The Art of Laundry Folding

A post which should technically be titled "The Annoyances of Laundry Folding". But that didn't sound quite as catchy :)

-when the seams are crooked so that the shirt folds funky instead of perfectly symmetrical

-when you are using the top of the washer to stack the neatly folded clothes and you keep having to grab the stack to keep it from sliding to the floor b/c the washer is slightly out of balance

-when the shirt or pajama top has a gigantic applique and you can't fold the shirt in half like all the other shirts are folded

-when you pull out a skirt that has a lining and you can't figure out which part to flip which direction to get it right-side out

-when you go to pains to turn a shirt inside-out only to find out that you've now flipped it outside-in

Did I miss any?

Seeing Red

So...does anyone have any tricks for getting red spots out of khaki pants? Like your husband's best casual pants? Like if you stupidly washed a brand-new red t-shirt with the whole load of khaki skirts and pants? (I guess I should be thankful that only ONE pair of pants got ruined, huh?)

Thinkin' 'bout Laundry

I was mulling over the fact this morning that I want to teach my girls some basic laundry skills (some of you are thinking I'm a little behind and others are gasping at the thought of child labor). I came up with a brilliant plan of taking photos of the position of the dials on the washer and dryer and incorporating them into a chart that I can post on the wall in the laundry "room" (which is really a hole in the bathroom :)

Anyway, in all this thought and contemplation, I was trying to remember when I learned to do laundry. I must have learned by trial and error and maybe a few phone calls to my mother after I got married because I do not remember doing any laundry when I was still at home. For those of you about ready to have a coronary at this thought...keep in mind that my mother had 4 children in 5 years then a nice space of 5 years before the next and 8 years after that before I came along. By the time she got to me, life was a breeze. I DID learn to clean the bathroom including toilets at a very early age and I dusted and vacuumed, did dishes and even helped with yardwork and kept the car clean, so it's not like I didn't do any chores. Looking back, I wonder if my mom felt about her laundry room like I feel about baking...my territory. She was awesome at getting stains out (a trait I did NOT inherit) so maybe that was something she wanted to do on her own and not trust me to take care of.

So, my question for you: when did YOU learn to do laundry?

We Plan, God Laughs

I didn't get to wash my hair on Saturday. Since it's such a big ordeal, there was no way to accomplish that on Sunday so the plan was to wash it this morning while I lounged around my fairly clean house (we had company over the weekend :) and caught up on the plethora of laundry taking over my sorting area.

I lazed around the house for a bit and didn't get around to washing my hair right away. Tony came home from Indy around noon. He'd stopped to get a sprinkler for the girls to run throug as it was supposed to get qiute hot today. We pay for every drop of water that comes out of our spigot and that concept doesn't make sense to the girls, so he'd also purchased a timer for the outside faucet.

So now the plan was...the girls would play in the sprinkler, I would wash my hair and keep the laundry going. Then we would get cleaned up and meet our friends for supper in Indy. Or maybe they would come over. What is that quote that has become such a favorite of mine lately? Oh yeah, "We plan; God laughs".

Tony detached the hose from outside and placed the timer between the faucet and the hose. Then he turned the sprinkler on to test the timer. I thought the spray sounded awfully close. But the spigot is right outside my kitchen window and I figured it was the new gadget. Several minutes later, Tony came in to cook up some chicken. He opened the cabinet to retrieve the frying pan and all my pots and pans were drowning in water. If my kids had been tiny (think "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids") they might have enjoyed the spray under my kitchen sink!!Something had come loose. I won't even attempt to explain it but it was something to do with the soldering. Unfortunately that is the closest pipe to the water main and there is no shut-off valve between the two. So in order for that to be off ALL the water in the entire house.

Now remember, I hadn't washed my hair yet and I'd only done one load of laundry. We plan; God laughs. I'll admit, I was aggravated but today was a better day than some for that trick to be played on me. We were able to turn the water on long enough for us to brush our teeth and wash up, then the girls and I headed to Burger King for lunch, Aldi's for groceries and lastly, the Kirklin Library (which, by the way, has VERY clean restrooms :). After that, there was just enough time to take care of groceries before meeting with our friends for supper.

Thank the Lord for friends who have knowledge about many facets of building including some plumbing experience! They graciously came back to our house after supper to help repair the leak. (Thanks, M & E!)

I am now catching up on email and then will head off to bed. The plan is to get a good night's rest and wash my hair in the morning...we'll see ;)

Laundry Report and Coupons

I've had a friend or two during my lifetime that have been awesome at saving money with coupons. Whenever we have bought an Early Edition Indy Star, I clip about $1.50 worth of coupons and then half the time they expire before I use them. No savings there for me. Factor in all the time spent clipping them and I'm in the hole.

One day at a Ladie's Bible Study, we had this discussion (no, I don't think you'll find coupon clipping in the Bible). I was glad to find that I wasn't alone. So, the discussion continued until we had analyzed why there were two sides to this coin. We finally concluded that those who were brand specific were the ones who didn't save by clipping coupons. Where those who were willing to switch brands to which ones were on sale that week and combined those savings with a coupon - they saved bundles of money!

But I am much to stubborn to change to a different brand every week. I guess that goes along with my personality of being slow to change :) I prefer Wisk laundry detergent. If for one reason or another, I am forced to purchase another, my next choices are Era then Tide or All, respectively. Last week, I tried to switch to Snuggle fabric softener, whose scent I LOVE! But I had been using Bounce throughout the winter and guess what I discovered? Snuggle just doesn't cut the static electricity like Bounce does. I probably hadn't noticed this because I used to use store brand fabric softener. After much frustration with electric heat in my house (although that is cause for less frustration on my husband's part when paying bills :) and four long-haired females and nightmares of static, I finally discovered that if I put out a little more money, I could cut down on a little bit of stress. Nuf said?

So there you have it, my preferences for laundry detergent and fabric softener. I bet you'll all sleep better tonight!