Yesterday, the strangest thing happened on my blog.
See, a handful of you started talking about laundry in the comments of a sincere and heartfelt post about us reaching our potential. LAUNDRY. With great passion and detail.
So, I thought I’d do my part to foster a productive (and focused) discussion today… I give you:
(insert a huge symphony of dun dun DUNS)
“The Laundry Post”
- We share 4 sets of washer/dryers with 90 people in our apartment building.
- Water always stays in the barrel of the front-end-loading washers. Yes. Other people’s dirty laundry water. And it almost always smells like mildew. And that’s not a mild “ew” either – it’s a STRONG “ew!”
- We allot $25/mo in our laundry budget. Because it costs $2.25 total to wash/dry a load. Robbery.
- I go through 4 doors and up 1 1/2 flights of stairs to get to the laundry room. (Don’t ask about the 1/2 – it’s complicated. And I’ll probably end up in the fetal position just talking about it.)
- If I time it just right, I can get TWO loads going at the same time. This means I can knock out all 7 loads of laundry in less than 5 hours.
- My husband will be the first to tell you that this process actually takes far more than 5 hours. I usually leave clean/folded laundry on the couch for a day or three… Because I’m lazy like that. K. Leave me alone.
Anyway, sorry. Enough about me. I forgot this post was supposed to be about YOU. For the sake of building community around here and all that blah blah, do you have any important laundry information that you feel the need to share?
No really. I’m interested…
zzzzzzzzz……..
( 
)
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I have to go to the laundry mat to get my done so I feel your pain. I usually put it in the washer and then go run my errands at Walmart……I figure if someone steals my wet, dirty clothes, then they must have really needed them!
i don’t do it.
my wife is awesome.
me:laundry::Drew:dishes
Ryanne:laundry::Joshua:_____?
I live in the same building as Mandy. I feel I *must* correct an exaggeration Mandy has presented. There are 30 apartments in this building. So, she and ‘Drew share the laundry rooms with 29 other families. There may be 90 people living in this building, but there are not 90 other people trying to do laundry.
And yes, the $2.25/load is robbery.
HUTCH!
90 people = 90 other piles of dirty clothes. baby piles. mama piles. thatsalotta piles.
The single people count as 1. Your family counts as 4 (+1/2).
See?
this post makes me want to cry!
girl you KNOW i dont have tips.
Mandy, you mock, but laundry is a serious issue!!
For instance, the mounds of laundry currently stacked on top of my dryer and overflowing from our hamper are SERIOUSLY stressing me out! And don’t even get me started on the dozens of articles of clothing on hangers but not in closets. Or the mismatched and mishung clothes IN my closets.
It is not fun to be a lazy perfectionist.
It is also not fun to have a tiny house with tiny closets and no laundry room. Because doing laundry in the garage when it’s 14 degrees outside is not fun.
So, you see, laundry is serious. business.
pq – seriously. laundry in the garage is no fun. i can certainly think of much worse things in life- but for now – me no likey this arrangement.
i probably have about 10+ loads waiting for me right now.
i need a drink.
yea…don’t wash then dry sweatshirts they apparently shrink. you’re supposed air dry them. this only took ruining 8 sweatshirts before learning this. can you tell i’m a quick learner
we now have shockingly long arm lengths when we wear the damaged ones.
My laundry problems stinks. Thanks for bringing this up and giving me a thorn. Does anyone have a puller?
No one helps me. Oh I’d be lyin. All they do is put their dirties in front of me and tell me I need this tomorrow. ALTHOUGH they have been home since noon and I just came home from work after a long day?? Oh girl you got me started. i HATE doing laundry at 11 and getting up At 4:45 to put more in.
Oh i am stopping.
ugh….
wow…so i will be the devil’s advocate and tell how i did all of the laundry we had on Monday…my day off…just because…my wife was working and had tuesday off…she had all day to hang out with our daughter…
i even threw a load of laundry in this morning before i left for work…i’ll probably do another when i get home tonight…
it’s not that big of a deal really…(SERIOUSLY!!!)
and i IRON all of my own clothes…because i’m weird like that…i even iron my wife’s clothes for her too…
I can get blood out of white shirts without bleach.
I’m gonna leave it at that and let your imagination do the rest.
We were in the States for 2+ weeks over the holidays.. got home to a full laundry basket without the stuff in our suitcases.. and. Ian. did. allofit. I didn’t even touch it. With good reason, but it’s a secret reason
We have crunchy laundry too, and wet windows.. because we have to dry it inside. Because we live in a city, right next to roads. I keep hoping the damp air on laundry-drying days will moisturize my skin.. not so far but I don’t give up hope easily!
CORRIE’S BACK! I was just thinking about you yesterday!
Grem:
JM: I’ll be emailing you my address… See you Saturday. Bring quarters. kthx
ok, I’ll tell you. Charlie has really dry skin, especially on his hands and he picks at them. Thus, the bleeding. On his shirts. Oy.
Nailbrush, extra strength laundry soap and elbow grease…then soak for awhile…then scrub some more. Works every time.
See, I’m not such a freak.
i’m getting ready to significantly increase my laundry production with the addition of a little one and the use of cloth diapers. but i feel ready for the task. if i need help, i’ll call you.
Grem: My knuckles cracked & bled when I moved up here. Air so dry. I use Savannah Bee Company’s Beeswax hand lotion (B&BWorks) OR Burt’s Bee’s “Shea Butter Hand Creme Repair”
Both are fan-freakin-tastic.
I don’t accumulate a lot of laundry since it’s just me, but I love folding. I have a friend who gets her laundry done but leaves it sitting dry and unfolded in the baskets and I’ve been known to sit and watch movies while folding her laundry.
But I don’t iron. My sister is a freak and she irons her sheets before putting them on her bed. She irons her hand towels before putting them in her kitchen drawers.
I think she might have been adopted.
hmmm…my e-mail seems to be locked up…not working for some reason???
The trick w/ front loaders? The instruction book says you have to leave the door open when it’s not in use. The seal is so strong, mildew will grow.
I actually found it easier to do laundry when I had to go to the laundry mat. You know you can’t leave it in & just restart it again. You can run the dryer 5 times cuz you left it overnight.
I used to fold mine as it came out of the dryer. Back in the laundry basket already folded makes it easier to drop off in its perspective room.
That was supposed to be “CAN’T run the dryer 5 times”
girl, i thought we had it bad in the dorms. it’s $1.50 per load here at obu – if one can find a vacant and working piece of machinery, that is. bless my big sister’s heart, for she lives only an hour away and allows me to seek refuge in her laundry room – er, loving home – almost every other weekend. and have i ever learned how to ration my outfit choices because of it!
I have no excuse. I don’t have to travel to a laundromat, or even up flights (1/2′s included) to do it. I have one washer and one dryer. There are a whopping 3 of us in the house. I have overflowing hampers, laundry on the floor in the laundry room, and folded laundry in baskets waiting and waiting and waiting to be put away. There is some on the couch (it literally JUST got there too!)
I’ve tried folding just as it comes out of the dryer. Worked for a while…not anymore. I am in NO position to provide tips to an..ee..one. Oh, I forgot to mention…I’m not working right now. I so can’t figure myself out!!
I think I just embarrassed myself.
The laundry rooms in my apartment complex are actually pretty decent. I will just never understand why the driers are set to run for only 20 minutes. What really dries in 20 minutes?! There are plenty of machines though, so I tend to be able to run all my loads at once and be done in less than 2 hours. The cost isn’t horrible either. About $1.50/load. That is, when I actually do my laundry at school.
At home, it’s a battle for the machine with my dad. He argues he has work on Monday. I argue I leave Sunday evening. I have gotten my loads down to two though: jeans and everything else (unless I need to do towels). Probably not the best thing for some of my clothes, but it’s efficient.
We also have clothes and towels pile on the couch (in the bonus room) for days…I like to pretend I have nothing to do with that.
Everyone gets their own laundry through the machines…but leaves it for my poor mom to fold.
I think I’m beginning to see how dry-cleaners stay in business… If we all had the money, I’m pretty sure we’d ship our dirty laundry to someone else.
Help. HELP!!!
yes. her name is joyce.
Your sister irons sheets! Gitz, you must be joking!?
I don’t do laundry. Phat does it. Actually, I wish I could, I kinda like it.
“do you have any important laundry information that you feel the need to share?”
hilarious!
i’m not too bad at doing the laundry…getting it folded and put away seems to be a very painful, long process (if it gets put away at all, and not just dug out of the basket of clean clothes, worn and back in the dirty clothes…shame)
Laundry will be my demise.
I have to go to a laundromat. I won’t go to either of the two closest to me because they’re completely sketchy (people sleeping under tables, intoxicated bums yelling at me, etc).
Depending on how full of a load you have, its either $2 or $2.25 to wash and $1 for 28 minutes in the dryer. I don’t dry a lot of my clothes, so that saves a little money, but them I have to deal with hanging up, loading, & unloading all these wet clothes (not fun).
Its sometimes easier to just hand wash, or as I call it, “tub laundry.” In my apartment at any given time you will probably find clothes hung up to dry from any available hook, knob, or doorway.
Air-drying means ironing is a must, but its almost therapeutic to me. I can’t fix all the junk in my life, but by golly I can make the wrinkles go away!
I had my clothes stolen out of a public machine (an apartment communal laundry). Twice. Thus I refused ever after to live in an apartment that did not have it’s own set. Bugger the cost.
They stole my work shirts. Made me mad. They stole my underwear too. Made me gross out.
Lori – I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!! you’re not the only one in the world.
I taught my guys to do their own laundry when they were each 11-12 yrs old. It was great! Then we moved, a little apt with no maintenance, laundry very convenient right in closet in hallway and I’m now doing it for them! I think I just went backwards!
In Switzerland, we are very lucky to have our own washer and dryer that is not on top of our neighbors living quarters. So we are “allowed” to use it any time of the day we please. We are an exception. Most people have a designated “laundry day” to use the washer/dryers in their building.
If it’s a Sat. – then that’s the day you do laundry. My Swiss neighbor got yelled at by her neighbor for using the washer out of schedule – her kids had been sick during the night and she NEEDED to wash the sheets.
And forget putting any Euro clothing in the dryer – it will shrink 3 sizes – I have a very big clothes rack next to a radiator. And why we still get our kids clothes from Old Navy/Gap when we’re in the States.
Personally, laundry is like a ministry to my family. I’m not trying to sound righteous – just my little journey. It’s like the life of a mom – you do the same thing over and over, it never ends, it’s always there – and once in a while someone thanks you for it but don’t expect it. Just know you are caring for them. It took me 14 years to start ironing my husbands shirts for him. He appreciates it, I know I am specifically doing something for him to help (otherwise he does it himself) and BONUS – I save the 2.50chf ($2.30)they charge at the dry cleaner.
And ready to hear some more music.
Tips for doing laundry?
Yeah.
1. Put the clothes in the washer.
2. Add soap.
3. Turn dial.
4. Start.
5. Do nothing.
6. Take clothes out of washer.
7. Put clothes into dryer.
8. Set dryer.
9. Start dryer.
10. Do nothing all over again.
11. Enjoy #5. It’s an excusable interval of joyous nothing.
12. Make all your married, laundry-hating friends insanely jealous because you’re single and have your very own washer AND dryer.
You should just go naked.
@ joshua – I need to get me a wife
@ mandy – “I usually leave clean/folded laundry on the couch for a day or three… Because I’m lazy like that. K. Leave me alone. ” This is NOT laziness. It is prioritizing. And you have to get yourself a spare room.
@ tam – “i need a drink.” YEAH baby – now THAT’s the way to think about laundry (or washing, as we call it)
@ jon mark – How’d ya fancy music making at the beach in South Africa. We could use a wife.
@ carrie – scrubbing?!
@ gitz’s sister – life is WAY too short to iron linen.
@ alece – I am rapidly heading in that direction before Mark throws me out.
@ susan – you should be knighted or something. Seriously, I love the way that you think about it. I just don’t think I’d get there…
@kristi – you are my new best friend
I have a whole new respect for Mandy Conforth. Being away from home I have to do my own laundry. I do it once a week. Today I did 4 loads. It took over 5 hours. I used to just go to the closet and my clothes were already there. Thanks Mandy…
I should totally take a picture of the TEN piles of laundry that are at least 2-3 loads EACH of laundry downstairs. I have taken over our arctic room (playroom/bounce house room/laundry sorting room) to sort laundry and do it. This will probably take me a week to get it all done. THEN I get to do the laundry that is all over the floor in our bedroom and bathroom.
I seriously SERIOUSLY never do laundry. I wash what we need when we need it….but it finally got to be SO ANNOYING doing that I caved. I’d rather buy new socks and underwear (or anything really!) than wash it.
Someone up there mention a lazy perfectionist….. SO ME. The reason I hate doing it is because it never stays done, and it never stays put away nicely. And if I’m going to do something I want it done perfectly and I want it to STAY done perfectly.
I’m completely irrational.
oh, and one tip that totally won’t work for you but might for someone else….
This is the first house we’ve lived in that has had an actual LAUNDRY room and it’s quite large. I moved all three of the boys dressers down in there and hung up a rack (JAKE hung up a rack) that I could put baskets on top of and hang shirts from. I keep all of their clothes in there, with the hope that it won’t ever be all over my house. Plus it makes it way easier for putting it away. That is the part I hate most….putting it away. So now, it goes directly from the dryer into their dressers or hung up without ever having to leave the laundry room. I also did this b/c I have to go up 2.5 flights of stairs (I totally understand the half) to get to our rooms.
I am loving this method….I just wish OUR clothes could fit in there too!