washing it with warm water on the gentle cycle. The latest trend is for labels to say that this particular item of clothing should be washed normal/cold and can be tumble dried but you cannot under any circumstances use a dryer sheet.
If I actually paid attention to all of these directions, by this point I would have 20 separate piles of one to possibly two items in each. And then there’s the clothes that actually say “wash separately.” Um, washing machines today are big. Gargantuan behemoths that could, if given the chance, eat my entire wardrobe in one fell swoop. I am not wasting an entire load (I believe the smallest setting on my parents’ machine is “small boutique’s worth”) on one stinkin’ shirt. No matter how stinkin’ it is!
You keep hearing on the radio and in the news about how much busier people are. Our lives are filled to the brim with work and hobbies, etc. All of these modern conveniences are supposed to be saving us time. And aren’t man-made fabrics supposed to be easier to care for?
Give it a couple years and I’ll be so fed up with the minutiae on every laundry label, Keith and I will only be wearing polyester leisure suits.
6 comments:
At least your stuff can go in the washer. I recently bought several cute going-out tops that each have to be hand-washed, and each in a separate bucket of water because of colors, snag potential (embelishments on one tops catching the silk of another), and/or potential glitter transfer.
I have a real knack for not choosing wash 'n' wear.
If you're like me, you have permanent piles in the laundry room of clothes that have odd requirements and that get worn once, then lay in the laundry room for about three months. It's very annoying.
Cat: At last! I've found someone that's worse at looking at labels than I am. Maybe someday we'll learn ...
AmyK: I've never in my life had my own laundry room, but I'm sure once I do, the permanent piles of laundry will appear;)
I am fairly fortunate. Most of my clothes aren't that special and those that are go to the cleaners (suits, some pants, etc).
Anything red I buy gets washed the first few times with only red things, after that it goes with the rest of the colors. All colors get washed in cold water, i don't even look at the label. Cold water is free for me. All whites get washed in warm or hot water, with bleach.
Unfortunately, I'll never learn. I love form over function. :)
Cute clothes rule!
i like your outfit in this picture.
-todd
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