Laundry-Clean or Dirty
Sometime after having my 5th child, laundry became out-of-control. To keep it somewhat manageable, I wash 3 loads a day, 5 days a week. This led to the occasional game of "is this clean or is this dirty?"
When I find articles of clothing, still folded amidst the dirty laundry, I know these items are clean. Somehow they've found their way back into the hamper. That somehow is usually one of the kids in a hurry to clean their room. Or on a rare occasion he or she has decided to sort through clothes they no longer wear. Why they'd dump their castoffs into a basket of dirty clothes boggles my mind. If not found in time, it is necessary to wash them again.
The other puzzling "is this clean or is it dirty" happens when a stray sock or pair of underwear is found on the floor of the laundry room. How does this happen? 1. It falls out when putting clothes into the washer. 2. An offending child rummages through their clean clothes basket and something gets tossed out. (Why would they bother to pick it back up?) 3. It gets knocked off the neatly folded (or haphazurdly heaped) pile of freshly laundered clothes on the table. 4. It is dropped while removing laundry from the dryer. So there are 3 chances in 4, that sock is clean.
With some socks and some underwear it is easy to tell "is this clean or is it dirty." If the sock is stiff, crunchy feeling, or stretched out it is definately dirty. Thong panties have a certain look after being worn that shouts unclean. But on occasion I have come across a pair of whitey tidies, or a sock that looks fresh out of the dryer. "Is this clean or is it dirty?" You pick it up. It feels soft. So how do you know? The true test is the whiff test. It is the only way. Pick it up and hold it to your nostrils and inhale. Ah, the soft scent of your favorite dryer sheet or an offending odor that causes you to propel the item away as if it was a dirty diaper you'd just plunged upon your face.
I've decided to quit playing the "is it clean or is it dirty game." From now on, if an item is on the floor, no matter how soft or clean looking it appears, it goes in with the dirties. The whiff test is just too, um, repulsive.
6 comments:
I thought I was the only person with folded clean clothes in the laundry. That is so IRRITATING! It hasn't happened in ages as I am down to one child (out of four) at home but the memory just irks me to know end. And I agree about the whiff test...I have just about gotten knocked over a few times. It feels so good to know I am not alone ☺
I just go with the 'throw it in the wash' if I don't know it but then I only have to wash for 3 people.
My son went to a teenager's camp last weekend and told us that one of the games was to take off a sock they'd been wearing all day and drink a can of coke through the sock. Now that is yuck. He quickly informed me he didn't take up that challenge. Imagine the poor parent having to wash that sock. :P Yuck!
Congrats on managing 5 children!!
In Jesus
Maria in the UK
www.inhishands.co.uk
Hahahahah! This cracks me up so mcuh Joanne. I TOTALLY do the whiff test and often regret it.
Do I dare admit to being a whiff tester too? *ROFL*
(aka Mama Heffalump)
Thanks for stopping by my silly WW yesterday! It was fun - and yes, it could definitely do some big time embarrassment. I promise to only wear them in the middle of the night in my bed!
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