Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

[Fern]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

i don't think there's a whole lot of science to doing the wash, so if my SO wanted to do it, he certainly could.

[Mathew Green]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Bit of historical trivia: During the California gold rush, miners sent their laundry across the Pacific Ocean to be done in China.

That has to be a myth. Many people who didn't wash their own clothes used a 'Chinese laundry', but that means a local laundry run by Chinamen, not a laundry in China.

--> Caution: I'm about to go waaaaaay off topic in a historical sidenote.

Ever wonder why there were so many Chinese laundries? At that time the west coast had segregation and legally mandated racial discriminantion just like everywhere else. The Anglo and Hispanic businessmen liked having Asian imigrants as cheap labor, but didn't want them to become too powerful, and people who worked for wages feared the hoard of imigrants would drive down wages and throw them into poverty. (Sound familiar? Just substitute the era, nationality, and location of your choice and you'll find the same story everywhere.)

The upshot was that laws were passed which severely limited what kinds of businesses Asians could own and what types of work they could do. Thus we have the stereotypes of Chinese laborers, Chinese laundries, and Oriental gardeners and houseboys.

For more on this topic and a landmark legal case involving a Chinese laundry read http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/...segment5b.html and the two pages that follow it.

(BTW: Not trying to make any specific point here. I just find history interesting.)

[Mathew Green]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

i don't think there's a whole lot of science to doing the wash,

That's true. But there is a lot of disagreement about how it should be done.

I've always washed everything on permanent-press cycle with warm wash and cold rinse, but the last few years I've used a slightly different method. After looking in the washer during the final rinse and seeing how much soap suds were still in there, I reduced the amount of detergent I was using to about 3/4 of the recomended ammount. Seeing how soapy that final rinse still was, I started using the 'prewash' cycle followed by the permanent press cycle. This not only reduces the amount of soap left in your clean clothes, it probably gets them cleaner because the prewash cycle includes a 10 minute 'sit and soak' time halfway through that lets the soapy water soak into the dirt really good.

So, my routine now is warm prewash cycle with 3/4 the recomended detergent, followed by warm wash and cold rinse on the permanent press cycle with no detergent. Then I dry everything using the permanent press cycle on warm.

Disclaimer: This advice is not intended for people with wool sweaters, silk undies, or similar items. But it works fine with permanent press, towels, blankets, and so forth. It works for 100% cotton too, but you may need to need to pull cotton items out while still slightly damp and press out wrinkles, or at least let them line dry.

[Bookie]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

. CHINESE LAUNDRIES: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Chinese immigrants began to establish laundries in San Francisco around 1848, at the start of the Gold Rush.(15) As in other Western boom towns, the population of San Francisco was disproportionately male.(16) Laundering, however, was considered women's work, unfit for a white man.(17) Before the Chinese arrived, a few Spanish-American and Native American women engaged in the laundry business in "Washerwomen's Lagoon."(18) When the Gold Rush brought thousands of single men to San Francisco, the washerwomen began to charge extremely high fees; it was "almost cheaper to discard [a shirt] and buy a new one" than to launder it.(19) Some San Franciscans even sent their laundry to Canton, China, or Hong Kong, where foreign laundries laundered shirts for twelve dollars a dozen and then returned them weeks, or even months, later.(20) Chinese residents of Hawaii soon recognized their geographic advantage and entered into the laundry business, charging eight dollars a dozen.(21) Lured initially by gold fever, a few Chinese immigrants to the United States established local laundries. By 1850, with the arrival of Chinese competition, the price for washing shirts fell to five dollars a dozen.(22)

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=GQhbcCsJmJqWyWmqyRp1Nd7gft7H2hdf wgz5Jjz8NhschQNt8h7D!-84357642?a=o&d=5001865813

[MonkeyMama]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

LOL.

I admit my hubby does all of his and the kids laundry.

But he doesn't touch mine. ; )

I See the truth in it. Of course they all wear play clothes and I have the delicate work clothes which I do not trust him with. I throw my jeans and play clothes in with their laundry a lot so I do not have to do it myself. But wouldn't let him near the rest of my clothes with a 10-foot pole. Plus it would end up in a pile on the floor with the rest and then I Would have to IRON - yuck.

[Mathew Green]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

CHINESE LAUNDRIES: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

....When the Gold Rush brought thousands of single men to San Francisco, the washerwomen began to charge extremely high fees; it was "almost cheaper to discard [a shirt] and buy a new one" than to launder it. Some San Franciscans even sent their laundry to Canton, China, or Hong Kong, where foreign laundries laundered shirts for twelve dollars a dozen and then returned them weeks, or even months, later. Chinese residents of Hawaii soon recognized their geographic advantage and entered into the laundry business, charging eight dollars a dozen....

Thanks for the background info. It seems there's always something new to learn.

I still can't imagine waiting weeks, let alone months, to get a shirt back from the laundry.

[jacquelynrose]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Bleh I do not like Laundry. I like Clothes not Laundry I do all my wash as well as my daughter...the weekend I moved into my Apartment I hired a Service to do it, this weekend my mother chose to do it and bring it to me...I have no System....I just don't like it period.

[JanH]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Laundry is easier now that it is just two of us. I pop a load in while doing something else. I don't really like folding so Hubby generally does his own folding and putting away. He does his own when I am away. He works such long hours that I don't mind doing it. I hate doing sheets mostly. But I love clean ones! Growing up, hanging out the clothes was one of my jobs. I loved it cos I got to spent the day outdoors reading while waiting on the loads. Still hated to fold them up then, too!

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

I don't mind doing the laundry I just don't like putting it away, cause there isn't always a home for everything @ that particular moment. SO I try not to wash towels or whatever unless we're almost out KWIM?

If dh did the wash everything would be downy soft, probably use the whole bottle & dried on HI heat for everything! Hence he shrank more than 1 sweater of mine & I can't imagaine replacing stuff cause he shrank it when we are on one income.

[contrary1]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Since our household is all adults at this point, and none are related; each person does their own laundry. Works well so far. My only gripe is the room mate person will put something in the wash & then not do anything with it.............ties up the washer. Does the same during the winter when we are using the dryer too. I refuse to do someone else's laundry, even if it is just moving it from Washer to Dryer.

I have all my clothes mostly the same color, so I don't need to sort & do seperate loads. I can keep my laundry needs to the bare minimum...... I'm not laundry obsessed by any means.

[Bookie]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Help, I have fallen into the laundry, and I can't get out.

Well, it feels that way. Switching from summer to winter clothes this week, a chore which seems to require an inordinate amount of laundering. What goes into storage must be clean, of course, and what comes out of storage benefits from airing and fluffing to get out the wrinkles.

I'm trapped between the two seasons, penned in by flannel and seersucker. Every year I promise myself I will find a better way to handle the transition, but every year it's the same. Help!

[Razzy]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

thank god I live in Texas where you can wear summer clothes all year long. but I do need to get out some of the winter clothes like coats,sweats and such. At least I won't have to do the laundry you have to do.

Razzy

[LuxLiving]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

Thanks Bookie for the reminder. While the boys were off this morning I had them bring the winter clothes up from the basement in the giant trash cans w/lids & cedar blocks that we use for storage in the off season. They traded out their summer for winter with a few to go to the donation bin! Got all The Hubster's long sleeved stuff up as well and he can go thru and hang it or wash it or fluff it if he so desires on his day off tomorrow. Mine stays in my closet year round, but I'm the only one with a decent sized closet.

Appreciate your bringing it up because it is much easier to do now that the guys are of an age to handle doing their own w/o Mom doing most of it IF I can catch them at home with the time. Your reminder and their time off coincided nicely today!! YEAH!

[abowers]

Re: Ladies, if you are stuck doing laundry you have only yourself to blame

I do the laundry most of the time, my fiance has done it a couple times in the past year and half that we have lived together. I will gladly do the laundry if he does the dishes I hate doing the dishes. It's not an issue of me not trusting him-- If he does the laundry he always asks if there's anything special he's supposed to know (i.e. not putting certain items in the dryer).