How Do You Feel About Doing Laundry?

I suppose that if you did not do the laundry, that it would never get done! It is not an overwhelming chore, because you only have laundry for one. Do you have access to a machine, or do you wash your clothing by hand? Cheers to you, too!

,I do it by hand...Just few minutes! thanks, Nathan.

I told another friend on mylot about this site that I found. It tells how to build a "wind powered washing machine". Some soldiers during World War II in the South Pacific decided that they needed clean clothing. They did not have any electricity, but they had lots of wind. So, they cut up some barrels and made some blades to catch the wind, and... they made wind-powered washing machines! Here is the link, if you are interested: http://motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1976-01-01/Build-A-Simple-Wind-Powered-Washing-Machine.aspx

I'm not all that fond of gardening, either. Picking weeds - yuck! Getting stung by bugs - yuck! I'm a guy, and there seems to be something about most of the guys that I know - that they seem to think that laundry is a "ladies thing" to do. I try to help my wife out with the laundry whenever I can, but she manages to do most of the laundry most of the time. I've actually written a little report: "Get A Man To Do Laundry" - in which I explore the idea of getting a guy to step up and take on the task... rather than dumping his dirty laundry on the floor and leaving it there for someone else to take care of.

Hopefully, but the fabric softeners never smell quite like the outdoor air. Lol at your buying the wrinkle-free clothes!

The difference is probably the same as the difference between buying store-made bread or simply making your bread fresh at home. They are both bread, but one certainly has a better taste than the other. Even when you buy the bread from a store bakery, it does not quite have the same taste as bread that is made at home. Thanks again for your reply!

LOL - We typically buy the wrinkle-free clothes... I suppose that there are two ways to get that "outside, fresh smell" - either by hanging your clothes outside on a clothes line to dry... or by purchasing the scented fabric softeners - a variety of which are labeled: summer rain, spring freshness, etc., etc. As for the static cling... well... hopefully the fabric softener takes care of that!

Does your sister leave her dirty things lying around, or does she just take care of them on her own?

She puts them in the wash/laundry room with he rest of the dirty clothes so I do come across them.

I wonder if it's simply one of those things that people get this idea in their heads from watching their parents - that if mom did the laundry, well, then, it's mom's responsibility? And it's just an idea that people have, and so they keep going with that idea? I wrote a little report for people who would like the men in their life (children, too, I suppose) to take a little more of the household laundry responsibilities - titled: "Get A Man To Do Laundry". The laundry needs to be done, but there's no reason that the expectation for doing the laundry should simply fall upon one person, and with the right approach, I think that others can be brought into that process as well. Best wishes to you!

i guess it just become automatic, when you become the mother itst immediately your responsibility, no has to say it but its just automatic..hehehe:))

I suppose that somewhere along the line, the kids had a good laundry role model who helped them to figure out what they should be doing with their laundry... Good for them! And it's so easy to forget about clothes when you're washing them in a machine. Someone else told me that they have to wash all of their clothes by hand... so I suppose that there'd be no forgetting about that load of laundry!

{em]lol[/em] I can't tell you how many times we have forgotten clothes in the washer... Or forgotten to add the detergent or something like that... As for husbands who leave their dirty clothes lying around everywhere (kudos, btw, to your kids for picking theirs up!) - I think that it's pretty common. I've written a report (for women especially,) called "Get A Man To Do Laundry" - in which I talk through some secrets for getting a man from dropping his dirty, sweaty clothes on the bathroom floor to actually putting them where they are supposed to go... For most people, laundry is just one of those things that you have to do to get through life - to be healthy and to feel good about yourself. Short of hiring it out, it's always got to be done. Thanks for sharing your response!

lol! It is kind of strange to see our kids pick them up! It's like you said though, it needs done. Yeah sometimes my clothes get a second washing after sitting there.

I know what you mean. Hearing the stories of so many others who either have to leave their homes to do the laundry, or who have to do all of their laundry by hand, really makes me appreciate the fact that we actually have machines that can do the work for us! It's good that your husband also helps out with the laundry, especially given your medical condition. I've written a report which I've entitled "Get A Man To Do Laundry", in which I talk about the secrets that ladies can use to get the men in their lives to be a little bit more participatory in the laundry process - no matter what level of help the men might be offering. I know that my wife sure appreciates any help that I give her in the process, and I think that other men should be helpful to their wives in doing laundry as well. Thanks for sharing your story and your response!

When you say that you do your laundry together, do you mean that you both participate in doing the laundry - or do you simply launder the clothing in the same load of laundry? If you both work on laundering your clothing together - then good for you! I keep tabs on the level of my clothing as well, so that I know when it is time to "get another load going"... Thanks for your response; and you have a good day, too!

I have a friend who is sensitive to detergent too so she has to hire a maid to do the laundry.

I also wonder if there is something with the particular kind of detergent that you are using that would cause such problems with your hands? Had you tried using rubber gloves? Some detergents may be more harsh than others, and I know that they even now make (they didn't in the past) a particular kind of detergent especially for washing babies' clothing -- which is supposed to be less harsh, I believe.

Oh, but I don't iron. My husband will if he wants something pressed.

We try to make doing laundry a family affair in our home, too. My wife does most of the laundry. She lets me put away my clothes (most of the time - sometimes she graciously puts my clothing away for me). I let her put away her own clothes - so that I don't misplace them for her... We turn "putting away the clothes" into a game with our young children - and they seem to enjoy running back and forth with an armful of clothing... and it gets the job done.

Something that really surprised me in a number of discussions here on myLot is the number of people who have someone else - as in, someone outside of their family - doing their laundry. It sounds like, in some countries, it is the regular practice to have maids or some sort of household help that comes along and does the laundry? One thing is for sure, that after a work out, you at least need to let your clothes dry out (or, put them right into the washer), otherwise, I think that they might mold! Thanks for sharing your response!

i know you'll be a good wife when you find one..

It sounds like you have a good time doing laundry, you enjoy it, and have no complaints - whether you are washing by hand or by machine! Good for you - and best wishes to you in the future.

Doing laundry a little bit at a time makes it so that you do not have one huge pile that has accumulated over time. It really is a matter of a person's perspective - whether laundry is something is that they don't mind or whether it is something that they utterly detest. Thanks for sharing your response!

It sounds like you have a good system of trading off and splitting up the laundry responsibilities. And it sounds like you have a lot of people involved in the process, either making the dirty laundry or cleaning it. And if the front end of the process keeps going (making dirty laundry), but the back end (cleaning it) gets stopped up - problems could quickly develop. Thanks for sharing your story!

The laundry machine is a life-saver, or at least a time-saver, when it comes to doing laundry. As for putting them away... I hear you on that. We get our little ones to help out by making a little game out of it - carrying their clothes off to their rooms... As for the older ones, and especially guys, there the challenge is a little bit more... challenging. I've written a report that I've entitled "Get A Man To Do Laundry" (linked on my profile page) in which I explore some of the "secrets" to getting guys to pitch in and do their part when it comes to laundry. I encourage people to get away from some of those typical ways that people use that end up being more like "pulling teeth" and end up with a more positive approach to accomplishing the same goal. I think that a lot of ladies out there are like you - they do it because they want to see it get done, that it goes where it belongs (one lady reported that her husband would do laundry, but whenever he did it - it would always come out weird, maybe like he was using too much detergent or something?), to avoid arguments or teeth pulling, etc. I think that there is a more positive way, which I've outlined in my report. Thanks for sharing your response! And best wishes to you!

I like your system - laundry, mylot, laundry, mylot, laundry, mylot! LOL ... I think that there are quite a few people out there like you, who just can't stand the sight of dirty laundry, and so they resolve to just take care of it and get it done and over with. So... the washing machine is a wonderful invention to free up your time and allow you to take care of the laundry without having to slave over hand washing the clothes... Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

It really is all in your perspective, and so if you take a good perspective on doing the laundry, then it really won't be as bad as it would be for someone who takes a bad perspective on the laundry. I had people like you in mind when I wrote my report, "Get A Man To Do Laundry" - thinking about the husbands who like to drop their dirty clothes on the floor - expecting that the "laundry fairy" will come flying by, sprinkle her magic dust, and voila! Clean clothes! It may not be much of a problem now, but I suspect that over time the habit will be something that you hope will be changed. Many guys are like that, and women complain about this (and rightly so) frequently. You can hear stories about guys who go off exercising, and then they leave a pile of dirty, sweat-soaked, smelly clothes on the bathroom floor... (yuck!) ... and yet, as a guy, I have to admit that I have been guilty of doing the same thing... Well - it's good to hear from someone who takes a positive outlook on the task of doing laundry. Best wishes to you!

I remember my college days fairly well, where my dormitory had one coin-operated washer and dryer (maybe it was two of each) to share between 16 people... so good luck trying to break in to the line up and get your clothes through... I remember visiting an aunt and uncle once, when one of my cousins had come home from college with a huge bag of clothes. (I think he had been saving them up! But that's the way of college, sometimes.) Thanks for sharing your response!

I hear you. Reading stories like yours, I wrote a report called "Get A Man To Do Laundry" (linked from my profile page) - in which I outline a way to go about getting people in the household to participate in the laundry process (minus the fighting). Even among people who really don't mind doing the laundry, there is usually some point in the process that they really would rather avoid. My wife and I have had similar conversations (pleasant ones) about the dishes, where it is interesting to observe our differences on which dishes each of us would rather not do - pots, pans, silverware, etc. It's something that has to be done, and we do them, but there's always some part of the process that's our least favorite thing to do. Thanks for sharing your story!

If you have the machinery, doing the laundry can be a pretty simple thing... and you can even do it while you are doing something else! The people that I feel sorry for are those who do not have a washing machine, or who do not even have access to a washing machine and have to do everything by hand...