American women don't know how to wash their clothes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. But we also know how to do laundry so as not to ruin things.

Are you saying that if one does laundry by some special method -- then there's no such thing as clothes ever wearing out? That seems hard to believe.

I don't think that's what PP meant. If you wash by hand for sweaters, lay flat to dry, use cold water, not use the dryer, hang clothes to dry, turn clothes inside out to defer fading, then your clothes will stay looking better longer. If you use hot water on colors and darks, then they look more faded and worn more quickly. I use hot water only on whites (sheets, socks, t-shirts).

If you can line dry, then in addition to preserving your clothes a little longer, you save a lot of electricity, too.

[Anonymous]

I always wash with cold water and use the dryer on the lowest setting.

[Anonymous]

Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

Clothes will look better if you wash them on a gentle cycle with cold water BUT I prefer them to be sanitary even if they look more worn. If my kid spits up, poohs on his clothes, throws up, or my potty training 2 yr old has an accident it would be gross not to wash them on the hottest setting with a little bleach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

Clothes will look better if you wash them on a gentle cycle with cold water BUT I prefer them to be sanitary even if they look more worn. If my kid spits up, poohs on his clothes, throws up, or my potty training 2 yr old has an accident it would be gross not to wash them on the hottest setting with a little bleach.

Yes, but does your child poop on all his clothes? Maybe you miss the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

Clothes will look better if you wash them on a gentle cycle with cold water BUT I prefer them to be sanitary even if they look more worn. If my kid spits up, poohs on his clothes, throws up, or my potty training 2 yr old has an accident it would be gross not to wash them on the hottest setting with a little bleach.

Yes, but does your child poop on all his clothes? Maybe you miss the point.[/quote

But the real question is do you clean your washing machine with bleach otherwise you are living a life awash in feces.

[Anonymous]

I'm one of those women who is terrible at washing clothes and even worse at ironing. Hell, I don't even bother with sorting and when clothes are dry, they just end up in a pile in front of the dryer. Good enough for me

[Anonymous]

A couple of things that I noticed when I was in Europe long-term: Europeans don't snack as much, and they don't eat while they walk around. Which makes for much less spillage on clothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

And lest ye wish to call me names because I accept hand me downs...both my spouse and I have six figure jobs and a nice fat bank account. But we also know how to do laundry so as not to ruin things.

I wonder if I should start a spin off post "American women always want to brag about how much they make!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

Clothes will look better if you wash them on a gentle cycle with cold water BUT I prefer them to be sanitary even if they look more worn. If my kid spits up, poohs on his clothes, throws up, or my potty training 2 yr old has an accident it would be gross not to wash them on the hottest setting with a little bleach.

Yes, but does your child poop on all his clothes? Maybe you miss the point.[/quote

But the real question is do you clean your washing machine with bleach otherwise you are living a life awash in feces.

If my kid pooped in on his/her clothes, I'd wash out the poop stain first by hand. Just throwing it into a vat of hot water with chlorine does not clean everything out! I think most of the helpful hints are for general washing tips, not for bacteria laden clothes which will require add'l attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, all of you PPs are nasty. (Speaking as an American born US citizen who launders even the cheap stuff with care.) There is a huge difference in how clothes will "wear" based on laundering. Case in point - I recently received hand me downs when our 3rd child (opposite sex from siblings) was born: everything my sister in law #1 gave me was pretty much trash; everything my sister in law #2 gave me was in good shape. The difference wasn't the labels, it was the laundering.

And lest ye wish to call me names because I accept hand me downs...both my spouse and I have six figure jobs and a nice fat bank account. But we also know how to do laundry so as not to ruin things.

I agree. Not "American women" who don't know how to wash clothes, it's LAZY PEOPLE who don't know how to wash clothes. My MIL makes me crazy throwing everything into the washer and the dryer - things shrink, stains bake on, etc. I've had clothes last (in good condition) through my 2 kids plus my niece because I wash and dry them carefully, remove stains quickly, and don't automatically throw everything into the dryer.

[Anonymous]

Hey ladies, OP has succeeded in getting a rise out of you-as if you already didn't know the possible motive. Let it go.

[Anonymous]

When something I care about gets a stain I put it in a small plastic tub with detergent and do a mini handwash as soon as I can. I let it sit in the soapy water and rinse the next day, after which I wash it in the machine with a full load of clothes. I hate putting undiluted booboo and urine in my machine so I think the prewash helps at least a little.

[Anonymous]

BORING WOMEN CHATTER. Seriously? 3 pages of laundry chatter. Why don't you all debate proper rinsing and loading of dishes in the dishwasher.

Do you all work or is this what home makers talk about all day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BORING WOMEN CHATTER. Seriously? 3 pages of laundry chatter. Why don't you all debate proper rinsing and loading of dishes in the dishwasher.

Do you all work or is this what home makers talk about all day?

Whereas all of you important men spent the day debating the GNP and Jacob Burkhardt's "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy" and inventing a cure for AIDS. Which we knew already from the important discussions that went on in the now-defunct DCUM Men's Forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of things that I noticed when I was in Europe long-term: Europeans don't snack as much, and they don't eat while they walk around. Which makes for much less spillage on clothing.

Seriously? So you failed to notice the Italians walking around with ice cream cones at 5:00? And the Belgians with their street waffle stands? Fish and chips served in a big paper cone... I've bought that for my kid in many European cities.