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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think its laziness to was smalls in the washine machine?

283 replies

OliPolly · 12/03/2011 12:34

I mean, it's not like your knickers need a full cycle to get clean?

DH and I wash our smalls after a shower/bath - they are never in the main laundry. My kids boxers/knickers are washed in washing machine with the rest of theit laundry though.

I thought about this this morning when I went to drop off my friends son. My friend had the whole washing line outside full of boxers and knickers!

OP posts:
Bearcat · 12/03/2011 19:56
Blush
iscream · 12/03/2011 19:57

Well, your underwear will last much longer washing it by hand. I usually only wash delicate fabrics by hand, otherwise I do all my own underwear with my sleepwear and socks in the machine.

IWantToBeAFairyWhenIGrowUp · 12/03/2011 19:59

I actually think I'm too lazy to wash by hand not the other way round. Everything of mine goes in the washing machine and I might even sort light from dark wash if I can be bothered Grin.

Not wearing undies under trousers though that IMO is disgusting puke smiley

EricNorthmansMistress · 12/03/2011 19:59

You are bonkers. Dirty underwear isn't more or less dirty than other clothes imo. All dirty clothes go in my laundry bin and I wash every other day so nothing hangs about very long. Hand washing is a ridiculous faff for no discernible gain. Underwear also does need a good spin on a 40 cycle to be really clean. You oddball :)

Housewife2010 · 12/03/2011 20:02

I wash everything at 30' with a non-biological powder & it all comes out clean & none of us have ever had any crotch-rot!
Incidentally at university I had a flat-mate who had 7 pairs of knickers & she was very proud of the fact that she could do her washing just once a fortnight, as once she had worn all her knickers she turned them inside out & got another 7 days out of them!

scattermummy · 12/03/2011 20:04

waiting for laundry day!!!!!the best laugh i have had all day.If i only do two loads a day then i have got off lightly!

ShinyMoonInAPurpleSky · 12/03/2011 20:07

Most of my knickers are tesco/asda/matalan etc multipack jobs so I'm not expecting them to outlive me anyway.

Although my few pieces of fancy underwear still go in the washing machine anyway, they just never go in the dryer because it makes bras fall apart Angry

I have a laundry weekend because it would be too depressing to have to do it everyday but I can't manage all of it on one day. I can get away with it for now (just me, dh and 7 month old ds) and only dh's work shirts and trousers get ironed (by him on the morning he needs them, anything else that needs ironing gets ironed when it's needed too).

Now that's laziness :o

ButterflySally · 12/03/2011 20:07

It's never entered my head to wash my knickers any other way than in the washing machine. I thought that's what washing machines were for - to wash clothes/socks/underwear.

thinkingaboutschools · 12/03/2011 20:20

To be honest I think you are being unreasonable washing your smalls in the shower - that is pretty foul.

springsniffle · 12/03/2011 20:28

I have been constantly surprised by other people's laundry habits since I started using MN! It all goes in the washing machine at 40 here.

HalfPastWine · 12/03/2011 20:36

The only smalls I handwash and never put in the machine are my VERY expensive Agent Provocateur range. I only wear them on special occasions if you know what I mean so they don't have to be handwashed that often.
My 'everyday' smalls go in the wash with everything else for a right good washin' !!!:)

GinniferAndTonic · 12/03/2011 20:38

I'm going to go against popular opinion here, and say YANB totally U. A friend of mine runs a business selling high-end lingerie, and according to her the correct/best way to wash undies is by hand, using pure Marseille (i.e. olive oil) soap - it's antibacterial. If using a washing machine, 40 is better than 60, and detergent must be for colours even when washing whites.

Personally I never handwash if I can avoid it. I use bras in the 60 ? price range and they go in with everything else, ditto knickers.

Original poster
OliPolly · 12/03/2011 20:42

I have explained the reasons why I do what I do and I have actually said that in the context of me being in the UK with a fully functioning washing machine, I was being unreasonable to suggest that its laziness.

I wash everything else in the washing machine. It doesn't take me an hour to wash a pair of knickers. Someone upthread has decided to now suck up their carpet instead of hoovering Hmm- low blow really as clearly exaggerating what I am talking about.

There also seems to be much gripe about having a laundry day - I didn't realise that it's strange to do your laundry on a particular day - its no different to food shopping? NO?

I, however, think it's sad and ignorant to suggest that handwash is not an effective way of cleaning clothes.

OP posts:
comixminx · 12/03/2011 20:51

Am astounded by the number of people who wash their knicks at 60 degrees or even a boil wash! A boil wash will set period stains, not get them clean, folks. And 60 degrees is unnecessary to get stuff clean, even without a biological washing powder. My Ecover does the job fine at 40, as it claims to.

Meglet · 12/03/2011 20:57

oli I don't have a grocery shopping day either. (Almost) everyday is laundry day or popping to the supermarket day.

venni · 12/03/2011 21:01

Amazing thread! I must be from Mars, then. Because I happen to wash my panties by hand FIRST, then I put them in the washing machine with bath towels. If I see a skid mark in DD's undies, I also pre-wash them by hand. I never wash my panties with the general laundry. Must admit that this habit began during pregnancy, when body was churning out odd matter every now and then. Who wants body fluids tumbling around in the washing machine - which is impossible to fully disinfect. Could.Not.Conceive of washing a grown ladies panties with infant clothing. How horrible! (DP does his own laundry, by the way)

goingmadinthecountry · 12/03/2011 21:18

Venni, you may well be from Mars! Only the dog gets his own cycle in our house.

The reason most of us can't imagine a laundry day op is that there's just too much laundry for that. I do a load a day, but have had the washer on 3 or 4 times today. Not started on bedlinen yet. Have 4 kids who do various muddy sports plus all the regular stuff. It's a machine - stuff goes in, comes our, most tumbles. Anything else I have no time for. Would rather buy knickers at Primark and chuck as I go than hand wash!!

Sidge · 12/03/2011 21:35

venni what makes you think the body fluids from your underwear are any more dangerous than body fluids on your regular clothes?

Vaginal secretions are not that different to perspiration.

You really don't need to disinfect your washing machine. Clothes don't need sterilising you know.

blueshoes · 12/03/2011 21:37

Smalls are called smalls for a reason. They don't take up much room in the washing machine.

Surely it is a complete waste of water, time and soap or whatever OP uses to wash them to wash them by hand individually after a shower?

Lazy? Never heard of being martyred to my smalls.

olivertulliver · 12/03/2011 21:38

Have only skimmed this thread, but the use of 'laundry day', 'smalls' and 'panties' has made me laugh/feel sick.

LDNmummy · 12/03/2011 23:09

"I, however, think it's sad and ignorant to suggest that handwash is not an effective way of cleaning clothes."

I grew up handwashing clothes, there was no washing machine in my house till I was roughly 15. That means I was raised handwashing clothes from a very young age for a whole family.

For handwashing clothes to effectively remove all the dirt and grime, you need a very substantial amount of time per garment and much energy to fully scrub the item, no matter how small or delicate it is.

Unless you are spending that much time and energy, you need to be machine washing IMO.

Handwashing is definitely effective, and tried and tested for generations before washing machines, but it went out the window with the idea of housewives who could spend hours a day washing clothes.

hmc · 12/03/2011 23:15

Haven't read whole thread - so has Op admitted it was a wind up yet?...because surely it has to be???Confused

thumbwitch · 12/03/2011 23:24

Sidge, actually vaginal secretions may well be different to sweat, for example. The vagina is a hotbed host for lots of different organisms, including candida (thrush) because it is semi-closed, moist warm environment. Most people won't have the same amount of bacteria and candida in their sweaty areas, unless they have rolls of fat/skin creating semi-closed, moist areas too (which are, oddly enough, prone to thrush).

I do wish machines still mostly came with a 50 degree wash - standard setting for underwear in our house. 60 does tend to shred the elastic but 50 is usually ok. Old underwear would have had the no. 4 wash on its label - a 50 deg wash. My machine does have a 50 deg wash because I searched until I found one for exactly this reason.

MistyValley · 12/03/2011 23:25

Venni - really, there is NO reason to separate your pants from the general laundry, or even to pre-wash them, they aren't going to infect anything.

If you think about it, your socks probably pick up a lot of germs from walking around on the floor, your trousers touch yucky things in the outside world, your sleeves pick up all sorts of muck from sinks, toilets, door handles, buses... but thankfully it's pretty difficult to catch a disease off laundered clothing, even pants.

DitaVonCheese · 12/03/2011 23:26

OP, I feel like I've learned something today, thanks :)

Am always amazed by the amount of laundry people do. DH does one load a week of his stuff, I do 1-2 loads for me and DD and a sheet/towel load um every now and then. Certainly not every day. It all goes in together on 30-40, no separating (except occasional delicate wash) - don't know whether that's why there's less than other people or just because I only have one DC so far.

Oh also a nappy wash every 5 days or so, so I have actual poo sloshing around in my machine Grin